Review Summary: Monotonous song structure and lyrical presentation bring down Hopsin's technical skills as a rapper on Raw.
Hopsin is a rapper for the people who like technical skill. He's the rapper for the teens who H8 THAT AUTO TUNED YOUNG MONEY BULLS***! He's the rapper who, after Eminem lost his shock with Encore, would be a reminder that there are still rappers like him. Hopsin is aware as he had proudly proclaimed on "Ill Mind of Hopsin 4," "hip hop's dead, and I'm the lucky savior."
Hopsin is competent and confident in his rapping abilities. With heavy influence from early years Eminem (even in singing as well as rapping) as well as much of the Strange Music roster, he is a technical rapper through and through. He raps clearly and quickly enough in his verses for his words to be clearly heard with a first listen. He's also traditional in delivery with nearly (if not all) songs being delivered in sixteen bars before the chorus.
Hopsin's production work on this album complements his rapping well. When one's rapping skill is derivative of Eminem and Tech N9ne, so would the production with some ICP circus beats thrown in for good measure (Exhibit A: "Baby's Daddy").
These aspects of the album help and hurt the album. Much of the subject matter in the album deals with Hopsin's dissatisfaction with mainstream hip hop, his longing to stay underground and how "raw" he is. This mentality would come as a sigh to relief to listeners who saw Lil Wayne's success as the nail in the coffin for hip hop. "Finally," they shouted to the heavens, "a rapper who doesn't rap about money, cars and hoes! Hip hop will live to see another day!"
To Hopsin, however, while proclaiming his dissatisfaction with the mainstream, he never seems to confront his subjects in a way that prove his case. In the album's first single "Sag My Pants," he decides to use the entire second verse to torture the Young Money crew and call out Lupe Fiasco for not knowing how to skateboard. While torturing mainstream artists worked well on the Marshall Mather's LP, it was also much more funnier, detailed and most importantly, memorable. Even at Hopsin's primary target Tomica, Eazy-E's wife and the reason Hopsin's last album didn't do well, only a handful of bars spark in an otherwise unremarkable murder fantasy.
This leads to the main problem of Hopsin's album. With all his technical skills, jokes and shots at mainstream, he doesn't stand out from his influences. Every song on the album is structured into 16 bars before a chorus that ranges from decent ("I'm Not Introducing You") to bad ("Trampoline"). There are several moments when his observations have actual insight such as "Nocturnal Rainbows" or he shows regret and sincerity in "Heather Nicole." However, these moments are sparse.
So yes, Hopsin is technically skilled. However, technical skill is only as important as what is actually being said and the manner it’s presented. Maybe I'm being picky, but I can concede that this would've been one of the top-ten rap album of 2002.
