The rapper Hopsin has a Pug named Bubbles who enjoys farting. I know this because, toward the end of a phone interview with the Los Angeles-raised artist, I ask Hopsin whether he’s ever considered sampling the sound of Bubbles barking. He misheard me and started to reveal all about Bubbles’ bottom-end habit. Consider it something of a poop scoop.
Anyway, Hopsin has a new album, Knock Madness, that will be released today via his own Funk Volume label. It’s a project that sees the artist, who is known for sporting eerie-looking white-colored contact lenses, continuing to forge a reputation for penning uncompromising and often angsty rap tracks. Ahead of the project’s release date, here’s an introduction to Bubbles (with photos and a video), a fart-friendly dog who’s also co-starred in two music videos that have amassed more than 50 million YouTube eyeballs combined, and who also has something of a taco-stealing tendency.
Tell me about Bubbles. Why did you call her Bubbles?
I got her in January 2008. I always wanted a Pug ever since I saw the movie Men In Black, where they had the Pug named Frank on it. They’re so cheeky! I used to watch a cartoon called Powerpuff Girls and there was a character called Bubbles on there, and my dog kinda looks like a little fat bubble — she’s like this little ball of fatness, so I decided to call her Bubbles.
What’s Bubbles’s personality like?
She’s a very funny Pug. She’s really hyper at times. When people come over, she gets really friendly and wants to jump on everyone, but she doesn’t bite anyone, she’s real friendly. I don’t even think she knows how to bite people! She’s not violent at all — she just always wants to play with anyone and anything. Any dog she sees, she wants to go and play with it, she doesn’t know how to be violent.
She’s a fast learner, too: If I decide to train her to do something she’ll learn it within five or ten minutes and have it totally down. But she’s bad, too, though, like she will take poops in my room! She does not normally poop in the house, but sometimes she will do it randomly. I don’t know, it’s like she’ll just find that spot and think it’s perfect and she has to poop there. That gets me mad.
Do you clean up Bubbles’s poop yourself or get someone else to do it?
I clean it up. I’ve gotta clean it up, yeah.
Does Bubbles ever react to any of your music when you’re making it?
No, she hasn’t. I put her in a couple of music videos. Most of the songs I create, she’s sitting in the studio watching me create it, like she’ll just sit there and go to sleep. She’ll be sitting in my lap while I’m making a beat. I’m surprised her ears don’t get messed up ’cause I blast the music so loud, but she’ll just sit there and go to sleep.
How was she on set during the filming of the music videos?
She was quiet. Like I said, she’s a fast learner, so if I give her a few snacks and tell her she’s a good girl she’ll do what the camera needs.
You put a picture on Instagram of Bubbles trying to steal your tacos. Does that happen often?
Oh yeah, she loves that! I always eat these Mexican tacos and she loves the meat inside them. She’ll always try and jump on the table and get the tacos whenever she can.
What would be the ideal taco for Bubbles?
It would be no tortilla, just meat! That’s all she eats, it’s the way it’s seasoned, she loves it and will eat it all day if she could.
How about sleeping in boxes of merch? Is that something she does a lot?
Yeah, as soon as I bring those boxes home she’ll get right inside the flaps. It’s so soft and warm in there that she’ll hop in and just fall asleep. It’s cute.
Does anyone else on your Funk Volume record label own a dog too?
Dizzy Wright has a dog. Its name is Yolo, and it’s cute as hell. SwizZz has a dog, I don’t know what type of dog it is, but her name’s Cookie. I don’t think Jarren Benton has a dog though.
If you could get Jarren a dog as a present, what type of dog would it be?
I’d probably get Jarren a Boxer. I don’t know why, but definitely a boxer.
Have you ever thought about sampling Bubbles barking and using it in a song?
No, I would not want to put her smelly-ass farts on my microphone. If I wanted to do that, I would make a farting noise with my mouth and sample that and pretend it was a real fart.
I actually said barking, not farting!
Oh, wow! Look at that.
So I’m guessing Bubbles might fart a lot?
Yes, she farts all the time. But going back to your question, yeah, I would consider sampling her barking, using a nice good bark noise in a song, yeah.
About Phillip Mlynar: The self-appointed world’s foremost expert on rappers’ cats. When not penning posts on rap music, he can be found building DIY cat towers for his adopted domestic shorthair, Mimosa, and collecting Le Creuset cookware (in red). He has also invented cat sushi, but it’s not quite what you think it is.
Follow Hopsin and see more of Bubbles on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook (but be prepared for a sprinkling of strong language).
