There are certain artists that I support every time they release a project. Mickey Factz makes that list and before you question that, let me explain why. In my honest opinion he made one of the best projects in the last decade with Mickey Mause, which was released in 2012. That album IMO is a classic and it was an example of someone painting pictures with their words. The two albums after Mickey Mause which were #Y, and #Ynot were dope albums but not as great artistically as Mickey Mause. This leads me to this new project, 740 Park Avenue.
I watched a documentary on Netflix called “Park Avenue” and also read a book by Michael Gross titled “740 Park: The Story of the World’s Richest Apartment Building”,so I was wondering where he was going with the title, considering the first song I heard from the project was “Detroit Red”. The album starts by explaining the address of 740 Park Avenue and its wealth, but then it juxtaposes the residents’ situation to families that live close by as well as the life of the doorman who works at the apartment. This is where it gets interesting.
I’m the type of Hip-Hop fan that pays attention to not only beats and lyrics, but also the themes, cohesiveness, and the order of tracks on a project. I love how this album starts with the doorman explaining how he has to make a resident aware of who Malcolm X is, which leads right into Detroit Red. Factz is a well-rounded emcee who has the ability to make concept songs, just spit crazy bars such as the song “Still Better Than You”, but I think he is at his best when telling a story such as Detroit Red. Other songs that stand out are “7-13-82 – 2-29-14”, “Just This Last Time”, “13th Disciple” and “.14”.
There are many emcees who just spit bars or talk tough and that’s cool, but it gets boring. One thing I love about this project is that it’s not boring. There are lighter songs that Factz still spits crazy on, but have an R&B feel to them such as “Smoke Screen”, “Just This Last Time”, and “NeS”. “NeS” is a dope concept song that I have listened to on repeat. BTW, I thought I was the only one who noticed how thick Chun Li’s thighs were on Street Fighter.
Another track that stands out is “Huxtables”. When it comes to appreciating some songs, it’s about how you relate and I completely relate to this song. I also was heavily influenced by the Cosby Show as well as A Diff’rent World. In fact I wanted to go to an HBCU just because of A Diff’rent World, and that’s how I ended up at Lincoln University. Eventually, I had to leave Lincoln University because I was also influenced by Mobb Deep and the Infamous album, but that story is for another day.
This is a dope ass project but there is one song I dislike and that’s “Iont Care”. I can’t stand the song. I don’t like the flow or the beat and I don’t get how it fits in with the narrative. When I’m vibing to the album, this song just confuses me. It’s like when I look for Netflix these days and I forget they changed the logo to white. (WTF did they do that for?). I get the same feeling when I hear this song. It pisses me off but then I realize it’s the only song I dislike and the rest of the content is dope. The white logo pisses me off but then I realize I still have dope content.
This project is easily the best project from Factz since Mickey Mause and it will be a strong contender to make my list at the end of the year for best projects. It didn’t move me the way the Mickey Mause project did but then again not too many albums from anyone have, with maybe the exception of Pharoah Monche’s PTSD. (As you can see I love concept albums). Bar for bar, not too many emcees can deal with Factz in terms of wordplay, metaphors, and storytelling, but what makes his music standout is his ability to use those skills while making great songs (No Canibus). I also appreciate each project having a theme as opposed to just dropping fifteen songs with someone just rambling about whatever comes to mind.
This project is a must download for my true hip hop fans that appreciate the art.
Download here: http://www.datpiff.com/Mickey-Factz-740-Park-Ave-mixtape.627842.html
To read my mid-year hip hop project review click here ==> http://goo.gl/96gYXT
