By Kevin Clark
Mickey Factz: Leader Of The New SchoolFresh off of his appearance at the Fourth Annual Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival, Mickey Factz receives a warm applause from fans and peers, alike. The 22-year-old, self-proclaimed, ‘King of the Bronx,’ has a resume that would make most veterans in the game green with envy. With a diverse sound and a healthy online buzz, Mickey has invited all lovers of music to experience the “Uber Music” style and with his weekly series “The Leak,” burning up across websites around the World Wide Web, it’s only a matter of time before the major labels come to show the real world what they’ve been missing.
But Mickey Factz is not waiting for the rest of the world to catch up. The mind behind tracks like “You Remind Me [The Caveman Song],” "Incredible," and “Rockin’ ‘N Rollin’” sits down with AllHipHop.com’s Breeding Ground section to get the rest of the game hip on how to tour Europe without major label backing, what it means to be in control of your own opportunity and why the doubters can keep moving.
AllHipHop.com: How does a 22-year-old kid with no major label backing get to go out of the country on a European tour?
Mickey Factz: That’s through putting out music through the Internet continuously building a buzz. The Internet gives access to the whole world, so when you put out a song on there, it’s just like doing a mixtape with DJ Clue or Funkmaster Flex. Those were and still are serviced to the East Coast and the West. But now with blogs and podcasts, everyone in the world can see and hear you instantly. You build those fans bases organically. We’re global now. The music that I sample isn’t just hip-hop stuff, I sample from Japan, Australia and Europe just to name a few. It just brings all those people to me, which creates a demand that is high in wanting to hear what type of music I’m putting out.
AllHipHop.com: That has to be a wonderful experience for someone who’s had to prove that they’re worth the exposure?
Mickey Factz: Yeah, most definitely. Everybody says, “No matter who you are, they doubt you.” It just makes me work harder. In my mind, I know that I’m great and I just have to prove it to the people.
AllHipHop.com: This style that you have… called “Uber Music,” how did that come about and how do you think your fans relate to this type of movement?
Mickey Factz: That just came about trying to find different words to express the type of music that I make. Uber is like superfantastic in German and I just wanted to put something different out there that still has some hip-hop in it. My music is for everyone. I just don’t make it for the Bronx, which is where I’m from, I make it for everybody. I want to reach beyond just New York, just the United States, I want everyone across the globe to hear my songs.
AllHipHop.com: So was “You Remind Me [The Caveman Song],” free-flowing expression or could you construe it as a means to have crossover appeal out the gate?
Mickey Factz: That was the first song that people really gravitated to. That was a song, well, let me clarify… at first I didn’t want to do that record. It was the first song that I did for the Heaven’s Fallout joint and when we put it out, people went crazy for it! I know it has crossover appeal, as far as getting played, but it also brings awareness to who I am as a creative person. I take it as me thinking outside the box.
AllHipHop.com: Agreed, agreed… I believe that yourself and acts like Fresh Daily, Nola Darling and The Cool Kids all possess this do-it-yourself with little regard for labeling. So, where does all of this take you with your career?
Mickey Factz: Right now, you know, I want to be compared to the Michael Jackson’s, the Prince’s and the Stevie Wonder’s. Doing it like that is hard on an independent scale, but it’s only because the funding isn’t there for me. In the upcoming months, I am going to be branding myself with different names like Hennessy, the New York Times and Coca-Cola, to name a few. There’s no telling what will happen in the next few months or even years. I don’t think I’ll be unsigned for awhile. When I get signed to a major, I am going to dictate everything that I do. I’m not going to let the system, that has no idea what’s going on, dictate the buzz I worked hard to create. If I’m signed to a label, all they’re going to do is be a benefactor. Most people wait for the labels to do what needs to be done to try and create a measure of success, but with me, you can do whatever – sue me, drop me, I don’t care, I’m going to shoot my videos and spend my money on marketing. Word to everything, that’s regardless if I sign to a label or not. There’s no one that’s going to hold Mickey Factz hostage! After me, everything will change and nothing will be the same when I get signed! I’m not settling for less. I’m the savior of hip hop and I have to show and prove to people that things have to be done a little bit different in order to restore some dignity back into our music.
AllHipHop.com: As a relative newcomer to the national scene, how has it been trying to get producers and other MCs to work with you?
Mickey Factz: It’s been very easy, to be honest with you, for the simple fact that producers send me music all the time. That’s not really a big issue. I’m not feenin’ to work with [Dr.] Dre, Timbaland or Pharrell [Williams]. Those are budget killers, if you ask me, and you might not get a hit record. I’m really into working with up-and-coming producers who are on the new wave of the next up to bat. I’m not trying to get on a track with [Lil’] Wayne, Kanyé [West] or Jay-Z… I want to be around those cats who are going to be my competition in the years to come. Fresh Daily, Kid Cudi, Charles Hamilton, Nola Darling… those guys are re-writing history and they are in my class! We’re the ones who are going to be dictating everything in the years to come!
AllHipHop.com: I’ve talked to you plenty times before, seeing you out and about in the city, but outside of New York, speaking as an exec, for example, why should anyone like “I Like Your Supras”…?
Mickey Factz: That’s a great question, actually… I’d ask the girl in Ohio who made a YouTube video about Supras. In Indiana, we didn’t send the record out to them, but they made a video about it, too. I don’t make music for New York City; I make music for every single state in America; for every country in the world. I’m not surprised that people are hearing these records.
AllHipHop.com: You have a song with Fresh Daily on your MySpace page called, “Keep Moving.” Who have been a few people you’ve had to tell to “keep moving”…?
Mickey Factz: [Laughs] Who did I have to tell to keep moving? Hmm, doubters... I can deal with haters, they’re cool, but the ones that doubt me, I tell them to keep it moving. In my mind, I’m great, I’m better than 95% of the music that’s out there, right now! I tell the doubters to keep it moving. At the end of the day, it’s about showing love to anyone and everyone who’s positive and about that and more, but I don’t have to prove myself to the doubters just to be heard.
AllHipHop.com: You managed to grab these opportunities, but what has been the hardest thing about placing the spotlight on you and your team GFC-New York?
Mickey Factz: Getting the middlemen in the game to put you in that spotlight. Word of mouth got me into the magazines. When they go outside the box and over the middleman’s head to try and put me or others in that spotlight, it’ll work! Right now, it’s going to be hard for me to get into Rolling Stone magazine, but that doesn’t stop me from doing what I want to do. I am my own publicist, my own marketing manager, I do all of this shit myself because I’m not going to let anyone outside of my team take care of the business that I should have in my control. I can go online and do the same job as others and reach the same numbers, if not more… I’m in the studio 3-4 times to week, I do interviews and all of this is without a label. I’m already groomed. Someone in the industry told me that I’m the “Internet 50 Cent.” All I got to do is put out the records and, right now, I’m aligning myself with some great people. So, you’ll hear a lot more from me soon!
Mickey Factz featuring The Cool Kids "Rockin N Rollin"