Cory McKay (born December 3, 1970), better known by his stage name Cormega, is an American rapper who attained notice when he was shouted out by

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ...

on his song "

One Love One Love may refer to: Music * One Love (record producer), Timothy Sommers, American record producer, half of the duo Kinetics & One Love * ''One Love: The Bob Marley Musical'', a 2015 stage musical Albums * One Love (Blue album), ''One Love'' (B ...

", from the critically acclaimed 1994 album ''

Illmatic ''Illmatic'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Nas. It was released on April 19, 1994, by Columbia Records. After signing with the label with the help of MC Serch, Nas recorded the album in 1992 and 1993 at Chung King Studios, D&D Re ...

''. The album was released during Cormega's time in prison, but the mention sparked his career and created anticipation for his own rapping.

Early life

Cormega was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York City, and raised in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. He was childhood friends with

Havoc High Altitude Venus Operational Concept (HAVOC) is a set of crewed NASA mission concepts to the planet Venus. All human portions of the missions would be conducted from lighter-than-air craft or from orbit. Background Venus is a planet with a r ...

and

Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...

, who all went on to become successful rappers. A frequent theme of his music is the countless number of his friends and family that have been killed by violence.

Career

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 Wilbur Bass (born May 31, 1969), better known as Blaq Poet, is an American rapper from Queensbridge, New York City. Biography Blaq Poet was first heard on the track "Beat You Down" from the Bridge Wars during 1987, a diss song towards KRS-O ...

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 Name-dropping (or name-checking or a shout-out) is the practice of naming or alluding to important people and institutions within a conversation,. story, song, online identity, or other communication. The term often connotes an attempt to impress ...

from

on his song "

", from the ''

'' album released in 1994. 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 ''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 ''I ...

'' released on July 2, 1996. The song also featured AZ and Foxy Brown, and became

The Firm The FIRM (stylized as The FIRM) is a brand of exercise videos and equipment currently owned by Gaiam. The original "The FIRM" videos are best known for popularizing a hybrid of aerobic exercise and weight training. History In 1979, Anna Ben ...

's first appearance. He was signed to

Def Jam Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

and recorded an album called '' The Testament''. Nas, his manager

Steve Stoute Steve Stoute (born June 26, 1970) is an American businessman and record executive. Stoute is the founder and CEO of the Translation, a marketing agency, and the author of ''The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture That Rewrote the ...

and producers

Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and w ...

and

The Trackmasters The Trackmasters are an American hip hop production duo composed of music producers Poke (Jean-Claude Olivier) and Tone (Samuel Barnes), best known for their commercial hit records in the mid-late 1990s and early 2000s. Frank "Nitty" Pimentel joi ...

joined to form The Firm. However, Cormega was replaced with another Queensbridge artist,

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

, because Nas and/or Stoute favored Nature. 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' "

" in the form of a letter also entitled "One Love".

2000s

In 2000, he was released from his contract and he started his own record company, Legal Hustle Records. Cormega vented his disappointment with Nas and The Firm in a

mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

song titled "Never Personal". This song was never directly pointed to Nas, but the media made it look like that. In 2001, he released his new debut album, '' The Realness''. Many of the songs share a theme of

betrayal Betrayal is the breaking or violation of a presumptive contract, trust, or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations. ...

responded to Cormega on his song "Destroy and Rebuild" from his album ''

Stillmatic ''Stillmatic'' is the fifth studio album by American rapper Nas, released on December 18, 2001, by Ill Will and Columbia Records. In contrast to his previous work's gangsta rap themes, the album contains socially conscious and philosophical theme ...

''. Cormega retaliated with more mixtape tracks, "A Slick Response" and "Realmatic". Cormega's follow-up album, ''

The True Meaning ''The True Meaning'' is the second studio album by Queensbridge rapper Cormega. It was critically acclaimed and won the prestigious "Independent Album of the Year" at the Source Awards 2003. He also received "Impact Artist of the Year" honors at ...

'' won the

Source Magazine ''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...

's Underground Album of the Year award. In 2004, he followed up with ''

Legal Hustle ''Legal Hustle'' is the debut compilation album by American rapper Cormega. It was released on May 25, 2004, through Koch Records. It was supported by two singles: "Let It Go", which features M.O.P. and "Dangerous", which features Unda P. and Vy ...

'', a

compilation album A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...

showcasing his label's artists. In 2005, he released '' The Testament'' on his own label. 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. 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."

2010s

Cormega's latest album, ''

Mega Philosophy ''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 R ...

'', was entirely produced by frequent collaborator

Large Professor William Paul Mitchell (born March 21, 1972), better known by the stage name of Large Professor (also Extra P. and Large Pro), is an American rapper and record producer. Based in New York City, he is known as a founding member of the underground ...

. On December 26, 2018, he released his first EP ''MEGA''. Cormega appeared on Nas' '' King's Disease'' in 2020, reuniting with members of the defunct

supergroup. In November 2022, Cormega released his long awaited album, ''The Realness II'', to rave reviews. Serving as a sequel to his 2001 debut album '' The Realness''.

Discography

* '' The Realness'' (2001) * ''

'' (2002) * '' The Testament'' (2005) * '' Born and Raised'' (2009) * ''

'' (2014) * ''The Realness II'' (2022)

Film

* ''Who Am I? (2007)

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control African-American male rappers American prisoners and detainees MNRK Music Group artists Living people People from Long Island City, Queens Rappers from New York City Underground rappers 21st-century American rappers 1970 births The Firm (hip hop group) members 21st-century American male musicians Gangsta rappers 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people