S. Samuel
After recently releasing his Love. Lust. Lost. mixtape, rapper Mickey Factz hit up SOHH to share his input on the current state of the underground circuit.
With the popularity of commercial mixtapes and promotion behind them, Factz hopes fans continue to appreciate and anticipate the underground projects.
“It’s always been evolving from the time when it was just in the CD format,” Factz told SOHH referring to the mixtape game. “When I put mixtapes out, I was putting them online when nobody was putting them online, really without deejays and these things. I think now, they promote these mixtapes like albums now and it’s a little bit more than how we did [in the past.] Now you got them with music videos, a trailer for the mixtape, behind-the-scenes recordings. So you have people getting excited again. I kind of enjoy it. I’m not mad at it. I just hope people really appreciate it.” (SOHH)
Asked if he feels pressured with a slew of commercial rappers like Jadakiss and Fabolous taking on mixtapes, Factz said he always makes sure to deliver his best.
“I always step my game up because there’s new cats coming out and they’re trying to come after my spot,” Factz added when asked if he feels pressured by the mixtape’s resurge in popularity. “I’ve always tried to make sure I have the best lyrics, the best beats and try to stay true to my fan base at the same time. If I don’t do that, then I’m history.” (SOHH)
Rapper Sha Stimuli recently told SOHH today’s mixtapes have a short life span.
“The mixtape game today has totally changed because I notice more people anticipate the mixtape than [after] the actual mixtape[‘s final product]. People are like, “When’s it dropping? When’s it dropping?” And then when it drops, it gets about two days of light. There’s two days of Twitter and re-tweets for people to blast it. And then all of a sudden, people are waiting for the next one.” (SOHH Guest Star)
Earlier this year, West Coast rapper Game discussed the strength of underground efforts.
“A mixtape is pretty much just calling in favors from, you know, some of the biggest rap superstars who happen to be good friends of mine off the mic and them just delivering for me and me throwing it all out there. But an album, you know, I’ve got to take my time because that’s my legacy. I can joke and I can play around with different topics and lyrics and different rhyme patterns and sounds on a mixtape, but on an album I’ve got to take it seriously because that’s who I am, it’s what defines me.” (Rolling Stone)
Check out some past Mickey Factz footage below:
