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Hip hop, circa 1998

NXNE crowds almost smashed down the walls of the Phoenix Saturday with their chants of “MEG-A! MEG-A! MEG-A!” as a dope-ass, two-on-two b-boy battle went on a bit longer than some people have the patience for.

(The opening sessions, by the way, went like this: Alex Dimes – a slept on hustler/rapper/motivational speaker fromWest Toronto – rocked it. Then the battles went down, and b-boy supreme Andel James and crew won the prize money.)

All the while, people were frantically awaiting the first appearance of Cormega in Toronto rap history.

Dude was fucking phenomenal. He came out with a crisp black and white striped shirt like he was just released from jail and a diamond dog tag, small and unassuming, and just slayed the audience with hit after hit after hit. It’s been a long time since I saw Toronto sing along to that many jams: R U My Nigga, Affirmative Action (whoa!), Forced My Hand, What Did I Do?, Dirty Game, and – something I’ve been waiting my whole life tosee – Get Out Of My Way. That song is Muhammad Ali’s gloriouscomeback song, nothing less.

The venue almost exploded when Statik Selectah dropped those triumphant horns. Cormega! Forever!

Sheek Louch, who put on a much better show than Iexpected, considering Styles P and Jadakiss weren’t here with him.Still, he knew well enough to play Money Power and Respect (“this iswhen we hooked up with that bitch Lil Kim!”), I Get High (Lordhave mercy do those kicks hurt my ears something lovely), Fuck You,and All About the Benjamins (he even did Diddy’s verse!).

Also, Sheek blurting out something like “acting all hard when you as pussy as RuPaul!” – that’s so hip hop. Even if it’s so 1998 hip hop, I can appreciate it.

Above: an undated photo of Sheek Louch, though probably from the 90s

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