Queensbridge’s own Cormega hosted a live show at New York’s Knitting Factory (4/2) featuring Affiliate, REKS, Big Shug, Skyzoo, and DJ Statik Selektah. In a dimly-lit room, dozens of hoodies and fitted caps gathered in anticipation of what many hoped would be a real Rap show. DJ Statik Selektah opened the show with superb maneuvers on the ones and twos, playing classics from the likes of Big Pun, Notorious B.I.G, and Big L.
Affiliate, hailing from Massachusetts, opened the show with a subpar performance. The crowd stood silently simply bopping their heads to the beats. Next up was REKS who stunned the crowd with tracks like “Pray For Me.” REKS denounced the ills of the game with lines like: “New York is to blame / Where I’m from, we look to New York for what’s poppin’ / Now New York’s floppin.” Surprisingly, the N.Y. crowd concurred with the statement with a simple nod.
Big Shug of GangStarr Foundation hit the stage along with DJ Premier who made a guest appearance. Shug left a lasting impression as he went through tracks from his collection including “Play It,” “On the Record,” and “Murdapan.”
After a brief intermission Brooklyn’s own Skyzoo hit the stage. The audience was definitely feeling Skyzoo as they rapped along to songs from his latest release Corner Store Classic.
Finally, Cormega hopped on stage sporting a black baseball cap, 007 graphic t-shirt and an iced out drama mask medallion resting on his chest. Mega drove the crowd wild as he performed tracks from his earlier days as well as newer joints.
When Selektah dropped the beat for “The Saga” it hit Mega hard. Mega explained that at the beginning of the track he is conversing with KL from the Screwball, who sadly passed away recently from an asthma attack. As Mega performed the track he burst into tears.
Mega, who had gone through a change of outfits and now sported a Malcolm X t-shirt and a pair of what he called “Cormega Nikes,” went on to give the crowd what they wanted, literally. He was taking requests straight from the audience which made the show seem a bit disorganized as he teased the audience with snippets from different tracks. He performed tracks such as “American Beauty” and his verse from “Affirmative Action.”
The show took a turn for the worse when Mega brought out his artists from Legal Hustle. They went on to spoil the show for a bit, disappointing both the crowd as well as Cormega who announced that he would be holding an American Idol style challenge on his Legal Hustle website to see who the audience approved of.
Despite the minor set-backs, it made for an alright show overall. Perhaps next time Mega will leave the kiddies at home.
