Radio 1 Rap Show 21.05.99 with Cormega, OGC, Screwball, Deadly Venoms and DJ S&S

Having missed most of them when they aired, I'm really enjoying these New York Live shows with Westwood and Marley Marl. The guests and tunes tend to be a bit more varied than what you'd hear Flex playing on the Hot 97 Rap Exchanges. Lots going on in this one with Starang of OGC and Cormega guesting in part one, and then Deadly Venoms (an all female group that included N Tyce and who were briefly affiliated with the Wu), Screwball and DJ S&S appear in part two. All of them get together for a freestyle sesh at the beginning of part two...

The Firm - La Familia (1996)

As you might already be aware, a recent collaborative effort on the Philaflava forum resulted in a reconstruction of The Firm album, re-imagining the track selection as it should've been. It's one of those releases thats generally considered a bit underwhelming, mostly due to it being less than the sum of its parts. The highs are high but the lows aren't really what the people involved should have put their names to in 1996. During the course of the discussion, the subject of 'La Familia' was raised. This was a song I'd kind of forgotten about since having it on a Future Flavas tape back in the day, but it turns out it's only official release was as a clean version on Foxy Brown's 'I'll Be' single, and Cormega's verse had been replaced by one from Nature after the group's line up changed. Save for a couple of mixtapes and poor quality youtube rips, the original was nowhere to be found. You can probably see where this post is going.
A quick check on my shelves turned up this bootleg 12" with the uncensored version featuring Cormega. So here it is. Shout out to DJ Filthy Rich for cleaning up the pops and crackles for me.



The Firm: How It Should've Been

The 12" is well worth picking up if you see it, as it also includes the original version of 'Benjamins' without Biggie and 'You'll See' (another promo only Bad Boy track). The Tracey Lee/Canibus/McGruff joint is also unreleased.

Don't Sleep #7 The Usual Suspects (1997)

A double header for this edition of Don't Sleep. One of my favourite tracks of the late 90s that kind of got lost in the shuffle of great posse cuts from that era - John Blaze, Banned From TV, The Firm joints, Reservoir Dogs, Benjamins etc . The notable thing about this particular cut is that it comes in two different versions. Both were officially released but neither seems to be considered the original or the remix. They both use the same beat but the line up of rappers varies. 

Version 1, taken from the How To Be A Player soundtrack features Mic Geronimo alongside DMX, Cormega, Fatal and Ja Rule. This was back when DMX was on the cusp of becoming the biggest rapper on the planet for 2 years and no one was entirely sure how Ja Rule spelt his name (he's listed as "Ja" on this). I believe Cormega was signed to Def Jam at this time which explains his appearance and Fatal was getting a bit of attention off the back of his 2Pac association. The beat is courtesy of one of the lesser know members of The Hitmen - Daven "Prestige" Vanderpool and is pretty simple and minimal with a nice Mandrill sample and a subtle bit of ESG in the background.

Version 2 featured on Mic's 'Vendetta' album and on the b side of the Nothin Move But The Money 12". Cormega and Fatal have been replaced by the more than capable line up of Tragedy, Jadakiss and Styles P. No idea why. Label politics would usually be the answer but I can't see why Def Jam would let DMX on there and not Cormega. They did drop him though so maybe that had something to do with it. Still dope. Don't sleep.

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Previous Don't Sleeps are here

Cormega 'Big Beat' (1998)

Here's one I picked up whilst out digging last week. Cormega rapping over a few different Biggie instrumentals...



Not gonna lie, I was expecting it to be something using 'Big Beat' by Billy Squire but this'll do nicely.

Lord Finesse & Cormega - Future Flavas freestyle

I've just set myself up a Soundcloud account, and while I was searching through endless pages of homemade remixes and sub-par mash-ups I came across this short Finesse and Cormega freestyle from Marley Marl and Pete Rock's Hot 97 show. The Funky Man kills it...

Cormega, Nature & Half A Mil freestyle

QB's Cormega & Nature alongside Brooklyn's Half A Mil (RIP) spitting something for DJ Kay Slay. Proper NYC street shit...

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