Hopsin always finds room to grow

After 15 years as a rapper, Hopsin has learned a thing or two. For one, there is always room to grow. And, perhaps most importantly, there is more to life than music.

The California-based rapper, born Marcus Hopson, released his third record, “Knock Madness,” in November 2013 to critical acclaim and spots at No. 1 and 7 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers Albums chart and Top Rap Albums chart, respectively.

But that wasn’t good enough for Hopsin, who heard flaws when he listened to the record.

So before working on his next album, Hopsin did his homework, hanging around other producers and studying what they were doing.

“What plug-ins they used to work on their music, things they did to mix it and make their kicks hit harder, the snares hit hard,” Hopsin said before a recent show in Santa Cruz, California. “I knew a lot already, but there was still a lot that I didn’t know.”

When it came time to record his fourth album, “Pound Syndrome,” Hopsin felt more prepared as a producer. The album was released in July of last year to positive reviews from the likes of HipHopDX and XXL and reached the 17th spot on the Billboard 200.

A year after the album’s release though, Hopsin said he has grown even more since then and has mixed feelings about “Pound Syndrome.”

“ ‘Pound Syndrome’ was a growing spot for me to understand mixing and mastering better,” he said. “Now I’m at the stage where I think I’m pretty much ready now as far as my production goes. It’s presentable now. I don’t see too many flaws … The next new album is going to be really good. It’s not me finding anything; it’s me doing what I know how to do.”

That next album might be a long time coming though, as Hopsin has plans to take a break from making music to simply enjoy life, with an emphasis on traveling the world.

“Being spontaneous and doing adventures, taking journeys, those things get me very excited and keep me interested in life and keep me happy,” he said. “When I’m not adventuring, when I’m in a routine, that’s when I start to feel like ‘OK, things are getting boring.’ ”

As a successful musician, Hopsin realizes he’s in a strange position to complain about being bored, but he doesn’t see the point of working so hard if he can’t enjoy what he’s earned.

“I want to go put this money to use,” he said. “I don’t want to be sitting on it and be focused on making more like ‘Hey, gotta get bigger, gotta get bigger.’ I want to go actually live.

“I don’t know what adventures are ahead of me, but it excites me,” he said. “It gives me a reason to wake up.”