''Pound Syndrome'' is the fourth
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
by American rapper
Hopsin
Marcus Jamal Hopson (born July 18, 1985), known professionally as Hopsin, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer from Los Angeles, California. He is known for his use of white colored eye contacts in his music videos and perform ...
. The album was released on July 24, 2015, through
Funk Volume and
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...
.
The album was supported by four
singles: "Ill Mind of Hopsin 7", "Crown Me", "Fly" and "Fort Collins". ''Pound Syndrome'' was the last release on the label Funk Volume, which was co-owned by Hopsin, before the label disbanded in 2016.
Background and recording
In 2014, prior to the announcement of ''Pound Syndrome'', Hopsin had been hinting about quitting rap music and moving to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. However, on December 25, 2014, Hopsin shared a video on his
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel, called "The REAL reason Hopsin left the music industry" with his label-mate
Jarren Benton, which was inspired by the film ''
Dumb and Dumber To
''Dumb and Dumber To'' is a 2014 American buddy comedy film produced, co-written and directed by the Farrelly brothers. It is the third film in the ''Dumb and Dumber'' franchise, and serves as a sequel to the 1994 film '' Dumb and Dumber''. T ...
'', which he stated that he is not quitting rap and it was all a gag, revealing that ''Pound Syndrome'' will be releasing in 2015. After the release of his fellow label-mates projects (
Dizzy Wright's ''
The Growing Process'' and
Jarren Benton's ''Slow Motion EP''), Hopsin began recording ''Pound Syndrome'', which was rumored to be a song, but instead it was later announced to be his fourth full-length album.
Recording sessions for the album took place over the course of the year.
Release and promotion
While visiting through multiple interviews, Hopsin has been stating that the album is an "improvement" over his previous releases as the terms of quality.
On May 27, 2015, his interview was released on
Sway Calloway's YouTube channel, touching on his appearance at
Soundset Music Festival
Soundset Music Festival was a hip-hop music festival held yearly in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area over Memorial Day weekend. Since Soundset began in the Metrodome parking lot in 2008, attendance has grown from 12,000 to over 30,000 consistentl ...
, and announcing that ''Pound Syndrome'' would be released on July 24, 2015. In an interview, he said that this is "definitely the best album that
e's
is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and drawn by Satoru Yuiga. It was originally serialized in '' Monthly GFantasy'' from 1997 through 2005, and later published in 16 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Square Enix from March 18, 2003, to Febr ...
ever created, hands down." On July 8, 2015, Hopsin released the album's final track listing.
On July 18, 2014, Hopsin released a video for his song, titled "Ill Mind of Hopsin 7", five months prior to the announcement of ''Pound Syndrome'' as the official
lead single
A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date.
A similar term, "debut ...
. The song sparked controversy, as Hopsin details his lost faith in religion, and the connections between religion, history and governance.
On June 1, 2015, Hopsin released a song, titled "Crown Me", as the second single from the album with an accompanying music video. "Fly" was released as the third single from the album on July 8, 2015. The music video for the intro track "The Pound" was released on the same night as the album's release. The album's fourth and final single, "Fort Collins" was released on September 3, 2015. The song features
guest vocals from his then
Funk Volume label-mate and fellow rapper
Dizzy Wright.
Critical reception
Homer Johnsen of ''
HipHopDX
''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...
'' classified the album as "a wonderfully chaotic immersion into the ill mind of Hopsin", praising Hopsin for his voice delivery, production and lyrical acrobats on the album.
Darryl Robertson of
XXL stated that "Overall, Pound Syndrome is an album that one can download and let ride non-stop from front to back. When Hopsin isn’t dropping 16s aimed at his fellow MCs, it seems that hip-hop is Hopsin’s conduit to release the heavy thoughts and multitudes of life’s ills from his third eye, a refreshing break from the more common ego trips that drive much of todays hip-hop."
Commercial performance
''Pound Syndrome'' debuted at number 17 on the US
''Billboard'' 200, with first week sales of 17,149 copies. It was the eleventh highest-selling album in the United States that week.
Track listing
* All songs are produced by
Hopsin
Marcus Jamal Hopson (born July 18, 1985), known professionally as Hopsin, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer from Los Angeles, California. He is known for his use of white colored eye contacts in his music videos and perform ...
.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
{{Authority control
2015 albums
Hopsin albums
Funk Volume albums
Warner Records albums