Onyx is an East Coast
hardcore Hip Hop group from South Jamaica, Queens, New York. They are now a
three piece group but formerly were a four piece group, consisting of Sticky
Fingaz, Fredro Starr, and Sonsee (the former member Big DS, left after their
debut album).
When you think of
Onyx, they really brought a new dynamic to Hip Hop with their aggressive and
animated fire filled style of spitting. If you didn't know Onyx in the 90s, you
didn't know real and true underground Hip Hop. They used aggressive Jazz East Coast
style beats mixed with scratches that they helped pioneer as staples of the
East Coast. They represented the realness of life that surrounded them in New York, they were true innovators that were ahead of their time.
The Beginning...
In 1988, Onyx was
formed and two years later (in 1990), they released their first single, Ah,
And We Do It Like This. They met while working as barbers. When Onyx came
together, they honed their skills and their performance act in local clubs and
they got noticed by Run-D.M.C.'s Jam Master Jay. Jam Master Jay of Def
Jam gave them a chance to present a demo, but at the time, Big DS and Sonee
Seeza were in Connecticut. Soon after, Fredro Starr called up his cousin,
Sticky Fingaz (who is from Brooklyn). After he joined, they came out with the
track, Throw Ya Gunz (which was included on their debut
album Bacdafucup). Jam Master Jay eventually signed them to his
label, JMJ Records (under Def Jam)and even helped them out with the production
of their first album.
Bacdafucup to
2003...
The
deal under Def Jam, was a recording deal and as promised they recorded their
debut album, Bacdafucup, released in 1993. The album was well
received by the Hip Hop community, it went platinum and was given much radio
play and MTV attention through the hit single Slam. Bacdafucup also
beat out Dr. Dre's smash hit album, The Chronic that year at
the Soul Train Music Awards for Best Rap Album. With the enormously popular Slam,
Onyx decided to do a remix with the heavy metal band, Biohazard (which helped
bridge the gap between heavy metal and Hip Hop). This gained them even more
notoriety in the music world and helped influence this fusion as a successful
art form hybrid with in music for years to come.
Big
DS left the Strapped group because of creative differences
during the recording of their second album, All We Got Iz Us. In
1995, they dropped their second album, which was a critical success. It
showcased their raw talent behind their self-developed hard hitting hardcore
style. The magazine, VIBE listed All We Got Iz Us, as one of the best produced
albums of 1995 and one of twenty albums everyone Hip Hop fan should own.
Onyx
took a little break from music for a bit and got into the world of acting. They
appeared in many TV and movie projects, Spike Lee's Clockers, the
Rhea Pearlman and Danny Devito's Sunset Park, and Dead
Presidents (as far as their TV projects are concerned, they appeared
in HBO's Strapped, Brandy's hit series Moesha, FX's The
Shield, and CBS's CSI:Miami).
Onyx
returned to the studio in 1998 to release their third album, Shut 'Em
Down. It gained critical and commercial success due to their style meshed
with many big names in Hip Hop such as, Method Man, DMX, Lost Boyz, Raekwon,
Big Pun, Noreaga, and the unknown artist, (at the time) 50 Cent (many people in
the mainstream side of Hip Hop don't know that Onyx were the first ones to give
50 Cent his first big break). The album drew a lot of its success from the two
smash hits, React and Shut 'EM Down (featuring DMX). Shut
'Em Down was the last album they released under Def Jam, and they took
their time coming back with their next album in 2002 called, Bacdafucup
Part II. They released this album along with Sa'ad Part 4 (that
same year) under Koch Records.
2004
and Beyond...
In
2003, they released Triggernometry and it was promoted in
radio interviews and it was around that time when Onyx and 50 Cent had a little confrontation because of 50 Cent's disrespect towards Fredro Starr at the 2003
Vibe Awards. Fredro Starr talked about it in an interview with Source magazine
in which he told them about his disappointment towards 50 Cent disrespecting
him when they gave him his first breakthrough.
In
2008, they released Cold Case Files: Murda Investigation followed
by Cold Case Files Vol. 2 (in 2012). Cold Case Files
Vol. 2 is unique because it is one of the first albums to be released
by a group without utilizing an outsourcing distribution system (a record
company or label), they released it digitally on their domain OnyxDomain.com.
This gave them the ability to keep all of the proceeds themselves. This year
(2013) they also released Energy Beats, which is a collection of
remixes, live mixes, and a few original songs as well. You can also find each
member doing solo projects on the side but as a group, they have always stayed
as one. To this day, Onyx is still relevant in the Hip Hop community
because they are unified and never stop showing the world their interpretations
of life within their brand of Hip Hop.
Here are some of their links around the internet, check it out:
Facebook link:
Soundcloud link:
Their Official Website link:
Youtube Channel link:
The Link to the Song That Started-It-All link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ADgCeYJMN4
Main source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onyx_(group)
& Onyx spotify bio https://play.spotify.com/artist/10Khz9BDdDT2mzm3330Cvu
article by: Craig Ludwig
Main source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onyx_(group)
& Onyx spotify bio https://play.spotify.com/artist/10Khz9BDdDT2mzm3330Cvu
article by: Craig Ludwig
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