EP Review: Champions of the Digital World

The west side of Auckland is back in full effect with Factor’s latest release Champions of the Digital World, which features many of west Auckland’s finest MC’s including heavy hitters Pakkz Tha General, Alpha, Dlar, K.A.Y.P.E Devaur, Infinite Rensta DNC and KD Lok, to name a few.

Factor AKA Paul Wells is a Producer/Emcee from West Auckland. With a long history in the NZ music scene, Factor has had some dazzling highlights including playing at the Big Day Out and The New Zealand Hip-Hop Summit along with mentorship from DLT and winning the infamous Mai FM Rhythm Nation competition back in the early 2000’s.

Factor had a musical awakening of sorts after focusing on his truck driving career for several years after participating in the popular West Side Cypher joint.

After seeing and hearing how strong Hip-Hop still is, he reached out to his peers to help him put together the first part of his trilogy EP Champions of the Digital World.

All the tracks were produced by Factor and mixed and mastered by Rahxx. These two guys work together well. The tracks sound high quality and professional

The EP has a West Coast flavour which makes perfect sense for these West Aucklanders who like their Los Angeles counter parts have adopted the W as their signature sign to throw up.

The stand out track for me was Everyday Music. Straight boom bap with a short piano loop. There’s something summery and palpable about the vibe of this track. The hook is smooth and tasty and demonstrates some really strong hook writing.

This EP is solid traditional Hip-Hop release. No new school going on in this album. The joints have that 2000’s feel to them. A lot of older heads that didn’t jump on the new school train will appreciate the return to the tried and true Boom Bap and Bars.

Seemz Like is a solid cypher giving the West Auckland team an opportunity to flex their lyrical muscle.

Keyboard Warriors featuring Factor, Dlar Madwar and Toko P was another track I vibed with. Dlar Madwar’s verse standing out for juicy content about a few local rappers that the 1 Outs CEO has had frustrations with on the internet.

The track Rise has a really nice hook with some sultry female vocals from the smokey voiced Tayla.

The whole EP has a real classic Auckland Hip-Hop sound with the strong Kiwi accents combined with the strong West Coat influences and is an easy digestible listen for any fan of local Hip-Hop. 

A labour of love from Factor staying true to himself and the West Auckland sound. 

Don’t sleep on Champions of the Digital World and watch out for the next two releases coming soon.

Check out Factor on Soundcloud.