Great Cormega Interview

[Al Bundy]

from philaflava.com

Cormega: QB Hustlin'
By: Jason Gloss

Agree or disagree with him, Mega has a lot to say. After two hours of in-depth conversation, no questions were left unanswered and no subject was off limits. Cormega holds true to some hard-to-find characteristics we look for in artists these days; calculated, sincere, defensive, confident yet not arrogant. He doesn’t play down his accomplishments; he isn’t hesitant on callin’ out misconceptions.

Unafraid, uncensored here he is; the real Cory McKay better known as Cormega.

Audio version: Click here to listen to the interview on the Philaflava Jukebox

Philaflava: You have an instrumental album dropping October 23rd called “Got Beats?” and a DVD titled “Who Am I” coming out November 20th, what were the reasons behind these projects and what can people expect?

Cormega: A lot people have been asking me for particular beats of mine. A lot people say I got a good ear for beats and I know a lot of aspiring rappers used to buy the mixtapes with instrumentals on them, but now its harder to get mixtapes cuz they shut down the mixtapes on the streets. So a lot of people don’t have nothin’ to rap on and they’re not trying to rap on stuff that you would typically hear on the radio. I said let me do something different cuz I know a lot of people aren’t doing this. A part of my thing for my company (Legal Hustle) is to put out various projects, the type of projects that I would be proud of and the type of projects the fans really want. So I’m able to do the things I wanna do and one of the things I wanna do is cater to the listener, so I made the beat CD basically for people that are listeners and people that wanted something to rhyme to. You got various beats by various producers. There are couple of new producers on there and then you got well know people on there such as Primo, Ayatollah, J. Garfield, etc.

Philaflava: Your DVD “Who Am I” that comes out November 20th, what’s that about?

Cormega: It’s a full-length documentary over 3 ½ hours and it basically follows me from 2001-2005. Its the duration of my independence, my first years, behind the scene footages, unreleased videos, show footage and studio footage. And then it’s people that know me personally, you got some of my peers on there, rappers Jayo Felony, Queensbridge rappers like Tragedy, Poet, Screwball, Marley Marl and some others. You get insight from them on me and then you also got some people that grew up with me on there. It’s a real personal in-depth documentary.

Philaflava: How much longer do we have to wait for Urban Legend?

Cormega: It’s not gonna be much longer. I changed the title cuz of T.I., so I’m going to come up with a new title. Basically, I’m glad it took long cuz I got a chance to do things differently. On “The Realness” I was a like boxer without a coach and a trainer, I just jumped in the ring and starting swinging wild and on “True Meaning” I basically did the same thing, even though people regard those as good albums, everyman needs guidance.

A lot of people say they loved my delivery on “Affirmative Action,” but that was one of the songs where I had somebody on my back telling me what to do and telling how to say it as far as A&R’s This particular Cormega album is the first where I have people telling me to do your vocals over, do this over, etc. I got production from Premier, Emile, D.R. Period, Lil Fame, etc. I got a song called “Fresh” that a lot of people know about that features Red Alert, PMD, Grand Puba, Big Daddy Kane, KRS-ONE and myself. That’s my most favorite song ever. It’s because I was able to get all those people on there and it still amazes I was able to get all these people on one track.

Philaflava: Do you have a realistic timeframe for this album?

Cormega: It’s gonna come out within the next 6 months. Definitely!

Philaflava: You teased us with “Dirty Game,” then we had to wait and then we have two projects which I’m sure the fans will appreciate, but you dropping this is like Tyson coming back to boxing as a trainer--people want to hear Cormega!

Cormega: (Laughs) I know people are getting restless. But you gotta understand sometimes time benefits you, because I got Pete Rock who producting on the album and he recently got on board. Red Alert just got on within the last year. There has been new developments for the album and I’m gonna do a shitload of remixes also.

Philaflava: A lot of emcees have said that being locked up hindered their flow. For you it seems like it redefined it and made you a better writer.

Cormega: It can do both, but it depends on how hungry you are. It can take away from it cuz you’ve been away. Whenever you’re away from anything you’re gonna be off, I don’t care what you do. When Michael Jordan came back that first year he didn’t want it, know what I’m saying? When he first came back that time he got beat by the Orlando Magic, remember that? When Mike Tyson came back to boxing he was still rusty. When anyone comes back you got an adjustment period.

When I came home from jail knowing I had to re-adjust, cuz when I was in jail I learned more about myself and I got more introspective from that but also me coming home to Queensbridge at its height I had to separate myself from the pack. That’s why I had to do something to stand-out cuz you gotta understand this is right after “Illmatic” and “The Infamous,” so to come home being sup-bar would only hinder my chances of being successful, nahmean?

Philaflava: You definitely have a good ear for beat and for you it seems like production is really important, so what is it that you looking for in a beat?

Cormega: It just gotta grab you man. It’s like I look at beats like beautiful woman, there is no beautiful woman that looks the same. You might see a white woman that’s incredibly beautiful, then you might see a woman straight from Africa that’s totally beautiful. You might see a woman that’s black that’s totally beautiful, then you might see a woman that’s Oriental totally beautiful in their own unique way. A lot of MC’s cross-over and they traders to themselves cuz they’ll try and follow what’s hot, like say Pharrell makes something with a simple drum pattern and that’s the hottest shit right now, I literally see MC’s go I want some shit like Pharrell got. So now you got a bunch of people trying to make that sound or you got people trying to make a song like 50 made.

When we first listened to hip-hop on our radios and in our headphones we got caught on whatever was dope made us move and whatever was wack we forwarded from it, so I’m still from that school of thought. If something is wack I can’t fuck with it. When I listen to beats, I rather you give me a couple of CD’s with no names on it, than a CD of a known producer because that’s psychological. Sometimes a producers beat might not even be that good but you’re trying to force yourself into liking it because you have so much respect for the producer or because you want that producer on that album.

To be real with myself, I rather have a mix CD from a known producer and an unknown, just listen to it from top to bottom and I’ll pick out what’s dope and whatever is dope stays. I can’t fuck with just taking a beat cuz your name is hot at the moment cuz even hot people have wack beats. I try and make my shit as wack-free as possible.

Philaflava: Does something have to grab you immediately or can a beat grow on you?

Cormega: I think most of my albums the beats just caught me automatically. If something has to grow on you it’s really not dope. Think about it, if you eat something as soon as you taste it you know if it’s fucking good. Like Soul food can grow on you, Thelma from Good Time’s cooking could grow on you cuz you’re eating it and getting used to it. If something grows on me it would have to be a very exotic, different beat for it to grow on me. But as far as it being boom-bap, straight raw hip-hop if I don’t feel it I can’t fuck with it, nahsayin?

Philaflava: Tragedy commented on the Queensbridge cats, saying if you were more unified you would have dominated the East Coast scene and we all know New York hip-hop is at an all-time low right now. He also said all jealousies and beefs have caused the downfall, would you agree with that? And who do you think can bring back New York the way it used to be?

Cormega: I think New York is just a selfish state, period. New York City is a selfish city. It’s just the way we were raised in New York. It’s not just even with rappers, New York is not hospitable. If you leave New York and go to another state they would say “how you doing or good morning” they wouldn’t even know you. See we’re not used to that, you see strangers they just look at you and keep walking. New York is like the crab and the bucket mentality. In New York you got the rappers that don’t want nobody else to shine. Then you got the DJ’s that’s not gonna play your shit unless they getting’ paid and then you got the labels that want to focus on trying to get your first week sales that’s going make the label look good as opposed to making a dope album that’s gonna make everyone look good.

The top rappers from New York fucked everything up. When you take the top rapper they’re usually the most influential and people are always going to want to follow what that guy does. If he makes an album that’s decent, got a lot of radio play and sells a lot of records, he has a lot more freedom to do whatever he wants on his next album. He set the standards, but a lot of these rappers are idiots cuz they wanna try and top their previous sales. They’re not worried about their content on the album, they’re worried about being #1 on the charts or how much they’ll see the first week as opposed to making a dope album.

This is the formula that everybody follows and when you have people following that formula it doesn’t benefit hip-hop as a culture, it only benefits rap as an economic thing.

The animosities played a part in it too, but animosities doesn’t mean nothing if you’re powerless. Like I could have a grudge against a superstar rapper, but my grudge won’t affect their status. It’s the people at the top that fucked it up for everybody else, it’s that and it’s the greed. Greed is the one word synonymous with everything that’s fucked up in rap.

If you got a nigga that’s on top shining, it’s greed that’s making him say fuck that. I’ll give you a perfect example, if you look at Jay-Z’s first album and Nas first album there’s one name synonymous on both of those albums, Premier. Then you got people like Ski, Q-Tip, Pete Rock, etc. Now their careers have grown, like after they made Stillmatic and Blueprint, that right there could have brought hip-hop back. They both made both dope albums!

Those albums weren’t catered towards hits, both albums were from the heart and they were dope. “Takeover “ doesn’t sound like it was made for the radio, it sounds like it was made for the boombox. It was a dope record and shit Nas was making was dope, so if they would’ve kept that up people would have followed. But when you post up like that and changin’ what’s hot at the moment and disregarding other the people, then those people become irrelevant and start to question why should they fuck with these people.

Like if Nas wasn’t fucking with Primo why should they? If Jay ain’t fucking with Primo its going to make other people be like I wanna fuck with so and so who did that Jay beat.

All the people that made boom-bap hip-hop, the real shit, are being disregarded because people want the producer that made that joint and made this guy sell a million. Just because you get that producer doesn’t mean you’re gonna sell a million.

Philaflava: Ego made those two records you were just talking about what they are. If there wasn’t that desire for Nas to get at Jay or Jay to get at Nas we wouldn’t have “Ether” or “Takeover,” we’d have some Lodi Dodi type shit. But it was those records, the true school hip-hop, what they grew up on, what they loved, that brought the passion out inf them and that’s something you’ve maintain to have after a few albums. A lot of people say an artist loses that desire after their first few albums, but it hasn’t hit you yet, you still have shit to write to. That’s a rarity these days. There are cats like you and AZ but not many to follow.

Cormega: I love what I do. I love hip-hop, you gotta understand this is a blessing. You know there is actually people that get paid to play Playstation, imagine that job? That’s like a dream job, this to me is like a dream job cuz I always loved hip-hop. I loved it when I first heard Rakim, I loved it when I heard Slick Rick’s “Lodi Dodi” with Doug E. Fresh. I loved it when I heard Biz beatbox. I loved it when I heard “The Bridge” and I loved it when I heard “The Bridge Is Over.” I loved it when I heard T-La Rock, so for me to be apart of this and to be able to make money from it, when all I have to do is continue to do what I love and have it come from the heart, that’s like the biggest blessing in the world.

I’m comfortable in my skin. I’m content and I know I’m an underdog. I know I’m underrated and I know I’ll probably never get recognition that I feel I deserve, but I’m cool with that nahsaying?

When you lose your hunger you’re basically trying to be something else cuz you feel you made it and that’s being a traitor. Look, Jordan never lost his hunger and he won 6 rings. It’s all in your heart to do what you wanna do. A lot of these people just don’t have the heart. They get the money and say fuck everything. The day I feel like I’m not able to give people what I essentially been giving them, I’m going to leave rap. I’m not going to make a fool of myself or disrespect this lifestyle that has blessed me . Like Rakim said, I take this rap shit serious. A lot of people just look at this as a check and it shows in their music.

Philaflava: Let’s go back to the whole beef, animosity and greed thing. Do you feel that artists seem to be addicted to beef these days or is it just a ploy? You got that whole Saigon/Mobb Deep shit that just went down and then recently Sai claiming that his album is going to be better than “Illmatic.” It’s different than what it used to be. It was genuine shit when you had Moe Dee and LL go at it. Is this just a way cats can sell units now?

Cormega: I think a lot of people need to do shit like that need to bring attention to themselves. When 50 had the beef and blew up off of it, people looked at it as a follower. He really had beef. He was passionate about this shit. The guy was making a mixtape every fuckin’ month. So if you don’t have the drive like he’s got, just because you got beef doesn’t mean it’s gonna sell.

People have to understand, if people look at you as just beef, once there is no more beef they’re not gonna wanna deal with you. So for rappers to make proclamations sometimes, you gotta live up to that proclamation and if you don’t you’re gonna be looked at as a fool.

That Mobb Deep shit that happened recently, I ain’t gonna paid attention to that shit, I know what it is but I didn’t pay attention to that shit. At the end of the day, like Havoc s aid Mobb Deep got classics. Mobb Deep was EPMD, the most consistent duo. Every album they made was incredible. Mobb Deep got more anthems than anyone in Queensbridge. These guys made “Shook Ones,” “Hell On Earth,” “Quite Storm,” this is the guy that made Jadakiss’ biggest single “Why.”

Mobb Deep is more than just beef, at the end of the day Mobb Deep got classics. You can have animosity and differences but in order to go toe to toe with a rapper you gotta be on their level and accomplish what they accomplished. That goes for any rapper, you just can’t have beef with certain people because they put in so much work and cuz they got so much juice in the industry and you think it’ll benefit your career.

Philaflava: Well you went at it with Nas when you first came out. Cats didn’t know you really, maybe its cuz of Steve Stoute or The Firm or whatever, but cats were like who’s this dissing Nas? And it wasn’t like you weren’t wrong for that, but you did partake in beefing with a cat who at that point was probably at the peak of his career.

Cormega: Oh no doubt! That took a lot of balls from me. A lot of people were like wow cuz nobody ever dissed Nas on record. I didn’t even have an album out. I didn’t do it to get attention. See the one thing I hate about the media and hate is a strong word, but they put wanna put and spread what they wanna spread. A lot of people said Mega dissed Nas and Nature because Nature replaced him, but these same people, some of these are text book hip-hop people. They’re not from the streets or the mixtape era. Anybody that has any common sense or has knowledge of hip-hop knows Nature dissed me first on Clue’s tape. He shitted on me, but Nas was right there when he shitted on me, so that’s why I dissed Nas.

It’s like a boss sent his solider to do something, you’re not just gonna get the solider you’re gonna get the boss too. I said I’mma bring it to Nas and Nature. I’mma bring it to Nature cuz he played himself and I’mma bring it to Nas because he allowed this guy to come at me.

If you listen to the diss record I made, at the very beginning you hear “yo Mega you heard Nature trying to diss you on that Clue tape,” and I’m like word not that nigga? And that’s how the song starts.

People from the media, especially the geeky people that just write. Some people do things for a check and some people do things because they love it. It’s a job for them. They didn’t really listen to the song, they didn’t do background research. All they thought was this guy Mega was just wildin’ cuz he’s not in The Firm. So when I first dissed them I didn’t do it for a paycheck, I did it cuz I’m a passionate, emotional nigga, nahsaying? I stepped to Nature in the streets and everything. If Nature never did that, I would have never dissed Nas.

If you look at the differences I had with Nas. In 2001 when I made “The Realness” I had said my subliminal shit about Nas, but he was saying subliminal shit about me for albums. Whether it was “Hate Me Now” or “Big Things,” nobody was saying nothing about that because Nas is such a beloved rapper. It’s hard to have a beef with Nas. When I dissed Nas it was basically me coming back at him for dissing me.

The thing people have to understand when I made the “True Meaning” album there was no disses on there. I made a song “Love In Love Out,” the first verse is for Nas but it wasn’t a diss. It was tastefully and respectfully done where his mother could even listen to it. The second verse wasn’t even about Nas it was about people in my inner circle. So at the same time when people use beefs to elevate them, I went the other way. “True Meaning” had no disses and I had a diss song out at the time that I didn’t even put on the album and it was dope (A Slick Response). So now I made an album with no diss to Nas, I got better reviews and 80% of the reviews said I showed growth. I won a Source Award for that album and some others. There were magazines that said if you diss Nas we’ll give you a feature and I said no. At the end of the day me and Nas had our differences, but I got more history with Nas than I got with some guy who’s just looking for a hot story for his magazine, that’s probably gonna say fuck me the next month.

You need to realize magazines and these news people ain’t ya friends. I went the other way, I said you know what I’m not gonna be labeled a diss record and I don’t need controversy to sell records. I made “The Realness,” “True Meaning,” I’ve won awards, I’ve been around the world and I did all this without the beef. I’m proud of the stance I made. I think other rappers should follow, let your music speak for yourself.

Philaflava: Was Chris Lightly the reason behind “The Testament” being shelved?

Cormega: Of couse! “The Testament” probably would have come out, but I said fuck it. I was signed to Violator since ’96. I think that album was supposed to come out ’97 or ’98 cuz of The Firm situation. If you look at Def Jam of the era it was the most overrated label in the fucking world. They never broke new artists, they always capitalized off of somebody elses effectiveness of that artists. I’ll give you a perfect example, look at everybody they signed in the 90’s. They signed Redman, EPMD broke Redman. Once he was on “Headbangers” anyone would have signed him. Then you got Method Man and we don’t even have to go there cuz he’s apart of the Wu-Tang. You could say Loud Records broke Method Man. They signed Warren G, who wouldn’t sign Dr. Dre’s brother? They signed Foxy Brown, who wouldn’t have signed the hottest female rapper out at the time? They signed Jay-Z but he was already self-suffient. That was a Roc-A-Fella thing, so B.I.G., Jay and Dame was resposible for that success. They signed DMX, who’s been signed to Def Jam but only put him out after “24 Hours To Live” and “Money, Power, Repect.” He was essentially a star, then they put his album out. Def Jam never put out somebody new. They were a gimmick label at that time. So a nigga like me, what were they gonna do with an artist like Cormega? They wanted Trackmasters to do their work for them. I was suppose to sign a production with Trackmasters, thus I would have been on The Firm album and then Def Jam would have put out my album. That’s why when I didn’t sign the production deal I wasn’t in The Firm which affected my relationship with Def Jam.

Def Jam was playing chess. A smart game of chess too. Foxy Brown was signed to Def Jam, Cormega was signed to Def Jam so if I was in The Firm, Def Jam would have had to be really involved in The Firm. Everybody wanted a piece of that pie, cuz you had Dr. Dre, The Trackmasters, Nas, AZ, Foxy Brown—that’s a money machine right there!

If you look at the album, look at all the labels on it, you see Sony, Interscope and Def Jam. So when I wasn’t apart of The Firm it fucked up some of their leverage but it also fucked up how they were going to put me out because they were going to use my marketing from The Firm.

So me, what I did at the time was put out a mixtape. I put out a mixtape with no album out, that’s before rappers were doing that. The only people that had “Best of” mixtapes was people like Biggie, the niggas that was on. Nobody as a no-name nigga had a mixtape out before I did it. We put it out with Dream Team, they had a record store in Harlem so that was the first place that put out the mixtapes. As a matter of fact you probably could find the mixtape online. It’s the first mixtape done by a rapper with no album out. I put it out and it sold mad units. I didn’t really get no money from it but I was testing the waters. That’s how I knew niggas wanted me, by the streets. Then I went on the Survival of The Fittest tour with DMX and Redman. We’re in places like Chicago and Detroit and they fucking feeling me. They loving my shit showing me my mixtape like its an album. That’s how I knew the streets were ready for me, but Chris Lighty didn’t have that faith in me. In 1999, I said I don’t want to be here no more. I told Erick Nicks, the A&R at the time I don’t want to be on this label anymore. There is a Violator compilation that was supposed to be a set-up for me, but I was only on one song and there are other artists who were on more than one and I was the only one who was signed to Violator.

Everybody else was down with Violator management. So I’m signed to your record company and I’m only on one song on the Violator compilation album? Right then and there I knew I wasn’t a factor in Violators plans so I wanted out. A few days later I went up to Def Jam and went to Kevin Liles office and told him like a man, I never let my my friends in the street or my influence in the street affect my professionalim of an artist and I want to keep it like that. I never gave you guys no problem. I said everyday you come here, you jump in your big Lexus and drive home to your house.

I’m on the shelf. I’m not working right now, so you’re not allowing me to be an artist. I want to be let go and I’m not asking, I’m telling. Two days later I was free from Def Jam, but I was never dropped.

Philaflava: The first time I heard you was with Poet on “Set It Off”, was that your first apperance?

Cormega: That was my first apperance as Cormega, but a lot of people try and take credit like they put you on record. If you do some research you’ll find that I had a record deal before everbody from Queens from the new generation. Remember Lords of The Underground?

Well when they got their deal I was getting a deal with them. That was a package deal. Marley Marl got me my first deal in 1992, but the reason I didn’t sign the deal was because I couldn’t sign the deal behind bars.

The first time I appeared on wax as Cormega was off the PHD album “Without Warning.”

Philaflava: Yeah, “Set It Off.”

Cormega: If you listen to the subject matter, it speaks for itself. I be lauging when I hear certain niggas say they started that street shit I’m laughing cuz I was the first nigga taking about guns from Queensbridge.

If you listen I said “my device has a long clip with infrared lights.” I’m not being c reative, we had a Mac-11 with infrared lights. My crew we were called Goodfellas, were just just wild, young, ignorant niggas. I was telling what I was living. I said “I set it off like as solider in Four Main.” Four Main is a dorm in Rikers Island. Nobody was talking shit like that, especially from Queensbridge. I’m telling you what I’m going thru in the streets. I was hustlin’ my ass off at that time, like I just told somebody recently Nas and Mobb Deep are the most successful group from Queensbridge because they deserved it.

We all are faced with decision to make and I just happened to make the wrong decision, like other rappers. When I was running the streets I was nice and I’m talking about super nice where niggas couldn’t fuck with me, but I was running the the streets and Nas was in the studio with Large Professor. So Nas got to add extentions with Rakim, Kool G. Rap and being with Large Professor. I think Large Professor is one of the best A&R’s in music period. And Havoc got to be around Large Pro and got to learn about beat machines, so while I was running around the streets whylin, these niggas were making their rounds. That’s why they deserve what they got. I’m talking about Queensbridge, a lot of rappers can say Queensbridge doesn’t have unity cuz of the ego shit, but at the end of the day are you apart of that problem?

Queensbridge fucked up because nobody wanted to play their position. Everybody wants to be bigger and badder than the next.

You know what my nickname for Queensbridge is? Rome. Anyone that be around me like Buckwild and others producers laugh when I say that. Rome almost took over civilization but to only be conquered by themselves and that’s how Queensbridge is. Nobody respects other people’s accomplishment. When I sold what I did independently, there was other people saying “oh shit Mega sold that much, I’mma do 200,000.”

Like selling 100,000 records independently with no big promotions or marketing was easy. That’s like going gold or platinum. If you’re from Queensbridge you’re always going to have to face the facts you’re not bigger than Nas, your not bigger than Mobb Deep and then you got MC Shan and Marley Marl. So just pay homage, fall in line, say your rhyme and go about your business. If you have rappers learn to do that it would all be fine, but people want to unity when their careers are on life support. Me, I work with anybody. If I respect you I’ll work with you, that’s how I am.

Sadat X contacted me to do a song and the first thing I told him was I don’t want any money because I have so much respect for guys who came before me and set the path. I don’t even charge those type of rappers, so that’s what Queens has gotta do. You gotta have respect for each other’s craft and then we’ll grow.

I never put out an album that was wack yet, at least to me. So I’m here, whoever wanna work and work from the heart, I’m here. Me and Hav was just together. I’mma do something with Prodigy soon. I did something with Tragedy so I’m doing my part, everybody else gotta play their position.

Philaflava: I heard if it wasn’t for rap you’d be a pro-boxer now?

Cormega: If it wasn’t for rap, I’d definitely be into boxing. That was the only thing I did effortlessly besides rap and sell drugs. People used to call me baby “Sweet Pea,” like Pernell Whitaker. I fought against real boxers, one guy from the Rochester boxing team I knocked him out of the ring in the first round. Like out the fucking ring!

Philaflava: Did you catch the Taylor/Pavlik fight?

Cormega: Nah, I was in California at show and I guess I was under the influence so much I didn’t even remember that there was a fight.

Philaflava: Speaking of Cali, how did you link of with Mob Figaz and do you have any plans to record with Jacka or Husalah in the near future?

Cormega: Jacka is my man, that’s my dude. I had a show in L.A. and he drove all the way from the Bay and that’s like 5 hours. I met all the Mob Figaz years ago. I went to the Bay to do a song with them and ever since I got there I got cool with them. Mob Figaz is some people I can vouched for. You know how some people are talened but not really street? Mob Figaz are talented and really street. Everything they rap about is the truth. I didn’t even know these niggas for an hour and the police roll up on the truck we’re in. In California the police are disrespectful. They make you get on the floor and lay on your stomach and all that. I never experienced that until I went to the Bay. I mean I didn’t even know these guys yet, I just met them shaking their hands and then the police is tossin’ us up. The nigga Hus got a fucking gun on him coming out the car and I was just hoping he wouldn’t get caught. That was my first impression of the guy, but it was all laughs. They are good people and ever since then we got mad cool.

Husalah and Jacka are both on my “Who Am I” soundtrack too. I’m actually thinking about putting out a Jacka project. He wanted to do a mixtape in New York, so I told him just make a couple of extra songs and let’s put it out thru Legal Hustle and break bread.

Philaflava: Which one was the better album, 50 or Kanye?

Cormega: To be honest I didn’t listen to both of them, but at the end of the day I commend both of them. They brought the East back. You gotta realize nobody could ever really shit on 50 Cent. If he retires right now, he made more in a shorter time than anybody in rap history. Not Russell, Not Jay, nobody made it as quickly as 50.

From 2002 to 2007, who made more money than 50 in five years, nahsaying? You can’t shit on him, because at the end of the day you can go home to your house and wish you had the money he had. They brought classy competitiveness back. Remember Rakim and Kane had the competitiveness, it was not disrespectful. Kane came out with a dope album, Rakim came out with a dope out and it was left up to us to decide who was doper. That’s what they did. I mean they were on the cover of Rolling Stones magazine and had the whole world watching.

Philaflava: Speaking of Kane and Ra, who in your heart do you feel is the Greatest of All-Time?

Cormega: That’s a tough one. For real, I always looked at Rakim as so ahead of his time, but Kane is so dope too. What fucked Rakim up is his inconsistencies, cuz he be taking those long breaks. And I don’t wanna be the pot calling the kettle black cuz I haven’t put out an album in years. Put it like this, if Rakim would have put out albums consistently, he could have solidifed himself. Slick Rick is my favorite storyteller ever. G. Rap is could go toe to toe with Rakim and Kane. “Men At Work” is one of the most fierce lyrical track ever.

My favorite niggas are Rakim, Kane, G. Rap, Slick Rick, Scarface, Lauyrn Hill…

Philaflava: Blastmaster?

Cormega: Yea KRS-ONE.

Philaflava: You gotta put Nas somewhere in the Top 10.

Cormega: Of course Nas, he’s one of the greatest rappers ever. But I look at him different. Like the way you look at Ron Artest like yo that nigga is ill, I just see Ron Ron, I grew up with him. Nas is definitely one of the greatest rapper, but I consider him new era. Out of the new era rappers, he set the standards for what a classic album should be.

Like Rakim set the standard for what an emcee should be. Rakim fucked the game up for Run-DMC. You know those simple rhymes, “I’m light skin, I live in Queens, I love eating chicken and collard greens,” rappers like that Rakim fucked the game up for them.

When Rakim came out I looked at Run-DMC and all those simple rappers a little bit differently, like wait a minute these niggas ain’t ill like him.

Rakim ushered in the new era for the 80’s and Nas did that for the 90’s with Illmatic. I think Nas is the modern day Rakim and Mobb Deep is the modern day EPMD. And Tragedy since we’re on the subject, he was the greatest kid rapper in the history of rap. Like he was rapping when he was 15. Compare him to Bow Wow or whoever else is little. I liked Tragedy better as a kid rapper than I do now. He was incredible, a phenom.

Like how you would look at Michael Jackson or Ray Charles. He just doesn’t get the respect he should. He came out in 1986 and here it is 2007 and the niggas still nice. Not everybody can say that, so he’s definitely one of the most underrated artists. The greatest child rapper ever. I also think Havoc is the most underrated producer in hip-hop right now. Craig-G is the epitome of a freestyle rapper, he’s hip-hop. Marley Marl, what can I say, he’s the Quincy Jones of rap. That’s how I feel about the rappers from my hood.

Philaflava: How about Extra P? You had really good chemistry with him on “The Come-Up” and “Sugar Ray & Hearns.”

Cormega: It’s a crime that Large Professor doesn’t have a job at a label. He gave the public Nas, that’s one. Main Source’s album “Breaking Atoms” is a fucking classic, that’s two. He gave you Akinyele, that’s three. Then he helped mold Nas and shaped “Illmatic,” one of the greatest albums ever. You’ll have a verse that you think is incredible and he’ll say it’s wack. Not for the words, but for the way you’re saying it. So a lot of time I used to be critizized for my flow, but when you got people like Large Pro around that doesn’t happen. I love working with Large Professor, he does his weirdo shit sometimes, but I love Large Professor as a person and as a producer. It’s a shame he doesn’t have a job as an A&R.

Philaflava: Another guy you had really good chemistry with was Ghostface, do you see working with him again?

Cormega: Hell yeah. I love Ghostface. Ghostface is hip-hop. He loves hip-hop. I definitely got a few songs in mind that I wanna do with Ghostface, definitely.

Philaflava: A lot of rappers turn to movies. Have you ever thought about entering the world of acting?

Cormega: It would have to be after I’m not rapping anymore or it would have to be very lucrative. The way I see it in life is God puts a balance on us. He doesn’t want us to be blessed in everything. Only certain people can do everything, like Jamie Foxx is a great actor, a great singer and great comedian.

I think if I started acting it would take away from the rap. Cuz rap dictates so much of my life. I wake up out of my sleep sometimes and I gotta pick up a pen cuz if I don’t write the rhymes down in my head I’m going to lose it forever. And I rather lose a little bit of money than to lose a rhyme. I actually got a script now that my man developed for a street movie and I’m really considering let somebody else play the role I was gonna play cuz I might not have the time to do it.

Philaflava: What would surprise people about you when it comes to your musical taste?

Cormega: Some of the things that would surprise people is Guns N’ Roses, No Doubt… I’m about to start on my Beatles shit. I like the 70’s era. I think the Guns N’ Roses and No Doubt may surprise people the most.

Philaflava: That’s two good choices. You can’t really go wrong with Guns N’ Roses, t hey’re one of the greatest groups of the 80’s and 90’s.

Cormega: I’m going thru my music now to see what’s surprising. You know what maybe surprising? I think “License To Ill” by the Beasties Boys is a classic album and I tell people that all the time. I always look at peoples list of albums they think are great and I never see that. I got No Doubt “Rock Steady” right here and that’s it.

Philaflava: You need to get Tragic Kingdom if you’re a No Doubt fan.

Cormega: That sounds like a good title for Tragedy too.

Philaflava: Jets or Giants?

Cormega: I like the Giants better than the Jets but they both suck right now. But not for nothing I want the Patroits to win this year.

Philaflava: Why Moss?

Cormega: Yeah he deserves it. I don’t know what it is, maybe it’s cuz I can relate. I always like the guy that the media…You can’t be as talented as Randy Moss and have a bad year and then everybody shit on you like you’re not ill no more. That’s one of the things I hate about the media. Randy Moss is not an athlete, he is a freak. Certain things that they do defies atheletism. Like Kobe is a freak. Carl Lewis was a freak. You can say what you want about Randy Moss. He wasn’t happy in Oakland, he was going thru bullshit and all of a sudden they say he sucks. So now I’m glad he’s back and shutting all these media niggas up cuz I can relate to that. When I didn’t come out with “The Testament” I remember this gay looking nigga at Def Jam was like it’s over for Cormega.

When I came out with “The Realness” and sold over 100,000 and was on the Billboard charts and on a higher position than some of these niggas on majors it was my last laugh. Seeing Randy Moss get two touchdowns per game shitting on these muthafuckas, I love it. And I can’t wait for Ron Artest to have his day too. I always root for the the underdog.

Philaflava: Is Ron Artest a fan of Mob Figaz being that he’s out in Cali?

Cormega: I don’t even know if he knows about the Mob Figaz. But he’s a hip-hop head. If he stopped playing ball right now he’d go full throttle into rap. I don’t know if he’s a fan of theres, I gotta do a background check but I do know he loves Mobb Deep.

Philaflava: I read that your step-mother used to make you read a book a week. So what’s your favorite book?

Cormega: I don’t remember her making me read a book a week, that’s probably some Wikipedia bullshit. Everything they ever say is wrong.

Philaflava: (Laughs)

Cormega: My step-mom made me love reading. I hope a lot of young kids read this interview and take this jewel that I say. Sometimes when your parents are hard on you or your teacher is harder on you than others, its not because they’re picking on you, it is because they see something in you that you don’t even see. There was times my sister used to go out and play and I used to have to stay in my bed and read. I used to hate her for that, but at the end of the day I began to love reading. Then I began to love vocabulary and now look how it benefited me. My vocabulary is what seperates me from a lot of rappers. I guess I could never thank her enough for that.

Philaflava: What’s your favorite book and the last book you read?

Cormega: Shit the last book I read, I didn’t even finish reading it. I was reading Kareem Abdul-Jabar’s biography and I was so fucking busy trying to finish the DVD, I had to take the book back to the library.

My favorite book is a simple ass book I read to my daughter, called “The Giving Tree.” You should read that book, it’s a kid’s book but it has so much jewels to it that you could be 60 years old and relate. It’s by Shel Silverstein. Look it up, it’s about life. It’ll take you 15 minutes to finish the book.

Philaflava: I have A.D.D. so I don’t really read. I probably won’t even finish reading this interview.

Cormega: (Laughs)

Philaflava: Let’s get political. Who do you like in the upcoming election?

Cormega: I’mma go with Hilary.

Philaflava: Everybody seems to go with Hilary. Any particular reason why?

Cormega: You gotta be a god damn fool not to go with Hilary. What was the most common thing said when Bush took office? Damn I miss Clinton. Damn I wish Clinton was still president. Well here is your chance to have Clinton back in office. He won’t be calling shots, but they have the same vision. They’re for us, especially African-Americans. They were in our corner, rockin’ with us and the country was doing pretty good when they were there. We didn’t have no war like we got now. They was alright. So if you could go back to what you had, why wouldn’t you? Nahsaying? So I’m going with Hilary.

Obama, I respect him. He’s a brother and everything but I don’t know nothin’ about him. You got to think about it, everybody says what you wanna hear when its election time. Philaflava: Mike Vick, is he a victim of the media?

Cormega: I think American society has a fascination with destroying black celebrities. I think Mike Vick ain’t a victim of the media, he’s a victim of some bitch ass niggas that were his friends. Cuz think about it Barry Bonds got a white boy that kept it more real than black dudes from the street. Barry Bonds’ friend is a white guy that’s not from the hood. Mike Vick friends are black guys from the hood. They told on him and Barry’s man stood firm and went to jail. Who kept it realer? So he’s not a victim of the media, he’s a victim of some bird ass niggas. The media is always going to victimize a brother for whatever you do. Dave Chappelle did something that was beautiful. He went back to Africa and rediscovered his love for himself, his blackness. I think a lot of people should do pilgrimage. Jewish people do it all the time. They go back to Israel. Muslims try to make a trip to Mecca. A lot of people that are Puerto Rican, go to Puerto Rico. My Dominican friends go to the Dominican Republic but when a brother goes to Africa he’s crazy. Cuz he didn’t wanna take some money and do things somebody else’s way.

With Vick, you gotta understand if you’re a brother making money you’re gonna be way more under the microscope than somebody else. And for him to be involved in that dog shit was crazy. He’s making so much money do other things, he should have left that alone. I think he fucked up, but I wish him the best. I’m not gonna sit here and bring him down because they already doing a fine job of that.

Philaflava: I’m going drop a few names, word association style. We want to know what you think about these guys, so be brutally honest.

Philaflava: Beanie Sigel

Cormega: Fucking dope! Beanie Sigel reminds me of me.

Philaflava: E-40

Cormega: Slay master.

Philaflava: Common

Cormega: I’m so proud of Common right now. He’s one of the people that is helping bring hip-hop back. He was just recently #1 on the charts and I think it’s well deserved. Actually, on my first album “The Realness” the song “America Beauty” was formatted after his song “I Used To Love H.E.R.” When I met him, I told him I’mma do a song like that. I got tremendous respect for Common Sense.

Philaflava: Ras Kass

Cormega: I met Ras Kass before. He’s an aiight brother. I really don’t know much about him, so I don’t know.

Philaflava: Saigon

Cormega: (Long pause). Saigon…Saigon…(Laughs) I don’t know what to say.

Philaflava: Kool Keith

Cormega: I just seen Kool Keith yesterday. Yo, Keith needs to start a beauty cream. I don’t know how old that nigga is but he looks like he is 22. He’s doing a show that’s going to be on the cartoon network, so we were doing a TV spot. I saw Keith across the room and I thought he was a new rapper. I thought he was one of those new young dudes. He’s definitely an O.G., so whatever it is he’s using he needs to put in a bottle.

Philaflava: He’s like the black Dick Clark.

Cormega: Exactly! As a matter of fact somebody should tell him that cuz he’ll probably use that name.

Philaflava: Black Thought (from The Roots)

Cormega: Shit! Hip-hop. A warrior.

Philaflava: Lil Wayne

Cormega: Little Weezy. you know I was the first nigga to do a song with him from New York, right?

Philaflava: Nah, I didn’t know.

Cormega: Violator album, “Who Can I Trust.” When I did the song with Wayne everybody said why didn’t you do a song with Juvenile instead? Now he’s one of the hottest rappers in America. But he’s a dope rapper.

Philaflava: Hell Rell

Cormega: A muthafuckin’…a muthafuckin’ street nigga.

Philaflava: AZ

Cormega: AZ is Robin.

Philaflava: Batman & Robin?

Cormega: Yes. Sometimes Robin is iller than Batman. When you think about it Robin is cooler than Batman. Think about it. Batman is all stiff and shit. He’s that nigga but Robin is the cool one. The only thing about Robin is dope as he is, he’s always going to be under the shadow of Batman. Wherever Robin goes he’ll always be asked questions about Batman.

Philaflava: So he’ll always be that guy from “Life’s A Bitch?”

Cormega: Exactly! But AZ is dope. I think he’s got one of the best flows and voices in hip-hop.

Philaflava: I agree. I think between Beanie, AZ and yourself, you guys are the people that can really bring back that East Coast flavor.

Cormega: I got something to say about Saigon. If he humbles himself, he will go a lot farther. Keeping it real aint’ what everybody wants, but sometimes people get scared of shit like that. If he conforms a bit he’ll be better off. When you come out the villain and outspoken people get scared of that. You noticed I’m not that politically correct as I used to be.

Philaflava: What’s your most favorite track you’ve recorded?

Cormega: “Fresh” that’s going to be on my new album. It’s like a dream. I’m on my record with Red A lert doing my intro and outro. Grand Puba is spitting, PMD saying my name in a song. With KRS-ONE saying my name in his verse and Big Daddy Kane ending my song, that’s my favorite song I’ve ever done. I don’t even feel like I deserve to be in their company. That’s just incredible for me.

Philaflava: What’s your favorite album of all-time?

Cormega: Shit that’s a tough question. Let me think which album I kept going back to. I’mma tell you albums I must listen to, you gotta have “Great Adventures of Slick Rick.” You know “Hey Young World?” I can’t listen to that just once, when I hear it I gotta play that song at least three times minimum. It’s like a drink and somebody put something in it. So that album is one of those albums for me. “Makaveli” is one of those albums. “Paid In Full,” “Illmatic,” “The Chronic,” Anita Baker’s “Rapture.”

Oh shit you know what’s my albums of albums? “Off The Wall” by Michael Jackson.

Philaflava: What was it like rocking with Nas last December on stage?

Cormega: Let me tell you something nobody knows. I’mma give you an exclusive I never told nobody. Me and Nas got a funny relationship, like you gotta understand we grew up with each other. Nas knows Corey, I know Nasir. Me and Nas spoke before that show, but nobody knew. People say shit on the internet and I just laugh at it. One time I told a fan on the internet because somebody said something slick, so I got people that show me what’s going on, so I commented back to the dude like “Yo, if you and me were in the street having a fight and Nas walked by who do you think he’d help?” Nahsaying? That’s some real shit. We had our differences but at the end of the day I know him. When his moms died I was hurt. The fans weren’t hurt. I knew Jungle before he was Jungle when he was Jabari. I know Grandwizard and I know Mike. We squashed our beef and Nas was telling me who was talking shit, like we sit there and laugh at these bitch ass niggas. The only thing that benefited me from having beef with Nas and vice versa, was that we saw where certain people stood. People tried to use the beef to benefit themselves like fuck it, I’mma get close with Nas cuz I don’t like Mega. Then you had people that would fall out with Nas that would try and get cool with me.

I know one nigga from Brooklyn, he’s supposed to be tough too. He don’t rap he just hangs out with rappers. He was in the studio shitting on my name to Nas and Nas told me everything he said and the only reason I didn’t follow up on that is cuz my crew already stomped this nigga out before. So it was like fuck it, but I laughed at it. Niggas gotta understand me and Nas got a weird relationship. I can have differences with him, but it’s still the nigga I grew up so I can still walk with him.

When we did that show, the craziest thing about that was, I realized how much we let the fans down by beefing with each other. Cuz while Nas was doing his thing, I was doing mine and I’ve always had a chip on my shoulder like I got something to prove, so now I’m finally getting my respect as an artist and Nas been had his respect so it’s like niggas wanna see us do shit together. To see the response people had when we came out together was kinda crazy for me and for Nas. I can definitely speak for him on that cuz were backstage together and were all were like that was crazy. Me, L.E.S., Nas, Fox were all fucked up. That’s a feeling you could never get again. It was magical. Niggas wasn’t cheering, they were screaming. The most common phrase I heard from that show was “I got goose bumps.” That all made me realize what we were doing by beefing. It was a new awaking, just eye opening for me.

Philaflava: Any last words? What’s on deck for Mega in 07/08?

Cormega: I’m branching off into some film shit, not movies but Legal Hustle will be doing different visual type entertainment. There is gonna be another “Got Beats,” I’mma do volumes of those. You got the solo album of course, then you got a few niggas from Queensbridge getting together trying to show you how we do when we put our minds together. I’ll probably be working on the Jacka shit. All the people that are saying that I took long, all that’s gonna be remedied very soon, I can say that.

For more info on Cormega go to http://www.myspace.com/cormega. Also be on the look out for “Got Beats?” in stores October 23rd and the DVD “Who Am I” coming out November 20th.