Today's review will be on Mega Philosophy, the new album from veteran New York rapper Cormega. I am fairly new to Cormega, as I have only listened to him on a few feature verses up until this point. I liked his flow, but the guy just didn't stick out too much to me on the mic. Once I heard that the 41 year old MC was dropping a new album, I decided to give it a listen, and I really didn't expect much at all. Will Cormega surprise me with this new project, Mega Philosophy?
The production on this album is handled entirely by Large Professor, someone who is universally respected in hip hop. This guy has been at it for decades and I always get that classic New York feel when I hear his beats. That is no different on this project, as the production on this album was a real throwback. Sure, some of these beats sounded a little dated or unexciting, but there were not any bad instrumentals on this entire album. I enjoyed the boom-bap style that this production had, and I felt it matched Cormega perfectly, being a veteran MC from New York. The beats on this project could definitely be described as classy and polished. This was not a grimy, street New York album. Many of these beats, such as Industry, More, Divine Unity, Honorable, and Rap Basquiat sounded extremely clean, fancy, and elegant. I enjoyed the way Large Professor fused classic boom-bap beats with this very classy sound. The song Home was a change of pace, though, as this one sounded a more gritty and tough than the others. With this track coming at the end of the album, it was great to hear some griminess on this project. Overall I really liked the production on Mega Philosophy. It didn't do anything new, but it featured a collection of very polished, clean, New York beats from Large Professor.
While I did just praise this album's production, the real highlight of this project is Cormega's lyricism. My expectations were way too low for this album, as I didn't hear that much lyrically from this guy on his features. On Mega Philosophy, Cormega blew me away with his very socially conscious, smart verses. On track after track, Cormega would just have lines that stuck out and really made me think. This album tackles various lyrical themes, such as the current rap industry, Cormega looking back on his childhood in New York, and this guy's current place in hip hop. My standout lyrical song is definitely Industry. Almost every line on this song opened my eyes to something that is wrong with rap today. Cormega talks about how labels mistreat their artists, and how money controls the music. Cormega also sounds fed up with the young rappers here, talking about how he will still murder them lyrically, and how he just doesn't care how they dress. This song was fantastic, with a veteran rapper making intelligent observations about what rap has become over the years. Even though every single track here was great lyrically, my other standout is the closer, Valuable Lessons. On this track, Cormega gets incredibly personal, talking about his childhood, and how much he has grown learning lessons from tough times in his life. I really appreciate this guy's honesty, and how smart his bars are. There was literally no bad lyric on this whole album from Cormega. I even thought he stood out among his features on this album, which is a feat considering some of the MCs he had on here. Every featured rapper on this project was a lyrical, veteran rapper like Cormega. The second track, MARS (Dream Team), featured hip hop greats AZ, Redman, and Styles P. It was an awesome posse cut, with great bars being dropped everywhere. The song Honorable had Raekwon on it, and he sounded fantastic, as he has on all the great albums he's been featured on this year. The two guest singers on this album provided melodic, soulful hooks, and the rappers I did not talk about did a solid job too. The only feature moment I couldve done without was the monologue at the end of the song Rap Basquiat. It was just a bit too corny for me. Overall though, the lyrics really made this album great. Cormega was spitting truth on every song here, and he seriously made me think about many different issues with his wise lyrics. I can't complain about any of the rapping here. Cormega surprised me greatly, and I'd say Mega Philosophy is one of the best albums I've heard this year.
MEGA PHILOSOPHY WRAP UP
+Incredible lyrical performance from Cormega
+So many great lines
+Cormega is a very smart and insightful songwriter
+Good job by all he features
+Old school production from a legendary producer
+Beats had a nice classy edge to them
Best: MARS (Dream Team), Industry, Valuable Lessons
Worst: Rap Basquiat
Cormega- Mega Philosophy
8.9/10
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