"Essential," the first single from Comega's upcoming album The Realness II dropped today (Aug. 12). The track is produced by multiplatinum producer Havoc of Mobb Deep.

"Havoc and I have known each other for years! He's on on mote Cormega albums than any other artist!" Cormega said in a statement. "I appreciate that Havoc put extra effort into my single, 'Essential'. With Havoc I have it all, name, track record and most importantly we have history and chemistry."

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.

"I was going to put out the album myself, but my friend, Dove Clark, a project manager at Viper, called me, and we spoke about the possibility of merging to help the album reach its fullest potential," he said in a statement. "I'm thankful for the opportunity, this partnership, and the value Viper brings to The Realness II. It's awesome to have a team helping elevate The Realness II to higher heights."

Listen to "Essential" above.