So as I said in an entry about a month ago, Fakts One’s Long Range is technically not a new album, but a long lost, never released one ala Jean Grae’s Jeanius. For those who don’t know, DJ Fakts One is a member of the Perceptionists, along with rappers Mr. Lif and Akrobatik. Strangely enough, I was never a fan of Mr. Lif, but Akrobatik and the production by Fakts One helped me to appreciate their debut effort, Black Dialogue. Shortly after their debut was released in 2005, Fakts One’s solo effort was supposed to see the day of light. However, due to unknown reasons, this never happened. Until today that is. A couple of months ago, fellow groupmate Akrobatik released an absolutely great album to loads of blog acclaim. So how will Fakts One’s solo hold up? Will it be disappointing after the long ass wait we’ve been put through? God I hope not.
The Good:
1. Ridin’ Dirty - Don’t worry, it’s not that ridiculous Chamillionare song. It’s the intro to this album, and I’ve put it under the good section, because I happen to enjoy the simple beauty of scratching over drums.
2. Grown Folks (ft. Little Brother) - I put this track up as a promotional leak for you guys a while ago. The song was great then, and it still rocks today. Little Brother over great production = win every single time.
5. Born For This (ft Chan) - I actually got to see this dude at my school a couple of years ago. He just may be the only Asian rapper not named Kero One that I think has actual potential. He’s at least miles ahead of a certain other Asian rapper who released a ridiculous single about learning Chinese a while back.
6. Don’t Stop (ft Boot Camp Clik) - I thought that there was no way this track would meet my unreasonably high expectations for it, but somehow someway it did. Hip Hop needs another solid BCC group album. In the meantime, I guess we’ll make do with Jesus Price Superstar and The Formula. Although I do hear that there’s another Heltah Skeltah album in the make.
7. The Showstarter (ft The Perceptionists) - AK and Mr Lif spit nicely over a beat that somehow works despite being chaotic as hell. Nice to see Fakts One working with his bandmates again. Would be nicer if we could see a new full length release by these guys soon.
8. Audiovisual (ft J-Live) - J-Live deserves a whole lot more attention than he gets. Dude has never released a wack album, and he does the job right on this track.
10. Set The Mood (ft Grayskul)
13. Longevity (ft Rasco, Planet Asia and Da Mayor)
14. The Showstarter (Walkman Remix) (ft The Perceptionists) - A very nice end to the album. I highly prefer it when the last track on the album is an actual track, and not some really long, often boring outro.
The Solid:
3. Life Music (ft Rocklyn and Maya Azucena) - Long Range provides a wide range of guest artists, ranging from veteran rappers, to underground rappers, to way deep deep down underground artists whom I’ve never even heard of before. Rocklyn falls into the third category for me, and this track doesn’t do much to make me want to hear more. It’s decent enough to listen to once or twice through though.
4. OK (ft Kingsyze and Outerspace)
9. U From The Q (ft Universal)
12. Selfish (Akrobatik and Iyadonna) - The song is actually pretty good. It does feel a bit long though, and starts to get a boring towards the middle.
The Bad:
11. Moments Later (ft Tajai) - The beat sounds like a it’s straight off a really bad 8-bit video game soundtrack, and Tajai’s guest appearance is pretty damn disappointing.
Final Score: 9.0/8.5
When all is said and done, we’re left with a very well made album by Fakts One. Was it worth the wait? Maybe. It isn’t anything mindblowing, but it is entertaining enough to warrant a bit of heavy rotation for a little while after you get it. As for how it holds up to Akrobatik’s Shock Value, I think it’s too close to call. Both albums are great, and both deserved to be picked up by readers like you.
