Cormega

An underground and critical favorite, Cormega was the rare hardcore rapper to win praise from all directions, and while he never quite crossed over like some of his New York City peers, he maintained a respectable independence over the years nonetheless, self-releasing his work on the Legal Hustle label. Born Cory McKay, Cormega grew up in the same Queensbridge housing projects that were home to a generation of rappers, most notably Nas, Mobb Deep, AZ, and Tragedy Khadafi, and a previous generation that famously included Marley Marl and the Juice Crew. Following some early guest appearances on releases by DJ Hot Day (e.g., "Set It Off" on PHD's Without Warning [1991]), Cormega did time, which put his rap career on hold for a few years. In 1994 Nas mentioned him by name on Illmatic, on "One Love" ("And night time is more trife than ever/What up with Cormega, did you see him, are y'all together?"), and upon Cormega's release from jail in 1995, he was featured as a guest on Nas' second album, It Was Written (1996), on "Affirmative Action" with AZ and Foxy Brown. Plans were made for a group -- named the Firm, led by Nas, with production by Trackmasters and Dr. Dre -- that would reprise the collaborative nature of "Affirmative Action" over the course of an album. Cormega was excluded from the project, however, replaced by fellow Queensbridge rapper Nature. A rift between Cormega and Nas resulted, leading to some bitter exchanges over the years (the two later patched up their differences, reuniting to perform "Affirmative Action" with Foxy Brown live on-stage in December 2006). Also upon his release from jail, Cormega signed a recording contract with Def Jam that seemed promising at the time. During 1995-1996, he went about recording his debut album, The Testament, with such...