Customer Reviews

Born & Raised

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Cormega has been one of my favorite artists since I started listening to hip hop a few years back. When I heard that his album was scheduled to drop in the 4th quarter this year, I was estatic. The production credits surfaced a couple months before the album dropped, and I deemed it album of the year before it came out. While not quite being there, the CD is still in my top 5 as of right now. Cormega brings the usual street tale rhymes that he's known for, while throwing in dope metaphors and harcore lyrics. Lyrically, this may be his best showing. Usually, his emotion really brings out his lyrical displays (as it does on more than a few tracks here), but it seems he fine tuned his writing so that wouldn't be necessary. Perhaps the best showing of this is on the Large Professor produced track, "Journey". He starts the track off by saying: "Life is a journey before I went the rap route/ I served bunnies off the bench like Stackhouse/ goin' in with no intention to back down/ my cocaine flow solidified I spit crack now." The production (as stated earlier) is handled by the best in the business. The lineup included such legends as Marley Marl, LES, Havoc, Easy Mo Bee, Pete Rock, DJ Premier, Large Professor, Ayatolla, and Buckwild. Although the producers didn't throw their best tracks ever on this album, the production fits 'Mega perfectly. Journey (Large Professor), Dirty Game (DJ Premier), and Rapture (Ayatollah) all show this. The production seems much less dark than the rest of his albums; obviously showing Cormega trying to go a different direction with his music. The album has more guest spots than any 'Mega album before this, including Havoc, Lil Fame, Tragedy, PMD, Grand Puba, KRS-One, and Big Daddy Kane. Havoc (on two tracks) drops good verses, nothing incredible; the same goes for Tragedy. Lil Fame does the same, all the while having a hilarious line on Get It In: "My flow tighter than Kanye's clothes". In fact, everybody who shows up on the album gets outshined by 'Mega. KRS-One is really the only guest who seemed to bring the heat. Get It In is weaker than the rest of the album, and doesn't quite fit, IMO. Overall, the album is a great effort by Cormega, and should be recieved positively by fans, and non-fans alike. If you like that gritty NYC sound, Cormega's past albums, or great hip hop in general, I would reccommend checking this out, immediately.

PS: PMD sounds EXACTLY like Prodigy on Mega Fresh X. I literally thought it was P Double when I first played the track.

Standouts include- Love Your Family, Live And Learn, Make It Clear, Journey (personal favorite), Define Yourself, What Did I Do (third in line), Dirty Game (second favorite), Rapture (honorable mention), and Mega Fresh X.


Lyrics- 9.5/10
Production- 9/10
Guest Appearances- 8/10
Overall Sound- 9.5/10

4.5

The poetic MC is back and has not lost it yet. He drops a great album even if it's not yet classic. I was surprised by this and wasn't exactly waiting for this. I saw this up to be released and pre-ordered it on the spot cause Mega never fails to impress IMO.

LEMME BREAK IT DOWN

- The beats are lackluster yet listenable. Its a rare combination that has no standouts, but just compliment Mega's amazing lyrics.

-Mega kept his lyrics street-poetic, so if you have The Realness and True Meaning, this is a VERY WELCOME addition

-NO BAD TRAX including the intro.

THE FINAL VERDICT...

When I write only a lil bit, it usually means there's not a lot to be said. Its just great hip hop. BUY IT, you will not be disappionted. Top notch lyrics with good beats, isn't that what hip hop music supposed to contain?

another absolutely solid album by mega! ...none of the tracks is bad! boom bap beats at it's finest and the flow/rhymes still on point!

Cormega has been doing it. He has upped his bars and his pen game is nice. He's got a somewhat old school flow and it grows on you. Beats on this are good, there are only 3 or 4 weak/ok songs. "Rapture" produced by Ayatollah is so sick. Pete Rock and DJ Premier come through too. Could've maybe used 2 or 3 more stand out cuts but overall solid. 8.65/10 and about seventh best album of the year.

This album is straight fire, it might burn your eardrums if you ain't seasoned for some real hip-hop. Mega kills it on every track. There are times where you'll be listening and be like damn what the just happen. He explores a lot concepts and unique perspectives on this album. I'm probably alone on this one but this is one of my favorite albums. This is definitely an album to own. Love the beats on this album although I wish they kept the og beat for fresh.

Cormega's latest release "Born and Raised" is an excellent album. Production is sound and tracks like Dirty Game and What did I do remind fans why Mega's so talented. Support real hip-hop please buy this album.

I never heard a Cormega cd. This is the first I have ever heard of him. I saw the cd in stores and wonderd what it was so I listened to samples on Amazon and loved what I heard. I got the album now listened all the way threw and I must say this is what hip hop should be this is real music this isnot all the crap you hear on TV and radio. Also I heard the new Rakim cd the 7th seal and I must say it's also real hip hop both of these cd's are classic

Cormega returns after 5 and half years with his 5th solo and it's a classic. Not counting his "Hustler/Rapper" (4.5 stars) album of rare and unreleased songs from '02, or his '05 release of "The Testament" (4.5 stars, as it was supposed to be released in late '98) so it's been way to long since he dropped a solo. He put out a 5 star album with Lake "My Brothers Keeper" in '06 and a 4 star compilation album "Who Am I" in '07. He also has some other 4-5 star albums to his credit, "The Realness" (4.5 stars, 2001), "The True Meaning" (5 stars, 2002) and "Legal Hustle" (4 stars, 2004). No doubt he is a great emcee and constantly puts out solid albums. This one has 14 songs, 4 are classic and the otehr 10 are good or great songs. Guests are only on 4 songs so you get a good amount of Cormega. Production is very good as well and handled by some greats; DJ PRemier does 2 songs, Havoc, Large Professor, Bear One, LES, Easy Mo Bee, Pete Rock, Fizzy Womack, DR Period, Nottz, Ayatollah and Buckwild all do 1. A must have album from a great rapper and probably a top 5 album from 2009.

#1 - 10 (CLASSIC -- great beat)
#2 - 8
#3 - 9 (f/ Havoc -- relaxing beat with deeper lyrics)
#4 - 8.5 (f/ Fizzy Womack of M.O.P)
#5 - 9
#6 - 9
#7 - 10 (CLASSIC -- tight beat)
#8 - 10 (CLASSIC -- great beat)
#9 - 9 (f/ Tragedy Khadafi & Havoc -- nice beat)
#10 - 10 (CLASSIC -- great beat)
#11 - 9 (nice beat)
#12 (acapella freestyle)
#13 - 8.5
#14 - 8.5 (f/ Parrish Smith of EPMD, Grand Puba, KRS-One & Big Daddy Kane)

Corey McKay -- b. 4/27/76 -- b. Bed-Sty, Brooklyn, NY moved to Queensbridge, NY
Check all my reviews

It has been minute, since Mega dropped a solo album. Technically, this is his third. His last official solo album was The True Meaning, which was 2002. Afterward, he has had a few compilation albums. This album is the best and most complete album he's made. Though I am a diehard Mega fan, this is not a biased review. He still has the street poet swagger in this album. It never gets old. The production is excellent. He has some of the top producers in the game on his album, such as DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Havoc and Large Professor. There is no whack cut on this album. He is still one of the most underrated rappers in game, as well as his hood of QBC. Of course, Nas and Mobb Deep are the most notorized rappers from there. If there are those who have not copped a Mega album, this is a good album to start with. Still, go get the classics!!!

The title for my review pretty much says it all....he had amazing big names producing like :pete rock...large prof...primo...it goes on and on but for some reason it just sounded kind of dated....it sounded like i was listening to rap from the 90's...don't get me wrong 90's rap is great and thats the golden era of hip hop, but it seems that the beat quality wasn't very complex....almost every beat had simple loops of the same crappy mediocre samples...very uninteresting. just because a track is produced great it doesn't mean the beat is catchy, which was the case very often on this album. lyrically he is in the upper echelon of rap but he spent too much money getting big name producers and each of them threw him their own subpar beats....not their real fire.....their best stuff. don't get me wrong the entire album wasn't bad, hence the 3 stars, but just to think what it could have been, if he threw in a few in house producers that actually had more current beats maybe a bit more bassy, like more from the street. ridin' music. sadly he stayed so true to the old school sound of hip hop the album just sounded dated.