Metal Lungies

How long has it been since Cormega’s last new album, ’02’s The True Meaning? “6 years” is the easy answer, but consider this: the original title to its follow-up — Urban Legend — was swiped by T.I., which led Mega to change the title to The Inevitable. This happened in 2004.

In the meantime, though, Mega’s still been putting in work. He put out The Testament, the shelved LP from his failed mid-’90s Def Jam tenure. It served as a nice treat, but not much more — Mega certainly didn’t have the ear for quality production back then that he has now. Mega also put out Legal Hustle and Who Am I? (the soundtrack to his home-made DVD), but some of the tracks on these guest-heavy compilations didn’t even feature Mega. It’s commendable that someone like Mega, a one-time victim of industry blackballing who had to rebuild his career from scratch, has since established working relationships with the likes of Ghostface, Kurupt, and Keak Da Sneak to name a few, but his ability to make friends doesn’t prove that rap music needs Cormega.

Rather, the fact that it’s been 6 years since Mega’s put out a new album, and fans are still patiently waiting, proves that rap music needs Cormega.

“Fallen Soldiers” was a track off Cormega’s first official release, The Realness. Unlike many of our past Remix Tuesdays features, the remix also appeared on the album, not just as a 12″ B-side… which is a good thing, because, in my opinion, it’s better than the original. The Alchemist beat on the remix, though not one of my personal favorites (insert shameless plug here), is low-key enough for Mega to get more emotional than he does on the original version (which works around the same sample as Jay-Z’s “It’s Like That”).

On each version of the song, Mega uses each of his 3 verses to discuss someone close to him that he’s lost. But, on the remix, he dedicates the last verse to his mother, and the second-to-last to a friend who apparently died leaving a 1-year-old daughter. “Little Ariel, at daddy burial/ Unaware of how much daddy cared for you/ And I don’t gotta talk about the things I’ll do/ Son I got you, be easy/ Your little girl will never need and never see the treachery this world has to offer”.

Lots of rappers use the word “real” with no “real” sense of what it means. But, with his ability to make songs like these, you’d be hard-pressed to question Mega’s “realness”.

Download: Cormega – “Fallen Soldiers”

Download: Cormega – “Fallen Soliders (Remix)”