Mix #30: Rich The Factor-We Shout in Shadows

I was going to do a song-by-song breakdown of Rich The Factor's new album, Orca Whale Music, but before I got a chance to write anything he went and dropped another album, AKA 2 Seater, a mere two weeks later. It got me thinking about how much great music Rich has released this past year and so I decided to make a mix of his best songs from 2011. Rich The Factor came out with eight releases this year by my count and has a handful more albums prepped for early 2012. And this is all coming from a guy who has been consistently releasing albums since the mid 90's. How often do you see a rapper making music at this rate, this far into his career? If he was from Memphis or Atlanta or New Orleans, Pitchfork and all those other indie music sites would have already covered much of his output this year and dropped the phrase ' rap legend' in their 2,000 word reviews of his albums that cite 17th century French poet François de Malherbe for no reason, but that didn't happen.

The thing about Rich The Factor's music that is so appealing, to me at least, is how completely insulated it is from the rest of the rap scenes around the country. With the internet's rise, rappers spit out singles at a constant rate and get immediate feedback, which leads to production trends rising and falling within a couple months time. Within this year the Lex Luger beat has risen and fallen along with the new age spacey beats of Clams Casino and company. With so many rappers struggling to stay relevant by trend hopping and vying for bloggers' approval it seems Rich could care less and remains uninfluenced by any of it.
A quick google search reveals no one is really talking about Rich The Factor on the internet outside of youtube comments and music message boards. Only one of his albums found its way onto iTunes this year, while the rest of them had no circulation outside of Kansas City and Rapbay.com, but apparently he is moving enough units to not really be worried about whether or not people on the internet like him enough.

I guess that insulation is something this blog can relate to seeing how I could care less about most of the rappers the internet is jocking (I have never heard a second of Odd Future's music), while most rappers I'm covering the rest of the internet ignores (see: this post).


His albums are rarely over 10 tracks and 40 minutes, so all of them are very listenable (no album should ever be 70+ minutes). Features are noticeably absent on his releases outside of a couple appearances from the MFR camp, but in this age of most rap songs being oversaturated with countless features it's quite refreshing to hear albums that feel like true solo releases. His style and beat selection sounds influenced by the Bay Area and the South, but not quite like either one. His music never sounds like it's trying to be different, it just is.

Tracklisting:

(Idk why I bothered, he doesn't title his shit)

1.) Track 6 from Black Border Brothers 6

2.) Track 5 from Blue Diamond in Da Ruff
3.) Track 8 ft. Boy Big, Ampichino & Shoboat from AKA Pound Cake
4.) Track 6 from 2 Liters

5.) Track 2 ft. F.A. from AKA 2 Seater
6.) Track 1 from Orca Whale Music

7.) Track 10 from AKA Pound Cake
8.) Track 1 ft. Rush from Black Border Brothers 6
9.) Track 2 ft. Boy Big from Blue Diamond in Da Ruff
10.) Track 3 from AKA 2 Seater

11.) Track 6 from Orca Whale Music
12.) Track 7 ft. Boy Big, Rush & Interstate Ike from AKA Pound Cake
13.) Track 3 from Blue Diamond In Da Ruff
14.) Track 4 from 2 Liters
15.) Track 8 from Orca Whale Music
16.) Track 1 from AKA Pound Cake
17.) Track 1 ft. Boy Big & Rush from 2 Liters
18.) Track 7 from AKA 2 Seater

DL: Best of Rich The Factor 2K11

18 Tracks in just over an hour that all slap. I put a music player up for a handful of songs in the mix so you can get a feel for it before you download. His voice might take you a bit to get used to, but it's real unique and worth adapting to.

If you are looking for more Rich The Factor be sure and check out the mix of his music I put together at the beginning of 2011. Also be on the look out for this album at the beginning of the year:

Sick photoshop skills! From what I've seen his movies usually involve him going around KC getting really high and drunk while showing off his material possessions. It should be amazing.

What do you think of Rich The Factor?
Am I the only one outside of KC who gives two fucks about his music?
Is this the best Christmas album cover you've ever seen?