The hip-hop game is a tough one. It seems as if everybody and I mean everybody wants be a rapper. Because of the humongous pool of “talent”, it’s becoming harder, as if it weren’t already hard enough to weed out the hacks. When some no talent, fame chasing, delusional weirdo from the suburbs of Minnesota doesn’t get signed to Def Jam it doesn’t really matter. I don’t mean to sound cold but self-awareness is a wonderful trait. However, when a young, original talent finally starts to get some recognition, after years of struggle, only to fall short when he gets there it hits home on a personal level. It kind of dispels the old saying, “if you work hard enough at something, you will succeed”, and nobody wants to believe that. Such was the case with Mickey Facts, the ultra-creative Bronx MC who was for a short time the talk of the town, even being featured on the XXL freshman cover. Things didn’t work out exactly how Mickey expected and a few wrong moves left him in a position where broken promises and “what ifs” are present in abundance. Mens Mag Daily sat down with Mickey Factz to discuss what went wrong in his career, whether or not he regrets leaving NYU to pursue music, why his album Mickey Mause would have cemented Kanye West’s legendary status, and if he is really and truly retired.
Mens Mag Daily: The big news obviously has been that you’re officially retired from music. What is the motivation behind this?
Mickey Factz: A lot of it just has to do with bad situations and mishandling by management. There have been a lot of broken promises from artists. There’s trying to put out an album whether through a major label or an indie and still falling short. Things like that can really deter somebody who’s creative and having that snatched away from you constantly can be disheartening. I’ve bent by musical integrity to try and appease people and it still hasn’t done much so it can definitely affect your frame of mind.
Mens Mag Daily: You were actually a student at NYU. You decided to forego having a degree from a prestigious university to pursue music. Feeling the way you feel now, do you ever look back and wish you would have stayed in school?
Mickey Factz: To be honest, leaving school to pursue music is probably one of the greatest things I’ve ever done. I’ve probably done things that most people never do. I’ve seen a lot of places that people will probably never get to see and if they do it won’t be for free because they’re working. I’ve worked with and met amazing people. That can never be taken away from me. I’ve been to the Playboy mansion off music. I was able to experience those things because of music.
Mens Mag Daily: You put out the Mickey Mause project which was very cool, very different but it kind of got overlooked. Why do you think that is?
Mickey Factz: I say certain things about the project and one thing I said on MTV was that if Kanye West would have put out the Mickey Mause project he would be dubbed the greatest artist of all time. To superimpose yourself into another character, if it was Kanye they would have loved him for it. Another thing is that people see my name sometimes and they just want to ignore it for some reason. I have a huge core fan base but there are people in power that don’t support the way they should. I should have put that album out just as Mickey Mause and not as Mickey Factz. It would have been loved. What can I do man? There are people who don’t support.
Mens Mag Daily: Why do you think that it?
Mickey Factz: When I was first coming up I was happy. I’m a kid from the Bronx who was always trying to fit in and I was the most underrated and when I was first getting attention I took the essences of what hip-hop was and I went full force. I think I broke a lot of relationships with my cocky attitude. It’s ironic because your music is supposed to be braggadocios but you have to be straight laced apparently outside of the music.
Mens Mag Daily: When things were really hot for you and you were on the cover of XXL were the offers and money you were getting just crazy?
Mickey Factz: It was more so a two year grind of not making money and being overlooked. I had to really grind to make things happen and as soon as I got that shot I lost it. If you give somebody from the ghetto some money and they never had it, they’re gonna bug out with it. And then on top of that I’m doing it all by myself. I didn’t have OG’s telling me what to do and how to do it. When you’re all on your own you kind of fall by the wayside.
Mens Mag Daily: If you would have taken your career in a completely independent direction like many people are doing now, do you think the outcome might have been different?
Mickey Factz: I look back at my career and there were situations I should have taken but I was young and I was trying to maximize possibilities. You’re supposed to strike when they iron is hot and I waited too long. When you’re hot you have to keep going and going. That’s the best advice I can give anybody in the music industry. I actually had an opportunity with Glassnote Records in 2009 or 2010 and they told me they wanted to put everything behind me and take me to the next level. They wanted me to be the first rapper on the label because they were only doing rock at the time. I wanted a bigger situation. But each year that past I got more and more humble because I realized doing music for a career is a privilege.
Mens Mag Daily: As a very creative dude, what are you going to use as a creative outlet if you’re retired?
Mickey Factz: Right now, what I’ve come to realize is that as much as I would love to not rap anymore I can’t do that. If it was up to me I would do something different but this is the only way I know how to make money. My creative inspiration now comes from trying to survive and feeding my core fans. They give me the courage to keep going. They offer to pay me man. They tell me that my music gets them through the day so that motivates me to keep going.
Mens Mag Daily: Mickey, you know they say that every artist is always just one hit away. Do you still see that as a possibility for you?
Mickey Factz: Yeah man, I fully believe that everybody is one hit away. It’s about the money behind it, it’s about the marketing. Once everything falls into place then yes it can happen. I want to be the guy who does things that nobody else will do. I remember going to battle and nobody would go. I would ask my colleagues to come and they would say nah. Now everybody is battling and I’m off that. It’s the same thing with art. In 2008 I was talking about art and now everybody is. I’m always looking for what’s next. I placed myself inside somebody else and told a story. Nobody has done that so I’m going to continue with that.
Mens Mag Daily: So you won’t be totally retired?
Mickey Factz: Nah, I mean I have to live. I don’t have another way. I’ve been putting out songs that I’ve done in the past and blogs pick them up and sometimes they don’t. I’m not recording new music though. I’m really doing it for my fans. They’re very loyal. There are artists in the game that still want me to win but I don’t know how bad they want me to win because they might help a little more if they did. I have songs with Bruno Mars and John Legend. I have a song with Yelawolf, Lupe, and Erykah Badu. Not a lot of rappers can say they have a song with Erykah. It’s politics and politics will make you want to commit suicide in hip-hop. It could be stressful.
Mens Mag Daily: So you’re still able to make a living off it?
Mickey Factz: Yes, I make a living. I have that core fan base and I thank them for all the love they show me.
Mens Mag Daily: What can we expect from Mickey Factz in the future?
Mickey Factz: This year you can expect the album to come out hopefully. I’ve been saying this since 2008 but I hope so. I’m looking to do a second Mickey Mause project. I did all the beats on the first one. I’m putting out sequels to some of my mixtapes for my fans. They support me so I’m looking to do that. I’m looking to do some voiceover stuff and some acting. That’s pretty much it man.
Article By: Jon DaBove
