Onyx group. Biography

By forces Fredro Starr, Sonsee ru en and Big DS. A little later he joined them Sticky Fingaz. The group gained popularity in hip-hop in the 1990s.

Story

The group's producer was the legendary Jam Master Jay from Run-D.M.C., who signed a contract with the studio "moon star" to publish the first Onyx album. The album was released under this label in 1993 Bacdafucup . Due to calls for anarchy, the group's songs were banned from radio broadcast, but the discs sold out anyway. By the end of the first month of sales, the album sold a million copies.

Two years later, in 1995, the world saw the second album All We Got Iz Us , which, however, did not repeat the success of the first. Left the group Big DS. The most successful single was the song “ Last Dayz ».

In the third album, the band abandoned JMJ's production and invited several new beatmakers, including DJ Scratch ru en (EPMD). There were still young people among the guests DMX , Big Pun, Noreaga ru en, debuted 50 Cent. The group also included members of " Wu-Tang Clan ».

In 2000, Sticky Fingaz from Onyx released the album Blacktrash: The Autobiography Of Kirk Jones ru en. The album was oversaturated with guests, hits and had a clear plot concept.

Album Bacdafucup Part II ru en(2002) became another masterpiece with many hits, such as Bring “Em Out Dead, Slam Harder, What’s Onyx, etc. Album Triggernometry ?! (2003) is a collection of remixes and old hits.

In 2008, Fredro Starr recorded a song with Rostov group " Sand people"and armored personnel carrier. The song is called “Queens-Rostov”.

In 2014, the group entered into an agreement with the company "MMK International", the group releases the album "#WAKEDAFUKUP" together with German music producers Snowgoons begins to actively tour in Russia and Europe.

In 2014, ONYX presented a joint track and video for the song “Represent”; one of the first Russian hip-hop artists N’Pans was a partner on the track. In the old-school crowd, the song was perceived as one of the strongest of the past few years, and the single also received a lot of positive feedback outside of Russia. The group finally returned to its classic style with powerful energy and tough lyrics.

In 2015, the group appears on another collaboration, this time with the Russian hip-hop legend Legalize. The track is called “Fight”, it has an even more old-school sound and rich meaning, and the video for this work received more than 100,000 views on the Internet in the first day and marked the return of Legalize.

At the end of 2015, ONYX released the EP “Against All Authorities”. In this work, they oppose the actions of authorities around the world and call for justice and equality for all people on the planet.

One of the members of the group Sticky Fingaz took his second stage name “Nigga Russkiy”. According to rumors, he often visits Moscow and is spotted from time to time in expensive Moscow clubs and restaurants. At the end of 2015, an incident occurred in the presidential suite of a hotel in the center of Moscow. Sticky started a fight with unknown men; according to witnesses, his manager and girls who looked like former soloists group "ViaGra", then the artist and his fellow travelers destroyed the room and disappeared in two white Bentley cars; later information about the incident disappeared from all information resources. (but this is inaccurate)

Main cast

• Kirk Jones ( Sticky Fingaz)
• Tyrone Taylor ru en (Sonsee)
• Marlon Fletcher (

It all started with the fact that Onyx decided to make several demo recordings for
leader of the group Run D.M.C. Jam Master Jay, but they got in the way of one little one
problem. During this time, Big DS and Sonee Seeza were in custody. Then Fredro
Starr called his cousin named Sticky Fingaz, who was working at the time
at the hairdresser's. Sticky Fingaz collaborates with Fredro Starr to make a demo
recording to give to Jam Master Jay. After listening to the tape on "Def
Jam", Onyx was asked first of all: "Where is that guy with the low
in an irritable voice?" Of course, they meant the cross-eyed, slightly
crazy, Sticky Fingas. After which they released their first single on
"Profile Records", entitled "Ah, And We Do It Like This".

After the release of the single "Throw Ya Gunz" Onyx signs a contract with Def Jam
for the release of an EP (mini album). The single became such a hit that Onyx became
record an album, and in 1993, they introduced hip-hop to the world
album called "Bacdafucup". Incredible hits like "Slam", "Throw Ya
Gunz", "Shifftee", and of course collaboration with the group Biohazard brought
Onyx is a huge success. "Bacdafucup" quickly climbed the hip-hop charts. "Slam"
was the fifth highest single of the year, and the album quickly sold out
two million copies. Onyx were recognized by the entire hip-hop world, receiving
award "Soul Train" in the album of the year category.

Nothing could stop Onyx in 1993. Rap group that was
known for bringing heavy rhymes and a touch of metal to rap music
and hardcore. They used fast fire rhymes and the same beats, it was
no wonder why they blew up the entire hip-hop scene. And Onyx, of course
corresponded to this terrible image. Sticky Fingaz, was arrested for
attack. They were banned from performing at a football game. The NAACP considered them
shame on black people. Their lyrics and status as one of the heaviest groups of that
time, that’s what brought them wild popularity.

Two years later, changes occurred in the group. Big DS was no longer in
group, according to rumors, he was either in prison or left the group. It was two
years when Onyx didn't release anything, but fans really waited new album. IN
In 1995 they decided that underground opinion was more important than
commercial success, and this was very evident on their 1995 album, "All
We Got Iz Us". The album sold 500,000 copies, for the usual
person this was an indicator of a decline in their crazy popularity, but this
For ordinary people, not Onyx. They knew their true listeners, and
were considered the underground's golden band. Respect was more important than
fame. The album was a critical success especially for fans who
loved Onyx's new lyrics. Instead of rap groups that produce incomplete
albums every six months, Onyx wanted to calm down and concentrate.
It was worth it. "All We Got Iz Us" is an underground classic
thanks to the single "Last Dayz" and the wistful video "All We Got Iz Us".

This time, three years passed before Onyx released anything. The fans are very
We were waiting for a new release, even more stunning than the previous two. But
waiting meant only waiting... After the release of "All We Got Iz Us",
Onyx's fame rose to another level. Acting. Fredro
and Sticky started filming films. Having appeared in films such as "Clockers",
"Dead Presidents", "Strapped" and "The Addiction".

June 1998, Onyx finally releases its third album, "Shut" Em
Down". After many delays and track changes, the album was released with
huge underground and commercial success. Main hits you liked
both underground fans of Anex and radio listeners were "React" and
"Shut 'Em Down' co-recorded with DMX. These tracks were the same
popular, like "Slam" 5 years ago. The true dream of underground fans
Aneksa. At that time, hip-hop was Puff Daddy, Mase, Jay-Z and others
commercial "emcee", who flooded the airwaves with their rap, and hardcore
hip-hop wasn't getting airplay. Onyx were the breath fresh air for this
genre.

Now we go straight to 2002. Onyx release album "Bacdafucup
Part II", which becomes not as successful as its predecessors, but
is different good quality.

In 2003, "Triggernometry" was born, which puts everything into perspective
their places. It's still the same Onyx, the same hardcore and the same success.

Onyx still live in reality. True hip-hop fans will readily
waiting to hear what they will bring this year, and in the future, and their hopes
will be justified. Onyx Is Back.

From the very beginning, the foul speeches of blacks infringed upon in their legal rights, the gangster mentality and difficult childhood of the members of this New York rap crew awakened the already morbid imagination of young rap fans in both America and Britain. It’s not for nothing that ONYX’s style was once defined as hardcore gangsta rap (or porn gangsta rap).

At first there were four of them. The quartet of black guys consisted of:

Sticky Fingaz

Fredro Starr

Suave

Big D.S.

Growing up in the southern part of the notorious New York neighborhood of Queens (this southern part is also called “South Suicide, Queens” due to the huge number of suicides committed there). And they met in an ordinary hairdresser.

Life in the ghetto was like one nightmare (of course, black and white, rarely gray, but mostly merciless and hopeless), which seemed to last for an eternity. There was one effective remedy that temporarily pulled our heroes out of dead loop everyday life is hip-hop.

RUN–DMC, LL Cool J and the BEASTIE BOYS were damn popular in the late 80s and early 90s, and future ONYX members, like many black teenagers in America, took their songs to heart. All four were about 20 at the time, and they performed their homemade rap in various parks in their area. Anyone can understand why only his own modern teenager- in another quarter you could have been best case scenario beat, or at worst, accidentally take a life. In addition, few people were interested in other people's problems, and the desire to show off in public was perceived as a mockery and was immediately suppressed by the fists of elders. But when marijuana or something stronger appeared in the group, the young people were given first. They got used to it easier and faster and sat on the needle and then became especially cruel and uncontrollable in search of money for the next dose. The future members of ONYX went through all these terrible withdrawals and began to make the same aggressive, ruthless rap.

Having recorded one single single, “Ahh, And We Do It Like This” (most likely, imitating RUN–DMC and their famous “It’s Like That”) on the “left” label Profile Records, ONYX turned to RUN–DMC in search of a contract and, as it turned out, at the address. Jam Master Jay believed in their talent and gave them a chance to become famous. At first, the contract with Columbia Records was for the release of one single. It then morphed into the release of an EP (longer than a single but shorter than a full-length album), which ultimately culminated in the release of ONYX's debut album, Bacdafucup. And what an album!..

It seemed to many at that time that if rap music would endure another revolution (at least a third, as old fans believed), it would not be soon. But ONYX succeeded so quickly that the number of their fans exceeded a million in the first month after its release. Naturally, the album became multi-platinum, its authors became stars (by the way, the name of their team also has a cosmic connotation).

Generally brilliant in its own way debut album ONYX received the same specific reviews about itself. The authoritative American magazine "The Source", for example, described it as "an extreme inside look at the mind-boggling ugliness modern life the so-called scum of the outwardly prosperous American society", and Billboard found even more exact description ONYX music. His reviewer wrote that “ONYX actually don’t just make violent rap, they seem to vomit their disdainful burps on the faces of white racists and specifically on the “infringement” of the rights of the black population of America.”

It is not surprising that from the very beginning ONYX found massive support among the black population and music publications and television turned to them in order to please such a tangible army of their readers. At the very dawn of American onyxomania, the group became known to British rap fans. I remember that at their first London concert, such obsessed fans gathered in the hall that ONYX, who were not yet accustomed to the fame, were frankly embarrassed, but they performed excellently, and no one in the hall thought of stopping. There, a real rebellion flared up in defense of the oppressed Nigers of America.

But this rap brigade also had ardent opponents, who had been looking for a trick for a long time to officially speak out against such music, and soon found anti-religious elements in ONYX songs. In addition, in the early 90s, America was stormed by religious debates between the main political forces, which predetermined confusion in relations within and between faiths and persecution of anti-religious speeches by religious fanatics. For ONYX, this resulted in the cancellation of several concerts and even the ritual burning of some of their records by church leaders in New Haven.

Negligent careerist politicians, for whom the truth was less important than their election promises, also added fuel to the fire. Many respectable politicians, such as Bob Dole, William Bennett and Dolores Tucker, openly took up arms against rappers, blaming them for almost every existing problem that worries the American public. But to their credit, ONYX fought back with much more compelling arguments in defense of the rap commune. Their main slogan was that “during its existence, hip-hop has acquired more supporters and followers than Jesus Christ himself. Therefore, if some assholes want to blame him for all mortal sins and blame him for their own political miscalculations, they will have to compete with everyone who supports this music and these views." These, according to the rappers, will no longer be only blacks, but also whites and other people of color. Because hip-hop is for everyone and it calls for only one revolution - a fair division of rights, responsibilities and freedoms among all people, regardless of skin color. The government and Congress want to avoid solving this problem by any means, and their eternal hesitation for or against only irritates ordinary people.

The titles of the group's early songs promoted the cult of violence, obscenity and exposed their performers as typical gangsta rappers. Just look at “Blac Vagina Finda”, “Throw Ya Gunz” and the thrash rap “Slam”! These same blacks were very proud of themselves when they said that “they smoke weed and get drunk every evening.” At the beginning of his work, ONYX was inspired by its simplicity and closeness to the black people, but sometimes a lot of things came down to primitiveness. They expressed their attitude towards all things with numerous “fucks”, and their favorite phrase and at the same time message was: “We are ONYX and we don’t give a flying motherfucking fuck.” A kind of black nihilism.

And only by the second album they learned to express their thoughts in ways quite worthy of masters. Two years have passed since the debut battles and the composition of the team has changed slightly. Big Dee S joined the army, and Suave took a new pseudonym, Sonee Seeza. ONYX's second album, "All We Got Iz Us," took the remaining three to new levels of respect for their talent and was undoubtedly a step forward. The rappers produced this album themselves, and in all major indicators it reached the sales level of its predecessor and even surpassed it in terms of meaning. Well, these are the same black stories of the realities of their world, only even more contradictory than before. In "Last Dayz" Sticky Fingaz raps about the line between living a dirty life and attempting suicide. He says that he holds his life by a thread, and fears that there, in hell, they don’t sell drugs, but he would do it, because the devil is inside him." It’s sad, of course, but true. And an hour later the same ONYX are singing praises the brave but alive and launches the final anti-suicide anthem “Maintain”.

But I want to believe that the main meaning of the album is in the small composition “All We Got” - rappers talk about the streets where they grew up as one big life collision, where you can’t trust anyone, where you are forced to be strong, otherwise you will be crushed by force. After all, no matter what happens, you need to rely only on yourself. And all they have is themselves! (“All we got out of us!”).

Needless to say, these rappers have become wise, and yet they are in their early 20s, and still have two thirds of their lives to gain their wits and get into trouble (unless, of course, they get slapped on the street). Therefore, quite deservedly, the popularity of ONYX grew to catastrophic proportions by 1995. They were even placed on the pages of comic books. By the way, the “Fight” comic was developed by the rappers themselves and, in theory, was supposed to ultimately answer the question: “What should a rapper do in New York destroyed by a nuclear disaster?”

ONYX was founded own label Armee Records immediately released the debut disc of the young rap team ALL–CITY, with which they sang “Ghetto Mentality” on their second album.

All three members of ONYX received tempting offers to act in films and in 1995–96 expanded their track record with participation in several mid-budget films. Sticky ended up in the credits of the famous political thriller"Dead Presidents" and together with Fredro starred in Spike Lee's film "Clockers" and in the film "Strapped". In addition, in February 1996, Fredro found himself together with Denis DeVito on the set of the basketball blockbuster "Sunset Park".

During these two years, I think they had a great time. In their first interviews in 1998, the trio solemnly announced their imminent return and plans for the future. " Music industry V this moment goes nowhere, which forces ONYX to return and restore the celebration street music“, which rap has always been,” Sony Siza once said. “Hip-hop brought turntables to the streets, and music became the property of many,” Fredro echoed him. - Hip-hop is bikes with hoods, Adidas shoes and sneakers. Today, it’s considered not a thrill to go into a club wearing a hood, and hip-hop is played only inside these clubs.” ONYX will try to return hip-hop to where it actually came from in their new album “Shut 'Em Down.” , which was released not in March as planned, but on April 21 (six years after ONYX first left New York to tour with RUN-DMC and KRS-One).

The rappers are confident that with their new album, consisting of 15 songs, they will rise to a new level of rap. On their third album they included collaborations with Nas and WU–TANG CLAN and assured their fans that it would be less black and political than the group's first two discs.

In 1989, Onyx formed in Queens (also called Suicide Queens, due to the numerous suicides in the area), New York. The group's lineup was Fredro Starr, Sonee Seeza (then known as Suave), and Big DS. They were a new revolution in rap music. Onyx did not accept any censorship or criticism towards them. They didn't care about any of this at all. Having grown up in the ghetto, they told true stories from this very life in the ghetto. Their music was as aggressive as their lives.

It all started with Onyx deciding to make several demo recordings for the leader of the group Run D.M.C. Jam Master Jay, but they were hampered by one small problem. During this time, Big DS and Sonee Seeza were in custody. Then Fredro Starr called his cousin named Sticky Fingaz, who then worked in a hair salon. Sticky Fingaz and Fredro Starr make a demo recording to give to Jam Master Jay. After listening to the Def Jam tape, the first thing Onyx was asked was, "Where's that guy with the deep, irritable voice?" Of course, they meant the cross-eyed, slightly crazy, Sticky Fingas. After which they released their first single on Profile Records, entitled "Ah, And We Do It Like This".

After the release of the single "Throw Ya Gunz" Onyx signed a contract with Def Jam to release an EP (mini album). The single became such a hit that Onyx began recording an album, and in 1993, they presented the entire hip-hop world with an album called "Bacdafucup". Incredible hits like “Slam”, “Throw Ya Gunz”, “Shifftee”, and of course collaboration with the group Biohazard brought Onyx huge success. "Bacdafucup" quickly climbed the hip-hop charts. "Slam" was the fifth single of the year and the album quickly sold two million copies. Onyx were recognized throughout the hip-hop world by winning the "Soul Train" Album of the Year award.

Nothing could stop Onyx in 1993. A rap group that was known for bringing heavy rhymes, metal and hardcore to rap music. They used fast fire rhymes and similar beats, it was no wonder why they blew up the entire hip-hop scene. And Onyx certainly lived up to this terrible image. Sticky Fingaz was arrested for assault. They were banned from performing at a football game. The NAACP considered them a disgrace to black people. Their lyrics and status as one of the heaviest bands of that time are what brought them wild popularity.

Two years later, changes occurred in the group. Big DS was no longer in the group and rumors were that he was either in jail or had left the group. It was two years when Onyx didn't release anything, but the fans were really looking forward to the new album. In 1995 they decided that underground visibility was more important than commercial success, and this was very evident on their 1995 album, All We Got Iz Us. The album sold 500,000 copies, for ordinary person this was an indicator of a decline in their crazy popularity, but this is for ordinary people, not Onyx. They knew their true listeners, and were considered a golden underground group. Respect was more important than fame. The album was a critical success especially for fans who loved Onyx's new lyrics. Instead of rap groups releasing incomplete albums every six months, Onyx wanted to calm down and concentrate. It was worth it. "All We Got Iz Us" is an underground classic, thanks to the single "Last Dayz" and the wistful video for "All We Got Iz Us."

This time, three years passed before Onyx released anything. Fans have been eagerly awaiting this new release, which is even more stunning than the previous two. But waiting only meant waiting... After the release of "All We Got Iz Us", Onyx's fame rose to another level. Acting skills. Fredro and Sticky started filming films. Having appeared in such films as "Clockers", "Dead Presidents", "Strapped" and "The Addiction".

June 1998, Onyx finally releases their third album, "Shut "Em Down". After many delays and track changes, the album was released to huge underground and commercial success. Major hits appealing to both Anex's underground fans and radio listeners, were "React" and "Shut 'Em Down" recorded with . These tracks were as popular as "Slam" 5 years ago. A true dream for the underground fans of Anex. At the time, hip-hop was Puff Daddy, Mase, and other commercial "emcees" who were flooding the airwaves with their rap, and hardcore hip-hop was not getting airplay. Onyx were a breath of fresh air for the genre.

Now we go straight to 2002. Onyx release the album "Bacdafucup Part II", which is not as successful as its predecessors, but is of good quality.

In 2003, "Triggernometry" was born, which puts everything in its place. It's still the same Onyx, the same hardcore and the same success.

Onyx still live in reality. True hip-hop fans are eagerly waiting to hear what they bring this year, and in the future, and their hopes will be met. Onyx Is Back.