Harold Stallworth carries switchblades on the reg’, duke.
Revenge is the sweetest joy next to drinking D’usse. It took precisely a decade, but it would seem that Cormega finally redeemed himself for the thrashing he took at the hands of Ghostface Killah on “Tony Montana,” a standout cut from the first—and, unfortunately, last—installment of his Legal Hustle compilation series. Mega and Ghost face-off in a rematch on “Glorified Excellence,” one of the more impressive Frankenstein collaborations featured on J-Love’s latest LP, Designed Not To Quit. Mega’s verse has all the hallmarks of a vintage Mega verse: hustler maxims, excessive punch-ins, and nostalgia for the New York Knicks of yore. Ghostface has long been stripped of his superpowers, but even at quarter-speed he’s serviceable, sporting Breezly Bruin ice and running bullet trains on big-ticket geishas.
J-Love is a top-shelf regional DJ despite looking more like the Pope with each passing year. His rapping, however, leaves much to be desired here. When he claims to “make history like the discovery of a fossil,” you can almost hear the rusted-out gears and pulleys grinding inside his skull. But if you can get past his spammy contribution, it’s a solid record.
