Cormega - Mega 2001
The QB MC feeds the streets before the release of his solo debut.
Cormega made his mark in the mid-’90s guesting on classic songs like Nas’ It Was Written posse cut “Affirmative Action” and Mobb Deep’s Murda Muzik heater “What’s Ya Poison,” among others. And eventually, he would drop his first solo album, The Realness, in 2001.
But before his debut hit the shelves, his mixtape Mega 2001 hit the streets. And it was an absolute banger.
Presented by Legal Hustle Entertainment, Mega 2001 was released on CD at a time when mixtapes in New York City experienced a change in format, which is a topic we explore during the latter half of Do Remember!
And though Mega 2001 lacked the presence of a DJ, it can still clearly be classified as a mixtape as it includes many of the main ingredients—new exclusives, freestyles, features, and unreleased songs. Plus, it had appearances by multiple artists, including Big Pun, Foxy Brown, Busta Rhymes, and more. Not to mention a flimsy, photocopied cover.
In 2002, a bunch of Mega 2001 tracks would get released at retail with a new title—Hustler/Rapper, though it wasn’t exactly a mirror of the original. And unfortunately, it’s still not available on DSPs.
So as we applaud Cormega for giving us over two decades of stellar solo rap albums—including his latest fire from last year The Realness II—let’s bring it back to when he kicked it all off with Mega 2001. It’s one helluva listen, jam-packed with fan favorites and rarities by one of QB’s finest.
And to those of you in the NYC area, go check out Cormega live with AZ this Saturday (tomorrow!) 1/27/24 at SOB’s.
Oh yeah, one more thing. Read closely inside the pages of Do Remember! to discover a gem of a story Cormega tells about his Marley Marl-produced, mixtape-classic collaboration with Nas “On The Real” (hint: it’s in the Bad Boy mixtape section), and check out toward the end of Side B of the book for more on the format switch from cassettes to CDs and the impact it made on the NYC mixtape game.
Stream Mega 2001 below, and stay tuned for more 50 TAPES posts as we celebrate the release of Do Remember! The Golden Era of NYC Hip-Hop Mixtapes, out now via Rizzoli.
Cormega - Mega 2001