Hailing from Los Angeles neighborhood Panorama City, Hopsin is coming to Gainesville to headline the Funk Volume 2015 Tour.
The rapper/producer/director/avid skateboarder is touring with his label-mates Dizzy Wright, Jarren Benton and DJ Hoppa. Tonight, he’s making a stop at High Dive, located at 210 SW Second Ave. Doors open at 8 p.m. and the show will begin at 8:25 p.m. Tickets are available for $20 in advance on ticketfly.com or for $25 at the door.
The tour celebrates the late July release of his latest album, "Pound Syndrome," but the rapper is already looking to the future.
"It hurts me to know that I can’t work while I’m on tour," Hopsin said, "because I don’t have my studio with me."
Like many artists, Hopsin’s work is how he processes his life. He feels like he can’t truly understand a situation until he writes about it.
When he returns home from touring, he’ll bypass his bed and his refrigerator in favor of his studio, he said.
The rapper compared the feeling he gets when he’s forced to hold his thoughts to an all-too-familiar situation: It’s like when you’re holding your pee all day and can’t find a toilet.
"And just like, ‘I have to pee, and I can’t find a f-----g toilet,’" he said. "That’s how it feels when I’m not in the studio, and I have a situation."
Hopsin has found himself at an interesting point in his career. Despite having more than 2.5 million likes on Facebook, he’s not exactly a mainstream artist.
Although he enjoys first-class flights and "fancy things," he has never rapped about luxuries in the commonplace braggadocious style heard in today’s rap music.
He has, though, rapped about having cubic zirconia in his ears.
Typically, his rhymes and melodies reveal honest and introspective thoughts on his personal life.
But it would be dishonest not to mention his newfound success and lifestyle, he said.
He believes he would have to do it in a "Hopsin way" to stay true to himself and to his fans.
"I’m just trying to find a way where I can talk about it in a way where people are like ‘Okay, that’s what he does now, but not in a Hollywood (way),’" Hopsin said.
He may fly first class to Australia or to a luxury island, but he said he thinks to himself, "Dude, I’m flying first class right now looking fly as hell," in awe of his situation.
Pat Lavery, owner of Glory Days Presents, wrote in an email Glory Days and High Dive have made a name by bringing in big and talented names in hip-hop the past few years.
"We are expecting a big mob of fans from all over North/Central Florida to be at this show since the tour is not in Tallahassee or Jacksonville, or even Tampa." Lavery said. "They are bringing a huge light show with them; it should be a spectacle to behold."
Showgoers can expect "just crazy, wild energy," and if the crowd is wild enough, crowd surfing is something Hopsin is known for.
Lavery said Funk Volume has one of the biggest hip-hop tours of the fall.
Funk Volume is a Los Angeles-based record label and marketing and production company founded in 2008 by Hopsin and Stanford master’s graduate Damien Ritter, according to the Funk Volume website.
Hopsin and the Funk Volume family have a huge presence on social media, Lavery said.
Hopsin is aware the Internet has helped him reach his current level of success.
"I do a lot of things that go viral, that’s because I understand exactly how to do it, and I know what it’s going to do," Hopsin said.
Although he can’t pinpoint how many millions of views his releases will get, he is able to say it will "do something for sure."
The rapper can attribute his success to his confidence and high sense of self-awareness. He said he’s never thought, "I can never be something."
"Life will give you whatever you want out of it as long as you take the time to just learn what you’re doing," Hopsin said, "and once you understand, it gives you all the answers."
He said it’s just like "The Matrix."
"You just gotta figure out the Matrix and realize that anybody can do it," he said.
Los Angeles rapper Hopsin will headline tonight at High Dive, 210 SW Second Ave., as part of the Funk Volume 2015 Tour. Tickets are available for $25 at the door.
