Pound Syndrome

Background and recording

In 2014, prior to the announcement of Pound Syndrome, Hopsin had been hinting about quitting the rap industry and then moving to Australia. However, on December 25, 2014, Hopsin shared a video on his YouTube 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, 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 we all thought that it would 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.

The title of the album is a loose pun on the term Down syndrome, a common genetic disorder that causes intellectual impairment and physical abnormalities.

Release and promotion

While visiting through his 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, 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 [he's] ever created, hands down." On July 8, 2015, Hopsin released the album's final track listing.

Singles

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. The song sparked controversy, as Hopsin details his lost faith in religion, and the connections between religion, history and governance. The song charted on number 46 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and number 27 on Hot Rap Songs, and gained 1 million views on YouTube its opening day of release.

On June 1, 2015, Hopsin released a song, titled "Crown Me", as the official lead single from the album with an accompanying music video. "Fly" was released as the second single from the album on July 8, 2015. The music video for the intro track "The Pound" was released on same the night as this album dropped on iTunes. However, it has not been confirmed as a single so far. 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 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