DoomSystem
02-18-2005, 04:28 AM
New Interviews... with Cormega (Mega speaks on the making of The Testament), MASta ACe (Ace speaks on success of A LonG Hot Summer)..... Mykill Miers (The Hitchcock of Hip- Hop speaks on New LP) ... & J LOVE who talks about the mixtape game and upcoming projects.....
To read interviews just go to www.RiotSound.com (http://www.RiotSound.com) and click on Interviews...
here r the banners...
I am also attaching the interview with Cormega Below.....
http://www.riotsound.com/interviews/MykillMiers/images/Part2x.jpg
http://www.riotsound.com/interviews/MastaAce/images/Part1Y.jpg
http://www.riotsound.com/interviews/JLove/images/Part1z.jpg
http://www.riotsound.com/Cormega/CormegaFeb2005Interview/images/Part2Y.jpg
For those that have patiently followed the career of Cory McKay aka Cormega, February 22nd, 2005 will be a day of triumph. Cormega’s first opus The Testament will hit store shelves and finally become available to the public nearly a decade after the classic LP was first recorded. Touted by critics and anticipated by fans for years The Testament will finally see light in a turn of events that has been nothing short of extraordinary.
Parting ways with Def Jam as the label repeatedly put off The Testament’s release date, Cormega founded his own independent Legal Hustle Records imprint in 2001. While the initial decision to leave Def Jam was made largely out of frustration, Mega would soon find himself the beneficiary of widespread praise and critical acclaim. After dropping his first offical album The Realness in 2001, Mega kept on the grind, releasing his second LP The True Meaning less than a year later. Both albums are considered classics. The True Meaning earned a Source Award for Independent Album Of The Year in 2003. That same year Cormega would also be honored at The Underground Music Awards as the Impact Artist Of The Year.
In 2004 the onslaught would continue with another Legal Hustle release. A stellar compilation LP featuring Cormega alongside such artists as M.O.P., Ghostface Killah, Kurupt, Jayo Felony, Vybz Kartel and Large Professor would set the stage for what was to come next. Still, when the news came, it was almost hard to believe. Legal Hustle caught many devout Cormega fans by surprise when the label announced it would be releasing The Testament in 2005. The album will be released on February 22nd in its original form, exactly the way it was recorded between 1995 and 1996. Being a longtime fan of Mega, I remember waiting for The Testament to come out in the late ‘90’s; I would see promotional posters for it around Manhattan as well as ads in The Source (see original full page ad for The Testament in The Source). I can honestly say I thought this day would never come. The rap gods have smiled upon us. If you are reading this, do yourself a favor and cop the LP.
RiotSound: With your last album Legal Hustle, even though the album was very innovative musically and also well received by the fans; there was some confusion in mainstream media as to whether it was a solo LP or a compilation. Do you think there may have been somewhat of a negative effect in any way and if you had to do it over again would you have framed Legal Hustle in a different light?
Cormega: What do you mean by negative effect?
R: Well, some critics rated the album lower saying you had too many guest appearances, meanwhile it was a compilation with yourself and other artists, not a solo album, so obviously they seemed to be oblivious to what was going on.
C: You know what I think that is? I think that is from motherfuckers having their head too stuck up they ass. Because [our publicist] Jackie O sent out, no exaggeration, over fifty press releases. I actually even have a copy and I could send it to you or email it to you. It’s stated specifically that it’s not a solo album and that the next solo album is going to be called Urban Legend. What have you is – you got people like Bonsu [Thompson] at XXL – he gets the press release; but does he read it? No, because Cormega is not “big”. I guess I am not as important as say an Interscope artist or whatever.
So what happens is they don’t read the press release and when they review the album they just say shit like - there’s too many guest appearances. I would say there was eighty percent of people that knew it wasn’t a solo and the other twenty percent are those people that – well you got some people that don’t give a fuck about Hip-Hop or are not into the culture or not into the artists, they’re just out there doing their 9 to 5; like, ok, let me review this album and get my check, you know what I’m saying? As opposed to, ok Cormega - let me see what this is about.
There is no one doing backup checks; if you know I made The Realness album and there was only two guest appearances on there and then I made The True Meaning and that only had one guest appearance; then common sense would be - Legal Hustle had fourteen guest appearances on it and two songs didn’t even have me on them. Everybody that overlooked that, I mean, I don’t even know what to say about those type of people.
R: In putting out The Testament, as you are now, what were some of the legal matters that you had to deal with in getting the album away from Def Jam and into your hands? How does it make you feel to know that people are still waiting to hear this record after all these years?
C: I didn’t really go through no problems, the problem was remedied years ago. But it validates what I have been trying to say from day one – after The Testament situation never materialized I never really spoke much about it. I made The Realness and I made The True Meaning. There was a time when I was like fuck it, The Testament is just something that will never occur. But now it’s a different day and a different age and I am glad the fans are embracing it.
R: Let’s do a flashback and talk about when you recorded The Testament; you were just signed to Def Jam; what was your mindstate at the time and how did the album come together?
C: When I did The Testament, basically I just came home. I was home for a year and I didn’t have no deal – contrary to belief or people trying to take credit for getting me a deal, I didn’t have any deal. I just had a buzz ‘cause I was appearing on a lot of mixtapes; and my name was mentioned on the song One Love but that ain’t give me no buzz. I came home and I was on Puff Daddy’s mixtape back when he would do Bad Boy mixtapes, I was on Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito’s show. I was doing a lot of stuff but at the same time I was selling drugs. So Lyor [Cohen] got wind of this from one of my friends and he wanted to get me off the streets ‘cause he was interested in signing me. So that’s why I signed to Def Jam. He was like – what’s it gonna take for me to get you off the street? I just made up a number – I was like uhmmm $10,000. I just said that and he really got the $10,000 up for me. So that played a role with me signing to Def Jam.
So basically I signed a demo deal first; I did a song about a girl, I forget the name of it and I also did Dead Man Walking, which was produced by a good friend of mine Hot Day. We leaked Dead Man Walking and we were getting good feedback from the streets so soon after that I recorded One Love. That song is like a reply to Nas’ One Love letter; it’s not a diss record either. I read on the Internet recently where somebody said I got a diss song called One Love. And that just goes to show you what I said about people just getting into the this shit because of a job as opposed to really knowing what the fuck they talking about. I wrote One Love actually when I was in jail. That song was never even supposed to come out, I wrote it as recreation. I said it in the yard when I was battling somebody and I ripped it up and threw it on the floor after the battle ‘cause I won. But one of my friends picked it up and was like - yo keep this.
So I made One Love, it was produced by RNS and I made Angel Dust also around that time. I was in Chung King Studious and Havoc and P happened to be in Chung King in the next room. One thing I’ma say about Havoc is he’ll give you his last; he’s the type of person who’s heart is so pure, he has the best heart outta everybody from Queensbridge. At that time I didn’t really know how to do hooks; I just came home and when I went to jail hooks wasn’t in, people was just rapping. So Havoc came in the studio and he did the Angel Dust hook for me.
This was all in ’95, then ’96 is when I officially signed to Def Jam and one of the first songs I made was The Testament and that’s when it was reaffirmed that The Testament would also be the name of the album. At first we didn’t know what we were going to call it. We went from Full Metal Jacket to Say No More and through a bunch of other different titles. There are also two different versions of the song The Testament. When I first made the song; that was around the time there was friction between me and Nas...
To read the rest please visit www.RiotSound.com (http://www.RiotSound.com) and click on INTERVIEWS
To read interviews just go to www.RiotSound.com (http://www.RiotSound.com) and click on Interviews...
here r the banners...
I am also attaching the interview with Cormega Below.....
http://www.riotsound.com/interviews/MykillMiers/images/Part2x.jpg
http://www.riotsound.com/interviews/MastaAce/images/Part1Y.jpg
http://www.riotsound.com/interviews/JLove/images/Part1z.jpg
http://www.riotsound.com/Cormega/CormegaFeb2005Interview/images/Part2Y.jpg
For those that have patiently followed the career of Cory McKay aka Cormega, February 22nd, 2005 will be a day of triumph. Cormega’s first opus The Testament will hit store shelves and finally become available to the public nearly a decade after the classic LP was first recorded. Touted by critics and anticipated by fans for years The Testament will finally see light in a turn of events that has been nothing short of extraordinary.
Parting ways with Def Jam as the label repeatedly put off The Testament’s release date, Cormega founded his own independent Legal Hustle Records imprint in 2001. While the initial decision to leave Def Jam was made largely out of frustration, Mega would soon find himself the beneficiary of widespread praise and critical acclaim. After dropping his first offical album The Realness in 2001, Mega kept on the grind, releasing his second LP The True Meaning less than a year later. Both albums are considered classics. The True Meaning earned a Source Award for Independent Album Of The Year in 2003. That same year Cormega would also be honored at The Underground Music Awards as the Impact Artist Of The Year.
In 2004 the onslaught would continue with another Legal Hustle release. A stellar compilation LP featuring Cormega alongside such artists as M.O.P., Ghostface Killah, Kurupt, Jayo Felony, Vybz Kartel and Large Professor would set the stage for what was to come next. Still, when the news came, it was almost hard to believe. Legal Hustle caught many devout Cormega fans by surprise when the label announced it would be releasing The Testament in 2005. The album will be released on February 22nd in its original form, exactly the way it was recorded between 1995 and 1996. Being a longtime fan of Mega, I remember waiting for The Testament to come out in the late ‘90’s; I would see promotional posters for it around Manhattan as well as ads in The Source (see original full page ad for The Testament in The Source). I can honestly say I thought this day would never come. The rap gods have smiled upon us. If you are reading this, do yourself a favor and cop the LP.
RiotSound: With your last album Legal Hustle, even though the album was very innovative musically and also well received by the fans; there was some confusion in mainstream media as to whether it was a solo LP or a compilation. Do you think there may have been somewhat of a negative effect in any way and if you had to do it over again would you have framed Legal Hustle in a different light?
Cormega: What do you mean by negative effect?
R: Well, some critics rated the album lower saying you had too many guest appearances, meanwhile it was a compilation with yourself and other artists, not a solo album, so obviously they seemed to be oblivious to what was going on.
C: You know what I think that is? I think that is from motherfuckers having their head too stuck up they ass. Because [our publicist] Jackie O sent out, no exaggeration, over fifty press releases. I actually even have a copy and I could send it to you or email it to you. It’s stated specifically that it’s not a solo album and that the next solo album is going to be called Urban Legend. What have you is – you got people like Bonsu [Thompson] at XXL – he gets the press release; but does he read it? No, because Cormega is not “big”. I guess I am not as important as say an Interscope artist or whatever.
So what happens is they don’t read the press release and when they review the album they just say shit like - there’s too many guest appearances. I would say there was eighty percent of people that knew it wasn’t a solo and the other twenty percent are those people that – well you got some people that don’t give a fuck about Hip-Hop or are not into the culture or not into the artists, they’re just out there doing their 9 to 5; like, ok, let me review this album and get my check, you know what I’m saying? As opposed to, ok Cormega - let me see what this is about.
There is no one doing backup checks; if you know I made The Realness album and there was only two guest appearances on there and then I made The True Meaning and that only had one guest appearance; then common sense would be - Legal Hustle had fourteen guest appearances on it and two songs didn’t even have me on them. Everybody that overlooked that, I mean, I don’t even know what to say about those type of people.
R: In putting out The Testament, as you are now, what were some of the legal matters that you had to deal with in getting the album away from Def Jam and into your hands? How does it make you feel to know that people are still waiting to hear this record after all these years?
C: I didn’t really go through no problems, the problem was remedied years ago. But it validates what I have been trying to say from day one – after The Testament situation never materialized I never really spoke much about it. I made The Realness and I made The True Meaning. There was a time when I was like fuck it, The Testament is just something that will never occur. But now it’s a different day and a different age and I am glad the fans are embracing it.
R: Let’s do a flashback and talk about when you recorded The Testament; you were just signed to Def Jam; what was your mindstate at the time and how did the album come together?
C: When I did The Testament, basically I just came home. I was home for a year and I didn’t have no deal – contrary to belief or people trying to take credit for getting me a deal, I didn’t have any deal. I just had a buzz ‘cause I was appearing on a lot of mixtapes; and my name was mentioned on the song One Love but that ain’t give me no buzz. I came home and I was on Puff Daddy’s mixtape back when he would do Bad Boy mixtapes, I was on Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito’s show. I was doing a lot of stuff but at the same time I was selling drugs. So Lyor [Cohen] got wind of this from one of my friends and he wanted to get me off the streets ‘cause he was interested in signing me. So that’s why I signed to Def Jam. He was like – what’s it gonna take for me to get you off the street? I just made up a number – I was like uhmmm $10,000. I just said that and he really got the $10,000 up for me. So that played a role with me signing to Def Jam.
So basically I signed a demo deal first; I did a song about a girl, I forget the name of it and I also did Dead Man Walking, which was produced by a good friend of mine Hot Day. We leaked Dead Man Walking and we were getting good feedback from the streets so soon after that I recorded One Love. That song is like a reply to Nas’ One Love letter; it’s not a diss record either. I read on the Internet recently where somebody said I got a diss song called One Love. And that just goes to show you what I said about people just getting into the this shit because of a job as opposed to really knowing what the fuck they talking about. I wrote One Love actually when I was in jail. That song was never even supposed to come out, I wrote it as recreation. I said it in the yard when I was battling somebody and I ripped it up and threw it on the floor after the battle ‘cause I won. But one of my friends picked it up and was like - yo keep this.
So I made One Love, it was produced by RNS and I made Angel Dust also around that time. I was in Chung King Studious and Havoc and P happened to be in Chung King in the next room. One thing I’ma say about Havoc is he’ll give you his last; he’s the type of person who’s heart is so pure, he has the best heart outta everybody from Queensbridge. At that time I didn’t really know how to do hooks; I just came home and when I went to jail hooks wasn’t in, people was just rapping. So Havoc came in the studio and he did the Angel Dust hook for me.
This was all in ’95, then ’96 is when I officially signed to Def Jam and one of the first songs I made was The Testament and that’s when it was reaffirmed that The Testament would also be the name of the album. At first we didn’t know what we were going to call it. We went from Full Metal Jacket to Say No More and through a bunch of other different titles. There are also two different versions of the song The Testament. When I first made the song; that was around the time there was friction between me and Nas...
To read the rest please visit www.RiotSound.com (http://www.RiotSound.com) and click on INTERVIEWS