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Who's the toughest beast? Check for yourself in the ultimate animal-on-animal showdown. [The Daily Lowdown]

Mickey Factz goes over Kanye's “Say You Will” beat by Thinking Out Loud. [Nah Right]

A Tribe Called Quest x Jordan on a craazyyy Jordan 1 Hi Strap. [Nice Kicks]

Antoine Walker got a DUI, but he didn't strike up a convo like Sir Charles did. [DeadSpin]

Read an interview with the creators of zombie-killin’ game Left 4 Dead, which hits stores today. [Das Gamer]

Double Viking launched a brand new hot girls site that looks like it’s a lot of fun. Check it out. [Double Viking Hotties]

Mickey Factz went in on this POW radio freestyle. [Nah Right]

Check out celebrities who were really spies. [Asylum]

The Knicks’ Zach Randolph a gets player exclusive. [Nice Kicks]

This Ludus sofa is the ultimate get for people who love to read. [Like Cool]

Around 2006, New York did not have an identity. You can probably blame bitter rivalries between the city’s elder statesmen for their overall creative slump. To redefine the sound of the city, it might take a refreshing sound, like the electronica-driven sound of Europe’s dance scene, to change the tide. Enter Mickey Factz.

The Bronx-born MC began pushing the envelope by sampling forward-thinkers like N.E.R.D. Three mixtapes (Flashback, Back To The Future, and Heaven’s Fallout) later, and the 23-year-old attacked the blogosphere, releasing a new song every day this Spring with influences ranging from Portishead to The Prodigy (no, the other P). In this recent interview, Mickey puts his personal stamp on the Supra sneaker brand and talks about how he was rocking dance music influences before Kanye.

Interview by Richard “DJ Treats” Dryden

Complex: When did you start rapping over electronica-driven beats?

Mickey Factz: As of 2006, we just got bored. We sampled N.E.R.D and In Search Of… and we wanted to do something different from the jump. We felt that music was just going in the same direction'nobody was trying to be innovative. Then after that, I wanted to personally do Flashback, which was rapping over all old school beats, but we wanted to revitalize the beats behind it and Precize mixed some of the beats over. He did maybe 65 to 70% of the music over, and he made it sound more futuresque which was leading up to Heaven’s Fallout.

Complex: So were you familiar with the music, or were you an actual fan of it?

Mickey Factz: I was familiar with it 'cause I grew up on hip-hop, I grew up on Pun, I grew up on R&B, I grew up on gospel. That's the foundation. Most kids my age grew up on those three things. In the midst of Flashback, I did some records that were very weird to my ears 'cause I was listening to alternative and electro and house and stuff but I wasn't into it. Once we started to record for [Heaven's] Fall Out, I just fell into that whole scene.

Complex: Where does gospel come into play?

Mickey Factz: Gospel cause your parents made you, hip-hop cause you wanted to rebel and R&B 'cause you wanted to get a girl. Summer of '07, I personally knew this is stuff that nobody is going to rap over. Truth be told, we were recording this before Graduation. We did those before Kanye put them out.

Complex: So you feel that now this is a sound that you own?

Mickey Factz: Right. This is a sound that I created with GFCnewyork, with Precize. We've made a sound that is very hard to duplicate because we've done it so well, to the point that now we're trying to make a newer sound. Now as you see, people are starting to sample MIA, Santogold and things of that nature, but you know GFCnewyork will always be ahead of the curve. We've got a couple of tricks up our sleeve when it comes to the next couple of releases.

Complex: Where do you stand in terms of your perception the artists and DJ's of that world, and collaborations with them?

Mickey Factz: I would love it more than I would like to collaborate with U.S. artists. I want to be a global artist so if these artists from China and Japan and Europe or Australia, if they want to collaborate, I'm more than willing to do it because my music will then be spread out through their region, and they'll be like, 'Wow this guy's already been doing it, this guy seems more authentic.'

Complex: Right, rather than being on some name-dropping shit.

Mickey Factz: Exactly. We wanted to have a grassroots following in Europe and Asia and Australia. Before we even dropped music we were touring these places.

Hit “NEXT” to find out if Mickey feels like an outcast in the Bronx, and why he’s crowning himself the Supra king.

It's Mickey! The self-proclaimed Supra king spits a BOBO freestyle, and throws in a jab at Lil Wayne. [Nah Right]

This crazy-ass monkey hopped on a segway and went along for the ride. [Radar]

Burberry gloves are more impressive than O.J's Isotoners, cop a pair. [Daily Drop]

Vote for your favorite endorsements of the 2008 campaign. [Asylum]

T-SHIRT: Fruition

PIN: My friend Erica designed it for me.

JEANS: Levi's

What rapper could you beat in a fistfight? I can't beat 50 Cent.

What's the last album you purchased? Beat Konducta Vol 5-6: Dil Cosby Suite by Madlib. I want to work with him. I'm trying.

NAME: CHUCK INGLISH (right)

JACKET: Maharishi

SHOES: Jordan Spizike

T-SHIRT: Alife NYC

What rapper could you beat in a fistfight? Mike (Mikey Rocks).

What sneaker needs to be retro-ed? Jordan 1's

[Click here to see more street detail subjects from the Cool Kids show, including Mick Boogie, Mickey Factz and more!]

All photos taken by Jaeki Cho

Mickey Factz goes in on the 27th edition of his leak series. [Nah Right]

Sambas, the indoor-soccer staple is coming back hard for 2008. [Nice Kicks]

This lil homie is a pint-sized badass. [Double Viking]

These Nike windbreakers are the dopest of the season. [Daily Drop]

Forget chain snatching, there's a lot of penis snatching going on in the Congo. [NYPost]

Mickey Factz compiled all his leakers into an aptly titled mixtape called “The Leak Vol.1″ Take a listen. [Nah Right]

Consider this a heads-up, Jessica Cirio looks great in a bikini. [Double Viking]

Peep this roster of 14 rider chicks who aren't afraid to pack the gat. [Holy Taco]