Cormega

Cormega was born and raised in Queens, forming childhood friendships with future rappers such as Nas, Havoc and Capone.[2][3] A frequent theme of his music addresses the countless number of his friends and family that have been killed by violence.

1990s

He was featured on Hot Day's "Going Straight Up" from his album It's My Turn. He was also featured on Blaq Poet and DJ Hot Day's track "Set It Off" from their album Without Warning in 1991. During a period of incarceration, Cormega gained some attention following a shout-out from Nas on his song "One Love", from the Illmatic album released in 1994.[4] Following his release from jail in 1995, Cormega became determined to pursue rapping. Nas included him on a song entitled "Affirmative Action" on his album It Was Written released on July 2, 1996. The song also featured AZ and Foxy Brown, and became The Firm's first appearance.[5] Based on his performance, he was signed to Def Jam and recorded an album called The Testament. Based on the buzz from "Affirmative Action," Nas, his manager Steve Stoute and producers Dr. Dre and The Trackmasters joined to produce The Firm. However, Cormega was replaced with another Queensbridge artist, Nature, because either he would not sign a contract with Stoute or Stoute felt Nature was a better rapper.[5] This led to an alleged altercation between Cormega and Nature. Cormega's dispute with Stoute also ended his friendship with Nas. Following the end of his membership in The Firm, Alex Trojano contributed in producing his album The Testament. Meanwhile, following a falling-out over creative differences with his manager Chris Lighty and Def-Jam imprint Violator Records, his debut album The Testament was indefinitely shelved. During the recording for The Testament Cormega responded to Nas' "One Love" in the form of a letter also entitled "One Love".[4][6]

2000s

In 2000, he was released from his contract and he started his own record company, Legal Hustle Records.[4] Cormega vented his disappointment with Nas and The Firm in a mixtape song titled "Never Personal". This song was never directly pointed to Nas, but the media made it look like that.[5] In 2001, he released his new debut album, The Realness, which was acclaimed by critics.[4] Many of the songs share a theme of betrayal.[6] Nas responded to Cormega on his song "Destroy and Rebuild" from his album Stillmatic. Cormega retaliated with more mixtape tracks, "A Slick Response" and "Realmatic".

Cormega's follow-up album, The True Meaning won the Source Magazine 's prestigious Underground Album of the Year Award. In 2004, he followed up with Legal Hustle (a compilation album showcasing his label's artists) and other talented hip-hop lyricists such as Ghostface Killah, Large Professor, AZ, Kurupt, Jayo Felony, and several others. This album is considered by some as more of a project than an actual solo album; nonetheless, it was well received. In 2005, he was able to release The Testament on his own label,[4] which saw good reviews and sales and featured the original banned version of "Dead Man Walking" as a hidden track.

In early September 2005, Cormega posted a statement on his website that he and Nas had spoken and ended their feud. On December 22, 2006 at the Nokia Theatre Times Square, Cormega appeared on stage at a Nas concert and went on to perform with Nas (and Foxy Brown as well), further evidence that their feud is over.[4][7]

In the mid-2000s Cormega helped produce a few albums and was featured on several songs with The Jacka and the Mob Figaz.

An album collaboration with Lakey The Kid entitled My Brother's Keeper was released independently on August 22, 2006. On November 20, 2007, Cormega finally released his DVD in-the-making Who Am I?. The DVD took over four years of filming of Cormega in all aspects of his life and what others thought of Cormega, unedited. The DVD was released as a soundtrack plus DVD. Cormega intended to release an album which was to be entitled Urban Legend before T.I.'s album of the same name was released (Cormega mentions this on the Who Am I DVD, dated circa 2003); the new title is Born and Raised. The album was released October 20, 2009. The first single is called "Journey."[7]

2010s

Cormega has stated his desire to work with a variety of artists including Scarface, Lauryn Hill, Slick Rick, Erykah Badu as well as past collaborators M.O.P., Mobb Deep, and Tha Dogg Pound.[8]

Cormega made great efforts to increase peoples awareness of the 2010 flooding tragedy in Pakistan, adding images and video clips to his official site.[9]

Cormega's latest album, Mega Philosophy, was entirely produced by frequent collaborator Large Professor.[10]

On July 17, 2017, he released a book in honor of the 15th anniversary of the release of the album The True Meaning.[11]

On December 26, 2018, he released his first EP MEGA.[12][13]

Cormega appeared on Nas's King's Disease album in 2020, reuniting with members of the defunct The Firm supergroup.[14]

• The Realness (2001)
• The True Meaning (2002)
• The Testament (2005)
• Born and Raised (2009)
• Mega Philosophy (2014)

• TSS Presents Smoking Sessions with Cormega, Part I
• TSS Presents Smoking Sessions with Cormega, Part II
• HHLO.net "The Journey: An Interview with Cormega
• "Cormega: “When It Comes to Art, What Kind of Artist Are You?”