Queensbridge MC Cormega spoke about his early exposure to Hip-Hop in a recent exclusive interview with Rock The Bells Radio.

"My first exposure to Hip-Hop, well, it's two parts," he said. "If we are talking about rap, the first person that I heard that really caught my attention was Muhammad Ali. People don't wanna give him his credit."

He said he remembered hearing his first rap record, and how it was unexpectedly funny. "The first time Hip0Hop really caught my attention was the Sugar Hill Gang," he recalled. "They had a song ["Rappers Delight"] where they said, 'The chicken tastes like wood.' Even though that rhyme is like whatever to me right now, back then it was funny."

Mega then recalled the first days of recorded rap. "The thing about Hip-Hop initially, is you enjoyed it and your parents enjoyed it too," he said. "I remember my father saying, 'Yeah they must be talking about my sister.' I guess my aunt didn't cook good and that always stuck with me and made me laugh."

As far as current music is concerned, Cormega is readying his new album The Realness II. "Essential," the first single from the project dropped last month and is produced by multi-platinum producer Havoc of Mobb Deep. The Realness II will be produced by The Alchemist and Sha Money XL, with features from Nas, Havoc, and more.

Cormega recently inked a partnership with NYC-based label Viper Records to release the album, which is the highly-anticipated follow-up to 2001's The Realness. The Realness II marks Cormega's comeback after a brief hiatus from music, during which he's written two books, launched a fashion line, created a collaborative art series with visual artist Amar Stewart, and curated several fashion capsules with Privilege NYC.

The Realness II is scheduled to arrive on October 7.