Factor
13 Stories
Collaborations with Myka9 and Awol One may have opened doors for Factor, but he remains true to his humble roots producing for oddball regional rappers around Saskatoon, Canada. He hooks up with some of these old friends on 13 Stories, his 13-track compilation comprised of emcees telling their own stories in their own styles, and held together by his smooth production. The melancholic and mellow soul that makes up the last two-thirds of the album is dominated by tracks like Nolto’s tale of a tormented child evolving into a tormenting killer on the slightly uptempo “Pulling the Wings Off Angels” or the alternative stress relief of Def3′s “Luck Ducks.” The front half of the album holds the hard funky grooves, like opening track “Sounds Good to Me (Hip Hop),” an organ-heavy roller-rink anthem to hip hop that features Ellay Khule, Medusa (haven’t heard enough from her recently!) and Joe Dub, who absolutely kills it with his hip hop history lesson. Two slower tracks do sneak into the beginning, though: Sole and Awol One’s “Don’t Jock the Dead” is a dark and morbid cautionary tale to love life as told over soaring strings and angelic choral harmonies, but an interpolation of Glenn Frey’s “You Belong to the City” ultimately tips “Black Fantasia” into cheese territory, belittling the dramatic elements of the music and lyrics, even if the song is an otherwise perfect match for Living Legend Sunspot Jonz. Luckily it’s bookended by tracks from Oldominion rappers Onry Ozzborn and Sleep, the former breaking down hip hop stereotypes over a dark, organ-driven dirge for “Batteries Not Included” and the latter rocking out with rapid-fire rap boasts over a funky, soulful, rock beat built for dancefloors with “Keep It On.” There’s a reason Factor’s got all these new friends, and 13 Stories tells the tale.
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