Cormega | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Cory McKay |
| Born | December 3, 1970 [1] Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Origin | Queens, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | East Coast hip hop |
| Occupation(s) | Rapper, songwriter |
| Years active | 1989–present |
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Cory McKay, [1] better known by his stage name Cormega, is an American rapper.
Cormega was born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens. He was childhood friends with Nas, Havoc and Capone, who all went on to become successful rappers. [2] [3] A frequent theme of his music is the countless number of his friends and family that have been killed by violence.
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] He was signed to Def Jam and recorded an album called The Testament . Nas, his manager Steve Stoute and producers Dr. Dre and The Trackmasters joined to form The Firm. However, Cormega was replaced with another Queensbridge artist, Nature, because Nas and/or Stoute favored Nature. [5] That ended Cormega's friendship with Nas. After he fell out with his manager Chris Lighty and his label 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]
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 debut album, The Realness . [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 Underground Album of the Year award.[ citation needed ] In 2004, he followed up with Legal Hustle , a compilation album showcasing his label's artists. In 2005, he released The Testament on his own label. [4]
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]
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 was Born and Raised . The album was released October 20, 2009. The first single is called "Journey." [7]
Cormega's latest album, Mega Philosophy , was entirely produced by frequent collaborator Large Professor. [8]
Cormega appeared on Nas' King's Disease in 2020, reuniting with members of the defunct The Firm supergroup. [10]
In November 2022, Cormega released his long-awaited album, The Realness II , to rave reviews. It served as a sequel to his 2001 debut album The Realness .
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, better known by his stage name Nas, is an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop, he is regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time. The son of jazz musician Olu Dara, Nas began his musical career in 1989 under the moniker "Nasty Nas", and recorded demos for fellow East Coast rapper Large Professor. He was later featured on the 1991 song "Live at the Barbeque" by his group, Main Source.
John David Jackson, better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper. Raised in Brooklyn, he first gained recognition for his ability upon performing live on DJ Clue's Hot 97 radio show. Jackson then signed to Clue's record label, Desert Storm Records in a joint venture with Elektra Records. He first gained mainstream prominence for his debut studio album Ghetto Fabolous (2001), which spawned the hit singles "Can't Deny It" and "Young'n ." His second album, Street Dreams (2003) was further commercially oriented and supported by the singles "Can't Let You Go" and "Into You" —both of which peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100.
Inga DeCarlo Fung Marchand, better known by her stage name Foxy Brown, is an American rapper. Upon signing to Def Jam Recordings in 1996, she released her debut studio album, Ill Na Na in November of that year to critical and commercial success. It peaked at number seven on the Billboard 200, received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), sold over seven million units worldwide, and was supported by the Billboard Hot 100-top ten single "I'll Be".
Anthony Cruz, better known by his stage name AZ, is an American rapper known for being a longtime and frequent music partner of East Coast rapper Nas and also a member of hip hop group The Firm alongside Nas, Foxy Brown, Cormega and Nature. Online magazine About.com listed AZ as the "Most Underrated [Rapper] of All Time". AZ also made it onto the sites' "Top 50 MCs of Our Time (1987–2007)", where he was reiterated as "arguably the most underrated lyricist ever".
Jermain Baxter, better known as Nature, is an American rapper, best known for his association with fellow New York City rapper Nas and having replaced Cormega in the original QB group the Firm.
"Hate Me Now" is the second and final single by rapper Nas featuring Sean Combs, from Nas' third studio album I Am.... The backbeat is inspired by, and contains some samples from, Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana". It was ranked 119 on XXL's 250 Best Songs of the 1990s.
The Firm was an American hip hop supergroup formed in New York City in 1996 by rapper Nas, his manager Steve Stoute, producer Dr. Dre and production team Trackmasters. The group is composed of East Coast-based rappers Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ and Cormega. Rapper Nature is a former member: he served as a replacement for Cormega after he was ousted from the group.
The True Meaning is the second solo studio album by American rapper Cormega. It was released on June 25, 2002 via Legal Hustle/Landspeed Records. Production was handled by J "Waxx" Garfield, J-Love, Alchemist, Buckwild, DR Period, Emile, Hangmen 3, Hi-Tek, Hot Day, and Large Professor, who also provided the lone guest appearance on the album.
The discography of Nas, an American rapper, consists of seventeen studio albums, one collaborative album, one group album, five compilations, four mixtapes, one extended play, and seventy-nine singles. Nas has sold over 20 million records in the United States alone, and 35 million albums worldwide.
"Life's a Bitch" is the third single from Nas' debut album Illmatic (1994). It was released as a 12" single on April 19, 1994 by Columbia Records. It features rapping from AZ and cornet playing by Nas' father Olu Dara.
The Realness is the debut studio album by American rapper Cormega. It features guest appearances from Mobb Deep and Tragedy Khadafi, as well as production from Havoc of Mobb Deep, J-Love, and The Alchemist, among others. It was released via Legal Hustle Records and LandSpeed Records.
The Album is the only studio album by American hip hop supergroup The Firm. It was released on October 21, 1997, by Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. The project was created by rapper Nas, his manager Steve Stoute and producers Dr. Dre and Trackmasters, who came up with the idea of forming a hip hop supergroup. The original line-up included Nas, AZ, Foxy Brown and Cormega who were all featured on the song "Affirmative Action" from Nas' album It Was Written (1996). However, Cormega later left the group due to artistic differences between him and Nas, as well as contract disagreements with Stoute. He was replaced by Nature prior to recording of the album. The Album is a concept album that revolves around the themes of mafia and "gangsta" lifestyle. The songs on the album were mainly produced by Dr. Dre, Chris "The Glove" Taylor and Trackmasters, and feature guest vocals from Pretty Boy, Wizard, Canibus, Dawn Robinson, Noreaga and Half-a-Mill.
Leshan Lewis, professionally known by his pseudonym L.E.S., is an American DJ and record producer commonly associated with New York rapper Nas, with whom he grew up in the Queensbridge housing project. His first production credit landed on Nas' popular song "Life's a Bitch" from Illmatic album in 1994. The following year saw him producing his first charted single, AZ's "Sugar Hill" from Doe or Die. Since the mid-90's, Lewis has produced songs for hip hop acts such as Fat Joe, Shyheim, Mobb Deep, Royal Flush, LL Cool J, Big Pun, Capone-N-Noreaga, MC Lyte, Flipmode Squad, Rahzel, Benzino, Cassidy and Cormega, as well as R&B singer Joe, and German rappers Kool Savas and Azad.
"Firm Biz" is the first and only single by the hip hop supergroup The Firm from their singular collaborative LP The Album. The song was produced by L.E.S, who based the song's track on a sample of Teena Marie's 1981 hit "Square Biz". "Firm Biz" also features a chorus performed by former En Vogue singer Dawn Robinson, reworked from the "Square Biz" chorus. AZ raps the first verse of the song, Nas the second, and Foxy Brown the third and final verse. The song did not reach any US chart positions, but was a UK top 20 hit in 1997. A remix of the song was released, featuring a verse from Half-A-Mill and a chorus by Mary J. Blige, replacing Dawn Robinson. The word "feds" is censored in the explicit version, in verse 2, performed by Nas, when he raps "Never that though Black .4-4's for feds".
Rodney Ramone Hill Jr., better known by his stage name Rocko, is an American rapper and record executive from Atlanta, Georgia. He is credited with discovering fellow Atlanta rapper Future, whom he signed to his record label, A1 Recordings upon it's launch in 2010. In a joint venture with Epic Records, Future released six commercially successful albums for A1; the last of which, Hndrxx (2017) marked his final release with the label in favor of solely Epic.
Born and Raised is the fourth studio album by Queensbridge rapper Cormega. It was released on October 20, 2009, after being pushed back several times; the album was originally to be titled Urban Legend but was changed to Born and Raised after rapper T.I. used the original title for his 2004 release. The album was met with mostly positive reviews from both fans and critics.
The Trackmasters, also known as Poke & Tone, is an American hip hop production duo composed of music producers Poke and Tone, best known for their commercial hit records in the mid-late 1990s and early 2000s. Frank "Nitty" Pimentel joined forces with the duo to complete the success of "Trackmasters". Throughout their career, they have worked with various hip-hop and R&B artists including Destiny's Child, Nas, R. Kelly, LL Cool J, Mary J. Blige, Will Smith, Jay-Z, Cam'ron, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, The Notorious B.I.G. and 50 Cent.
Mega Philosophy is the fifth studio album by American rapper Cormega. The album was released on July 22, 2014 by Slimstyle Records. The entire album was produced by Large Professor. The album features guest appearances from Styles P, Black Rob, Maya Azucena, Redman, Raekwon, and The Firm members AZ and Nature.
It Was Written is the second studio album by American rapper Nas, released on July 2, 1996, by Columbia Records. After the modest commercial success of his debut album Illmatic (1994), Nas pursued a more polished, mainstream sound for It Was Written. Produced largely by Trackmasters, it departed from the debut's raw, underground aesthetic and embraced mafioso and gangsta themes. The recording also marked the first appearance of Nas's short-lived supergroup The Firm, featuring the rappers Foxy Brown, AZ, and Cormega.
The discography of American rapper Cormega, consists of eight studio albums, two compilation albums, one extended play, and 11 singles.
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