The week where the rap world went all out…everywhere we went.

– LC’s fresh got respected… by someone other than us.

– The world is at John & Bryce’s fingertips, while Gilbert’s continues to slip away.

– Word brought a new meaning to the term “Holy War”.

– Waka Flocka got flamed over his chain. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re a frequenter of this site, you’ve already read one review of Mickey Factz’ EP, The Dark Phoenix #Alpha. Of course, it was Factz’ own take on the proceedings, complete with esoteric explanations on the deep metaphorical significance of each track. Unfortunately for Factz, a more unbiased listen reveals not some game changing philosophical opus, but an incomplete mishmash of alterna-rap styles that sounds more like a poor imitation of recent albums than the blueprint for the Next Big Thing. Read the rest of this entry »

The last solo set delivered by Freddie Gibbs on a New York City stage was rudely cut short. Apparently, sparking an L while rockin’ the mic is a no-go downtown at SOBs. Hopefully (if Freddie hasn’t learned his lesson), the rules will be different some 20 blocks north at the Highline Ballroom. Come next Tuesday, Gangsta Gibbs will headline his first NYC show, with the likes of hometown head and consummate showman Mickey Factz, in addition to Das Racist, also set to hit the stage. Read the rest of this entry »

Professors have to walk a fine line when it comes to giving praise to their students. Not enough positive reinforcement and the student becomes resentful, frustrated that the work is not being recognized. Too much and the student can get cocky, feeling like they’ressomehow owed special treatment and no longer needs to prove themselves. So maybe it was a bad idea to bestow so much worship on the 2009 freshman class. As soon as their images graced the cover of XXL, they were each anointed saviors to the rap game in his own way. For the most part, the music has been stellar. But overall, the attitudes; the “respect-me-or-else” mentality has been the Achilles’ heel to most of the rookie camp. Read the rest of this entry »

Truthfully: If you follow Mickey Factz on Twitter, then you knew this was brewing in the works for a minute. I let this marinate for a day seeing that outside of his 140-character soap box and this cryptic message… Read the rest of this entry »

Rappers want to be athletes and athletes want to be rappers. Very few excel in one arena, let alone both.  But don’t tell Stalley about defying the odds A native of football hotbed Massillon, Ohio he managed to score a basketball scholarship to Michigan. After an injury derailed that dream, he decided to throw his hat in the fold for this thing we call music. Read the rest of this entry »

Courtney Starrburst, Busting Out

5 Reasons Google Is the New Evil Empire [Coed]

Detroit Facing Corpse Surplus [The Onion]

Aubrey O’Day Is Obviously Still Upset About Those Nude Photos
[Don Chavez]

Life After Print: URB Magazine 2.0 [Huff Po]

Rhapsody Passes 200k iPhone Downloads In 20 Days [Music Ally]

CNN Does Nas Dirty [Hood Nerd]

Field Mob’s Shawn Jay Arrested After Missing Court Date [TBB]

Superhero Facebook Status Updates [CA]

Adios, Juan and Juanita: Latin Names Trend Down [Time]

Mickey Factz On Alexa Chung [GFCNY]

10 Examples Of Reporters Getting Interrupted [Uncouched]

Spiritual Women Have The Most Sex [Asylum]

With the release of NBA Live 10 less than one day away, the folks @ GFCNY sent over this commercial featuring Mickey & Bobby’s “Mind Blowin’” track. Read the rest of this entry »

Remember the sense of euphoria you had when you first heard Jamiroquai’s “Virtual Insanity?” It was like aural air conditioning complete with flying robots that served you lattes complete with a floating saucer. Now imagine all that futuristic fury harnessed into a more urban intonation without losing its chic. And there you have Jet Audio’s Stand Alone Complex.

Featuring a vast array of NYC artists (Mickey Factz, Outasight, Amanda Diva, Che Grand, etc.,) producer Jet Audio conducts his latest project like a maestro prepared to take the artform into the next millennium. Innovation awaits you. Read the rest of this entry »

The way artists are dropping off tracks and freestyles on Twitter we’re gonna need a Twitter Reader here shortly.

First in celebration of his birthday Mickey dropped off a new track, “Here I Am” yesterday afternoon.  Not sure if it’ll be on his debut album, but I know he’s been performing it Read the rest of this entry »

When I was waiting to go on Emilio’s show last night, I heard him debut this track from Jet Audio’s upcoming album Stand Alone Complex.

Jet brings it with the production as Mickey Factz, Curt@!ns and Danny! put their feet in these verses. Then, to top it off Outasight lends a hand on the hook. Mickey already got an XXL Freshman cover and I wouldn’t be surprised if the rest of these MCs get on it for 2010. If the rest of Jet’s album is anything like this track, then I’ll be first in line to rock with it.

My only gripe? MC’s please leave those symbols and shit out of your names. Your names are becoming a bitch to type. Soon I’m gonna just start writing about Mims out of spite because it’s easier to spell. And if you’re going to keep making music like this, then I’m going to have to write all these question marks, ampersands and hieroglyphs every time I want to give you all a co-sign. I blame you, ?uestlove.

Back to the lecture at hand. I’ve listened to this track 10 times today and it still sounds ill.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download — Jet Audio Feat. Outasight, Mickey Factz, Curt@!ns & Danny! – “Stand Alone”

For more information on Jet Audio’s Stand Alone Complex, visit www.slideshare.net/the49thlaw/bet-on-jet.

Has the radio caused you to forget what an authentic guest appearance should sound like? Hailing from Massillon, Ohio , Stalley, the self-proclaimed neo-backpacker with the Sunni swagger calls in some grade-A assistance from the likes of Mickey Factz and Truck North.

No gimmicky, corny one-liners, nobody leaving extra slack for the next one to pick up. Just unadultered, microphone controlling.

This is Hip-Hop.

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Download — Stalley Feat. Mickey Factz & Truck North – “Worldwide”

And if you’re ever so inclined, Read the rest of this entry »

Pics by Landon A.

It’s that time of the year again, folks. Hip-Hop Christmas season is upon us as Rock The Bells is hitting a town near you soon. The first stop was Chicago where Pat M. and I were on hand to soak in the Hip-Hop in the air. Enjoy as TSS doles out some rewards for the best and worst moments of the event.

The Performance That Most Slept On

Pat M. — M.O.P. Brownsville’s own took advantage of the more intimate second stage to tear up the concrete with a slate of their best tracks. The energy of the crowd was crucial—although smaller in size than most it was filled with fans who knew M.O.P.’s M.O. and were ready for some hardcore. And “Ante Up,” is such a terrorizing, crowd-pumping anthem Busta Rhymes brought Fame and Danze out to liven up HIS set. That’s respect.

David D. — The man Tech N9ne had choreography, a dance crew and facepaint that made him look a little like Kamala. He went on to spit rapid-fire non-stop for seemingly 30 minutes straight. It was a high-octane performance deserving of a higher spot in the show. Here’s the crazy part: Tech and crew rocked their costumes after their set was over. Just walking around face paint and all. That’s dedication, holmes.

The We Hardly Knew Ye (AKA Jimmy Fallon’s Taping in 20 Minutes) Performance

Pat M. — Not surprisingly, a multi-act concert with tight transition times requiring rappers to be punctual…didn’t run on time. So when The Roots came out, they were an hour plus behind schedule and unlikely Read the rest of this entry »

When I wrote the XXL Midterm grades a few weeks ago, I asked TC if he thought any of the class would read it. He shot back with a quick “of course.” Lo and behold one of the Freshmen, Mickey Factz, saw the article and had a few choice words for his grade.

I caught up with Mickey backstage at Read the rest of this entry »

To prepare you for takeoff, he gassed up the jet and gave you The Daytona 500 EP. Now, The Kid Daytona’s in full flight with his debut  [free] album Come Fly With Me. Daytona’s debonair dispositions are reinforced with appearances from Mickey Factz, Kardinal Offishall, Amanda Diva and Outasight and boardwork by the likes of Double O, Cook Classics and surprisingly 6th Sense. Consider yourself lucky when a project like this costs you nothing but hard drive space.

To the skies! Read the rest of this entry »