To me, Cormega is one of hip-hop's all-time greats. Lyrically, he has been able to personify the drug life of the late '80s and early '90s in a way no other emcee has been able to. His descriptive lyrics, raw content, smooth flow, and calm swagger separate him from most other "hardcore" rappers who yell over beats bragging about shooting guns, fucking hoes, and selling drugs without discussing the negative affects these activities can have on people in the real world. Mega lived that life, experienced the ups and downs, and uses his personal experiences to paint vivid pictures of life growing up in Queensbridge.
The bar to which I hold Cormega is very high, due to the fact that he released two classic albums back-to-back at the beginning of this decade. I expect not only The Realness from him, but also greatness because that's what his fans should be accustomed to at this point. That being said, "Born and Raised" is a good album but not on the same level as "The Realness" or "The True Meaning." It's definitely not a classic.
Before listening, I had great expectations. Producers include: Easy Mo Bee, Havoc, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Large Professor, Ayatollah, L.E.S., Buckwild, DR Period, Nottz, and Khrysis. This is one hell of a production squad. The album is Cormega doing what Cormega does best: raw lyrics over raw beats. The album sounds like it was recorded in the late '90s which I was happy to hear. What makes this album good as opposed to great is that it's the same old shit that Cormega always does, just not as good as before. His flow on some tracks is rather lazy and he doesn't say anything we haven't heard him say before. It's a very predictable album in that regard.
Another let-down of this album is that the beats are not as hard as I'm used to hearing on Cormega albums. Don't get me wrong, 6 of the tracks are pretty ill. The problem is that there are 8 more tracks that are merely average songs at best. The last track "Mega Fresh X" which features Parish Smith, Grand Puba, KRS-One, and Big Daddy Kane, is vexing to me. Parish Smith and Grand Puba are terrible at rhyming and their delivery is worse than a six-year-old reading a Dr. Seuss book out-loud, scared as fuck, in a first-grade classroom. They absolutely make the song not listenable. In addition, Mega put his track "Dirty Game" produced by DJ Premier on this album. This make no sense to me seeing that it was released years ago. I'm getting sick of rappers putting songs on albums that are old as fuck. That shit is a waste.
"Born and Raised" is a good album that doesn't achieve the level of greatness that his prior releases did. It's unfortunately a slightly damaged replica of his previous records. Or, since Cormega is such a big basketball fan, I should say it's like a Kevin Garnett $80.00 swingman jersey as opposed to a $180.00 authentic one. I don't know if Cormega has outgrown his hard, gritty edge through natural maturity or if he was just a little lazy on this album, because this album lacks that "Dead Man Walking," "I reign imperious, niggaz ain't fuckin' with me son I'm dead serious" type of vibe. In 2009, Cormega may be too far removed from his days of sellin' hand-to-hand and beatin' attempted murder raps in court. His signature similes and metaphors are just not as potent and deadly as they used to be.
I recommend the album for you hardcore Mega fans out there because there's still some quality hip-hop to be heard. Just don't expect classic material.
Money Miz gives "Born and Raised" a 3 out of 5.
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4 comments:
"In addition, Mega put his track "Dirty Game produced by DJ Premier on this album. That makes no sense to me seeing that it was released years ago. I'm getting sick of rappers putting songs on albums that are old as fuck. That shit is a waste"
I'm getting sick of hip-hop fans and this ridiculous mentality. The only reason it's "old as fuck" is because of hip-hop fans such as yourself consuming hip-hop for free on the internet at such a furious level demanding more and more and more from MC's.
So instead of being in the lab and creating an incredible album they have to satisfy the complainers and whiners who don't stop begging for content. Then what?
"Dirty Game" is released on a shitty website with shitty quality and then it's released on a shitty mixtape from some shitty DJ yelling all over the beat. And then when the artist wants to put out an amazing song they created on their album, the same hip-hop fans who incecently complain about content complain that it's on the album?
What is this. The only problem is how you are consuming music. Stop listening to shitty streams on the internet, stop buying shitty $2 mixtapes and then when you listen to Cormega's OFFICIAL ALBUM and hear a song he created and paid good money for with DJ Premier it's not "old as fuck" it's a song. And last I remembered artists are supposed to make music.
I don't udnerstand how you can say something like that especially after Raekwon's album. You looked at me like I was a child molester when I told you that I never heard "Baggage Handlers", "Criminology 09'" and "State of Grace" You know why I hadn't? Because I don't acively seek out shitty internet streams and shitty mixtapes.
But what happened? Raekwon released his OFFICIAL FUCKING ALBUM without any of those tracks on them and instead replaced them with "new" tracks. Why? Because he knew annoying whiny complaining hip-hop fans such as yourself would bitch about it.
This shit has to stop. An album is music. I don't give a fuck when it came out, if it's good, put it on the album. Artists need to stop caving into ridiculous shit like that. MAJOR PROPS to Cormega for not giving in to the complaining and putting his fantastic track on his official album that HE SELLS TO MAKE MONEY.
Fuuuuuuuuuckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk.
Keep up the good work.
Hahaha! I understand your pain with Raekwon's album because the tracks he omitted were way better than the tracks he replaced them with. Namely, the two piece of shit Dr. Dre tracks. My issue with Cormega and Royce Da 5'9 is that their songs were released on albums that theyvleaked themselves over 2 years ago. They put them out for mass consumption online and admit to doing it. Royce put out an album called The Revival with numerous tracks on it that are also on Street Hop. Just because the album isn't available in stores doesn't mean it isn't an album. If they release it online, it's still official to me. Who buys albums in stores anymore anyways? Not most people. 95% of the leaks come directly from the rappers themselves. They put songs out on EPs that they release online as a form of marketing. They cause the problems themselves!!! Why can't they hold onto all their shit until their album actually drops?
Also, my opinion on Cormega is slightly different because I don't think "Dirty Game" is a great song. I think it's OK. Nothing special. I didn't like it that much when it first leaked. So for me, personally, I feel like this album was lacking a hard edge and it's because of weak tracks like "Dirty Game." To me, putting this track on this album was pure laziness. Make some hot shit and put it on the album. Leave the average tracks for the mixtapes. Also, what the fuck took Cormega 7 years to put out an album? He should have had more than enough material to replace "Dirty Game" with a better track. These guys are professional rappers!!!! Get on your fuckin job and put albums out!!! He should have had an album out 2 years ago that he could have put "Dirty Game" on!!!
I completely agree with you on Raekwon not putting the songs you mentioned on Cuban Linx 2 because those songs are ridiculous. Cormega's "Dirty Game" is nothing special to stress about. The album should have been better if we gotta wait for 7 years. Not to mention he had a record release party in April for this album that I went to and the songs sounded better. Then he waits to release it for another 7 months with worse songs and has the nerve to have a record release party again for the same album at the same club in NY!!! Needless to say, I'm a little mad with Cormega.
Let me requote you again: "I'm getting sick of rappers putting songs on albums that are old as fuck. That shit is a waste."
Again, this is a problem that involves YOU specifically and the new hip-hop community and how artists are forced to feed into this bullshit.
When did Wu-Tang make "Reunited" in relation to when Wu Forever was released? When did Nas make "Represent" in relation to when Illmatic was released? When did Dr. Dre make "Nuthin' But a G'Thang" in relation to when The Chronic was released?
Oh, you don't know do you? Oh, you don't know which songs you want to be left off the album because of some arbitrary "time-rule" you and the new hip-hop community have created? Oh you can't complain, whine and bitch about an album that would be better suited to have better songs on it because you don't know when a song was made? Yeah that's what I thought.
Thank fucking god Cormega doesn't give into the bullshit and it's a god damn shame that Raekwon did.
Imagine hip-hop in the 90's if they gave into this lame mentality that infects hip-hop "fans" Fuck that and fuck you for propogating it.
An album is music. I don't give a fuck when it was made but if the artist made the song for their album that they sell to make money and represents them, their artistry and their body of work then they have every right to put it on the album without some lame backlash from the community.
"Yo sun, I herd dat trak liek 1 yer ago DEWD on sum rly kewl hiphopz site fer FREEE DAWG. It had dis liek rly kewl dj yellin and shiet yo. but den he put his song on hiz official albumz? Dat shit is da wack yo. I meen da song iz gud but liek 1 yer old? ROFLZZZZZZZ F dis album son. Itz ghey lololololol"
That's what Raekwon gave into. And your adding to it.
Hip Hop & Bullshit? Hip and BULLSHIT is right.
OK, OK. Point well taken. What you say is very true. The mixtape game is ruining hip-hop because nobody buys albums anymore. You're exactly right. It's a major problem and it is bullshit.
What on earth can be done though? Not much. The internet is a beast that can't be tamed. I have to say that some of the blame has to go to the rappers themselves. The "underground" rappers today leak everything themselves because they don't want to make real albums anymore because they never made money on sales back then or now. Dudes like Joe Budden went the commercial route and got fucked because they made good music and got shelved by their labels for 5 years. These dudes would rather put their music out for free and make money on tour. It's not just the fans that fucked the game, it's the rappers themselves and the labels too.
Also, nobody is holding a gun to these rappers' heads forcing them to leak shit. They can leak bullshit that they know they won't put on an album and keep the good shit safe, but they don't.
I just feel like everybody is playing a part here and they're all ruining the game. I have to report this shit so, I have to consume the shit when it comes out. What can I do???
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