Onyx rap group. Biography

The foul-mouthed speeches of the negroes infringed on their legal rights, the gangster way of thinking and difficult childhood The members of this New York rap crew have been awakened from the start by the already morbid imagination of young rappers in both America and Britain. No wonder the ONYX style was once defined as hardcore gangsta rap (or porno gangsta rap).

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

Sticky Fingaz

Fredro Starr

Suave (Suave)

Big D.S. (Big D.S.)

Growing up in the southern part of New York's infamous Queens quarter (this southern part is also called "South Suicide, Queens" for the huge number of suicides committed there). And they met in an ordinary barbershop.

Life in the ghetto was like one nightmare (of course, black and white, rarely gray, but mostly ruthless and hopeless) that seemed to last forever. There was one effective tool that pulled our heroes out of the dead loop of everyday life for a while - hip-hop.

RUN–DMC, LL Cool J and BEASTIE BOYS were pretty damn popular in the late 80s and early 90s, and the future members of ONYX, like many black teenagers in America, took their songs to heart. The foursome were in their 20s at the time and performed their self-produced rap at various parks in their area. Why only his own, anyone will understand modern teenager- in another quarter, you could at best be beaten, at worst - accidentally take your 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 the elders. But when marijuana or something stronger appeared in the company, the young were given first. They got used to it easier and faster and sat on the needle, and then they became especially cruel and uncontrollable in search of money for the next dose. The future members of ONYX went through all these terrible breakdowns and began to make the same aggressive ruthless rap.

After recording a single single "Ahh, And We Do It Like This" (apparently in imitation of 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 an EP release (which is longer than the single but shorter than the full length album), which eventually ended with the release of ONYX's debut album "Bacdafucup". And what an album!

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

Basically a genius debut album ONYX evoked the same specific responses about itself. The authoritative American magazine "The Source", for example, described it as an "extremely internal review of intoxicating ugliness modern life the so-called dregs of seemingly prosperous American society", and Billboard found an even more accurate characterization of ONYX's music. Its reviewer wrote that "ONYX actually don't just make violent rap, they seem to vomit their dismissive burp on the faces of white racists and specifically on the "infringers" 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 their faces in order to please such a tangible army of their readers. At the very dawn of American onyxomania, the group also became known to British rap lovers. I remember that at their first London concert, such obsessed fans gathered in the hall that ONYX, who were not yet accustomed to the glory, were frankly embarrassed, but they performed excellently, and no one in the hall thought to be silent. There, a real rebellion flared up in defense of the oppressed Nigers of America.

But this rap brigade also had ardent opponents, who for a long time were looking for a trick to officially oppose such music, and soon found anti-religious elements in ONYX songs. In addition, in the early 1990s, America was stormed by religious debates between major political forces, which predetermined confusion in relations within confessions, between them and the persecution of anti-religious speeches by believing fanatics. For ONYX, this resulted in the cancellation of several concerts and even the ritual burning of some of their records. church leaders in New Haven.

Fuel was added to the fire by negligent careerist politicians, for whom the truth was less important than their election promises. Many respectable politicians, such as Bob Dole, William Bennett and Dolores Tucker, openly took up arms against rappers, blaming them for almost all the existing problems that concern the American public. But to their credit, ONYX fought back with much more weighty arguments in defense of the rap commune. Their main slogan was that "during its existence, hip-hop has gained more supporters and followers than Jesus Christ himself. Therefore, if some assholes want to dump all mortal sins on him and accuse him of their own political miscalculations, they will have to compete with everyone who supports this music and these views." This, according to the rappers, will be not only black, but also white, other colored. Because hip-hop is for everyone and it calls for only one revolution - a fair division of rights, duties and freedoms among all people, regardless of skin color. The government and the Congress want to get away from this problem by any means, and their eternal hesitation "for" or "against" only irritates ordinary people.

The titles of the group's early songs propagated a cult of violence, profanity and exposed their performers as typical gangsta rappers. What are only "Blac Vagina Finda", "Throw Ya Gunz" and thrash-rap "Slam"! These same blacks were proud of themselves when they said that "they smoke weed and drink every night." At the beginning of his work, ONYX took with its simplicity, proximity to the black people, but sometimes a lot came down to primitiveness. They expressed their attitude to all things with numerous "fucks", and their favorite phrase and at the same time the 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 did they learn to express their thoughts in ways quite worthy of the masters. Two years have passed since the debut battles and the composition of the team has changed slightly. Big D Es left for the army, and Swayv took a new pseudonym Sony Siza (Sonee Seeza). ONYX's second album "All We Got Iz Us" took the remaining trio to new heights of veneration for their talent and was undoubtedly a step forward. This album was produced by the rappers themselves, and according to all the main indicators, it reached the level of sales of its predecessor and even overtook 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 a dirty life and a suicide attempt. He says that he keeps his life in the balance, and fears that there, in hell, they don’t sell drugs, and he would do it, because the devil is inside him. "It's sad, of course, but true. And an hour later the same ONYX sing praises the brave, but alive and launch the final anti-suicidal anthem "Maintain".

But I want to believe that the main meaning of the album in the small composition "All We Got" is that rappers talk about the streets where they grew up as one big life collision, where you can't trust anyone, where you have 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 from us!").

Needless to say, these rappers have become wise, and yet they are a little over 20, and they still have two thirds of their lives to gain intelligence, to fill bumps (unless, of course, they are spanked on the street). Therefore, quite deservedly, the popularity of ONYX grew by 1995 to catastrophic proportions. They were even placed on the pages of comics. By the way, the "Fight" comic book was developed by the rappers themselves and, in theory, was supposed to answer the question: "What should a rapper do in New York destroyed by a nuclear disaster?".

ONYX founded their own label Armee Records and immediately released the debut CD of the young rap team ALL-CITY, with whom they sang "Ghetto Mentality" on their second album.

All three ONYX members received tempting offers act in films and in 1995-96 expanded their track record with participation in several films of the average budget. 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 was with Denis DeVito on the set of the basketball blockbuster "Sunset Park".

During these two years, they seem to have had a great rest. In their first interviews in 1998, the trinity solemnly announced their imminent return and plans for the future. "The music industry in this moment goes nowhere, which forces ONYX to return and restore the triumph of street music, which rap has always been," Sonia Siza once said. "Hip-hop took turntables to the streets, and music became the property of many," Fredro echoed him. - Hip-hop is about bikes with hoods, adidaskis and sneakers. Today it is not considered a thrill to go to a club in 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 make their first tour with RUN-DMC and KRS-One).

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

Onyx is a hardcore hip-hop band from Queens, New York, formed in 1988 by Fredro Starr, Sonsee and Big DS. A little later, Sticky Fingaz will join them. Gained popularity and cult status in the 1990s, is a legend of the nineties in hip-hop culture.

Also, the Onyx group is considered to be one of the founders of hardcore rap.

Established in 1994, Onyx Group is one of the UK's leading technology providers, specializing in data centres, cloud, network services, business continuity a...

Story

The band was produced by the legendary Jam Master Jay (Run D.M.C.), who signed a contract with Def Jam for the release of Onyx's first disc. Under this label in 1993 the Onyx album "Bacdafucup" was released. Due to calls for anarchy, the group's songs were banned from radio broadcasts, but the CDs sold out anyway. By the end of the first month of sales, the album had sold a million copies.

Two years later, in 1995, the world saw the second album "All We Got Iz Us". He did not repeat the success of the first. And now the deceased left the group Big D.S.. The composition took the form that it has to this day. The most successful single was the song "Last Dayz". The album sounded just as dark and damp as the first.

For the third album, the guys abandoned JMJ production and brought in several new beatmakers, including DJ Scratch (EPMD). As a result, 1998's "Shut 'Em Down" album was undoubtedly the best of their career. Among the guests were still young DMX, Big Pun, Noreaga, 50 Cent debuted, and members of the Wu-Tang Clan also participated.

In 2000, Onyx's Sticky Fingaz released Blacktrash: The Autobiography Of Kirk Jones. The album was oversaturated with guests, hits and had a clear story concept.

The group then attempted a return. The album "Bacdafacup Part II" (2002) became a pale shadow of the previous creations. And "Trigganometry" (2003) is a collection of remixes and old hits.

In 2008, Fredro Starr recorded a song together with the Rostov group "Sand People" and "BTR". The project was called "Suiside Queens". The song is called "Queens-Rostov". A story that took place at the end of 2010 is also connected with Rostov-on-Don. Due to financial disagreements with the organizers, the members of the group made a scandal on the stage of the KSK Express, and, without performing, left the stage.

Members of the main cast

• Jones Kirk (Sticky Fingaz)
• Fredro Starr
• Tyrone Taylor
• Fletcher, Marlon (Big DS)

Discography

Videography

Music videos

• I'll Murder You (1992 - not officially released)
• Bacdafucup (1993)
• Da Nex Niguz (1993)
• Throw Ya Gunz (1993)
• Slam (1993)
• Shifftee (1993)
• Last Dayz (1995)
• All We Got Iz Us (1995)
• Live Niguz (1995)
• Walk In New York (1995)
• Slam (Bionyx Remix) (feat. Biohazard) (1996)
• Judgment Night (feat. Biohazard) (1996)
• React (feat. Still Livin", X-1 & 50 Cent) (1997)
• Shut Em Down (feat. DMX) (1998)
• Broke Willies (1999)
• The Worst (feat.

In 1989, Onyx formed in Queens (also known as Suicide Queens, due to the many suicides in the area), New York. The line-up was Fredro Starr, Sonee Seeza (then known as Suave), and Big DS. They were new revolution in rap music. Onyx did not recognize any censorship or criticism in their direction. They didn't care at all about it. Growing up in the ghetto, they told unimagined stories from that very life in the ghetto. Their music was as aggressive as their life.

It all started when Onyx decided to make some demos for the band leader Run D.M.C. Jam Master Jay, but they had one little problem. During this time, Big DS and Sonee Seeza were incarcerated. Then Fredro Starr called his cousin named Sticky Fingaz, who was then working in a barbershop. Sticky Fingaz and Fredro Starr make a demo to give to Jam Master Jay. After listening to the tape for "Def Jam", the first question asked of Onyx was: "Where's that guy with the low, irritable voice?" Of course, they were referring to the cross-eyed, slightly insane Sticky Fingas. They then released their first single on Profile Records, titled "Ah, And We Do It Like This".

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

Nothing could stop Onyx in 1993 either. A rap group that was known for bringing heavy rhymes, metal and hardcore to rap music. They used fast fire rhymes and the same kind of beats, it was no wonder why they blew up the whole hip-hop scene. And Onyx, of course, lived up to this terrible image. Sticky Fingaz, was arrested for assault. They were banned from playing at the football game. The NAACP considered them a disgrace to blacks. Their lyrics and status as one of the most heavy groups that time, that's what brought them wild popularity.

Two years later there were changes in the group. Big DS was no longer in the group, rumor has it that he was either in jail or left the group. It's been two years that Onyx hasn't released anything yet fans have been waiting for it. new album. 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 over 500,000 copies ordinary person it was an indication of the decline in their crazy popularity, but this is for ordinary people, not Onyx. They knew their true listeners, and were considered the golden group of the underground. 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 focus. It was worth it. "All We Got Iz Us" is an underground classic, thanks to the "Last Dayz" single and the wistful "All We Got Iz Us" video.

This time, it was three years before Onyx released anything. Fans have been waiting for the 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 took up filming. Starring in films such 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 appealed to both underground Anex fans and radio listeners alike, were "React" and "Shut "Em Down" co-recorded with . These tracks were as popular as "Slam" was 5 years ago. A true dream for underground fans of Anex. At the time, hip-hop was Puff Daddy, Mase, and other commercial "emcees" who flooded the airwaves with their rapping, and hardcore hip-hop didn't get airplay. Onyx were the breath fresh air for this genre.

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

In 2003 "Triggernometry" is 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 beyond, and their hopes will be justified. Onyx Is Back.

ONYX - Gangsta rap is not for the faint of heart Please leave this article alone to all the naive, sensitive and faint of heart readers of the newspaper. I advise everyone else to get rid of piercing and cutting objects, put on handcuffs, straitjackets, provide sockets with protective caps and protect relatives from themselves for the entire time of reading the material about this group.

The foul language of disenfranchised blacks, the gangster mindset and difficult childhoods of the members of this New York rap crew from the very beginning awakened the already painful imagination of young rap fans in both America and Britain. No wonder the style Onyx once defined as hardcore gangsta rap (or porn gangsta rap).

At first there were four of them. The quartet of black guys was Sticky Fingaz, Fredro Starr, Suave and Big D.S. Suicide, Queens" for the huge number of suicides committed there). And they met in an ordinary barbershop.

Life in the ghetto was like one nightmare (of course, black and white, rarely gray, but mostly ruthless and hopeless) that seemed to last forever. There was one effective tool that pulled our heroes out of the dead loop of everyday life for a while - hip-hop.

RUN–DMC, LL Cool J and BEASTIE BOYS were pretty damn popular in the late 80s and early 90s, and future members Onyx, like many black teenagers in America, took their songs to heart. The foursome were in their 20s at the time and performed their self-produced rap at various parks in their area. Why only his own, any modern teenager will understand - in another quarter you could be beaten at best, at worst - accidentally take your 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 the elders. But when marijuana or something stronger appeared in the company, the young were given first. They got used to it easier and faster and sat on the needle, and then they became especially cruel and uncontrollable in search of money for the next dose. Future members went through all these terrible breakdowns Onyx and began to do the same aggressive ruthless rap.

Recording a single single "Ahh, And We Do It Like This" (apparently in imitation of RUN-DMC and their famous "It's Like That") on the "left" label Profile Records, looking for a contract Onyx turned to RUN-DMC and, as it turned out, to 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 an EP release (which is longer than the single but shorter than the full length album), which eventually ended with the release of the debut album. Onyx"Bacdafucup". And what an album!

At that time, it seemed to many that rap music would not survive another revolution (at least the third, as the old fans believed), if it did, then not soon. But Onyx it succeeded so rapidly that the number of their fans exceeded one million in the first month after its release. Naturally, the album became "multi-platinum", its authors - the stars (by the way, the name of their team also has a tinge of space).

In general, in its own way, a brilliant debut album Onyx provoked the same specific comments about himself. The authoritative American magazine "The Source", for example, described it as "an extremely internal review of the intoxicating ugliness of modern life of the so-called dregs of an outwardly prosperous American society", and "Billboard" found an even more accurate description of the music. Onyx. Its reviewer wrote that " Onyx in fact, they don’t just make a cruel rap, they seem to puke with their dismissive burp on the physiognomy of white racists and specifically on the “infringers” of the rights of the black population of America.

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

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

Fuel was added to the fire by negligent careerist politicians, for whom the truth was less important than their election promises. Many respectable politicians, such as Bob Dole, William Bennett and Dolores Tucker, openly took up arms against rappers, blaming them for almost all the existing problems that concern the American public. But to their credit Onyx fought back with much more weighty arguments in defense of the rap commune. Their main slogan was that "during its existence, hip-hop has gained more supporters and followers than Jesus Christ himself. Therefore, if some assholes want to dump all mortal sins on him and accuse him of their own political miscalculations, they will have to compete with everyone who supports this music and these views." This, according to the rappers, will be not only black, but also white, other colored. Because hip-hop is for everyone and it calls for only one revolution - a fair division of rights, duties and freedoms among all people, regardless of skin color. The government and the Congress want to get away from this problem by any means, and their eternal hesitation "for" or "against" only irritates ordinary people.

The titles of the group's early songs propagated a cult of violence, profanity and exposed their performers as typical gangsta rappers. What are only "Blac Vagina Finda", "Throw Ya Gunz" and thrash-rap "Slam"! These same blacks were proud of themselves when they said that "they smoke weed and drink every night." At the beginning of his work Onyx I took it with its simplicity, proximity to the black people, but sometimes a lot came down to primitiveness. They expressed their attitude to all things with numerous "fucks", and their favorite phrase and at the same time the 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 did they learn to express their thoughts in ways quite worthy of the masters. Two years have passed since the debut battles and the composition of the team has changed slightly. Big D Es left for the army, and Swayv took a new pseudonym Sony Siza (Sonee Seeza). Second album Onyx"All We Got Iz Us" took the rest of the trio to new heights of veneration for their talent and was certainly a step forward. This album was produced by the rappers themselves, and according to all the main indicators, it reached the level of sales of its predecessor and even overtook 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 a dirty life and a suicide attempt. He says that he keeps his life in the balance, and fears that there, in hell, they don’t sell drugs, and he would do it, because the devil is inside him. "It's sad, of course, but true. And an hour later the same Onyx sing the praises of the brave but alive and launch the final anti-suicidal anthem "Maintain" on the air.

But I want to believe that the main meaning of the album in the small composition "All We Got" is that rappers talk about the streets where they grew up as one big life collision, where you can't trust anyone, where you have 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 from us!").

Needless to say, these rappers have become wise, and yet they are a little over 20, and they still have two thirds of their lives to gain intelligence, to fill bumps (unless, of course, they are spanked on the street). So the popularity is well deserved. Onyx grew by 1995 to catastrophic proportions. They were even placed on the pages of comics. By the way, the "Fight" comic book was developed by the rappers themselves and, in theory, was supposed to answer the question: "What should a rapper do in New York destroyed by a nuclear disaster?".

ONYX founded their own label Armee Records and immediately released the debut CD of the young rap team ALL-CITY, with whom they sang "Ghetto Mentality" on their second album.

All three members Onyx received tempting offers to act in films and in 1995-96 expanded their track record with participation in several films of the average budget. 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 was with Denis DeVito on the set of the basketball blockbuster "Sunset Park".

During these two years, they seem to have had a great rest. In their first interviews in 1998, the trinity solemnly announced their imminent return and plans for the future. "The music industry is going nowhere at the moment, which makes Onyx

The cult for Russia rap group of the 90s is reaping the benefits today - that is, it performs here, apparently, five times more often than at home.

Move back mothafucuz, Onyx iz here!

To some extent, Onyx is a mysterious band. In the mid-90s, they incomprehensibly gained cult status in Russia, becoming almost synonymous with the word rap. Yes, at that time everyone already knew that there were 2pac, Snoop, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, but Onyx's rap is not lost in their background. And after all, there was no promotion, there was no today's amount of information, there was no Internet and no MTV channel. And there were: pirated cassettes (passed from hand to hand), videos of incomprehensible quality (generally rarities) and the evil emblem of Onyx - clumsy, but spectacular, decorating the mountains of black T-shirts and hoodies that flooded the country and became for some period of time, almost not a hip-hop uniform. There was concentrated aggression, a clot of malice in every word and look. It was impressive and captivating. Fantasy immediately drew them in the studio, at the microphone, furiously spitting words (or they could have been bullets). And the inscription "Onyx" adorned the entrances and fences of megacities on an equal footing with the cult brands Prodigy, Nirvana and Depeche Mode.

The Queens Quartet formed in 1990. Fredro Starr, Sticky Fingaz, Big DS, and DJ Suave Sonny Caesar team up to knock out listeners with killer rhymes. They started in the streets and small clubs and, thanks to their explosive style and super temperamental presentation, they became famous in their area. Promoting violence? Well, no, more like an overly naturalistic presentation of the experience experienced on the streets of Queens.

Jam Master Jay from Run DMC, already considered one of the legends of hip-hop, found out about the four from South Suicide (such a cute name was given to their area). He got the single Onyx in his hands. It was one of the first studio recordings, but it gave an idea of ​​the rich potential of these guys. Impressed by Jam Master Jay turned real godfather team, knocking out a contract for Onyx with the influential label Def Jam. In 1993, Onyx's debut album "Bacdafucup" was released and white America clutched its heads. A menacing warning sounded over the country: "Move back mothafucuz, Onyx iz here". She had never heard this before.

Simply, artlessly, but very authentically, Onyx told that they wanted to spit on all laws and orders, while there are so many rich white racists in the world, and the black population lives in a ghetto, where there is dirt, poverty, crime and drug addiction. And they will establish laws for themselves. It should be noted that the words of these guys did not differ from the deed: they knew what crime, law and prison are in their own skin.

The success was massive. Onyx songs were banned from radio, but their CDs were sold in boxes in stores. At the Onyx concert, a spectator died, and all the newspapers trumpeted about it. The Def Jam bosses were rubbing their hands. The million bar of sales was overcome in a month - just fantastic. best number there was a carbon monoxide hit "Slam" on the record - they write such a once in a lifetime. This song also received another version, a heavier one. To do this, Onyx hooked up with respected New York hardcore band "Biohazard" and the duo was also a big success. The guys hardly expected such a load of fame that fell on them in an instant. Concerts, tours in America, the first performances in Europe, where Onyx themselves were shocked by the size of the raging crowd in front of the stage.

In 1995, the second Onyx album "All We Got Iz Us" was released, sustained in absolutely the same vein. Angry lyrics and hysterical vocals still remain calling card groups. In the future, many will master this trick - yes, the same DMX. But then, in 95, where was DMX, and where were Onyx? "All We Got Iz Us" did not repeat the success of its predecessor, becoming "only" gold. This made the band's management concerned. They considered the lack of Onyx clips in the rotation of music channels as the reason for weak sales. And they tried to reconcile the uncompromising trio (by that time Big DS had already left the team, now he is dead - he died of cancer) with the television format.

It happened on the third album "Shut "Em Down". By this time former glory Onyx has faded quite a bit. They decided to freshen it up with a couple of clips. "Shut "Em Down" featured young talent DMX (who had just released his debut CD) and fit in seamlessly with the band's style. The second video, "React", was super provocative. For four minutes, Onyx's black hockey players are extremely tough on their pale-faced rivals. It was a brazen invasion of the original territory of the white race, because in the USA hockey was only their favorite toy. And yet it did not help Onyx return to the top. The label management considered further cooperation with the group unprofitable. And the contract did not renew. Onyx went from active bands to living legends.

IN later career members of Onyx was hidden from the gaze of the press. Loyal fans bought their new releases, as well as the solo work of Fredro Starr and Sticky Fingaz. They both launched film careers - Spike Lee's "Clockers" and the familiar "Sunset Park" for basketball and hip-hop fans deserve mention. For Onyx fans in our country, their story would be incomplete without another event. In December 2003 Onyx made a visit to Moscow for the festival "Our People". Living legends did what was expected of them: as if having lost ten years, they performed old proven hits with inimitable energy and all the same young enthusiasm. This was more than enough for the assembled crowd to go crazy for the duration of their performance.

Discography:

Bacdafucup / Def Jam / 1993

All We Got Iz Us / Def Jam / 1995

Shut'em Down / Def Jam / 1998

Bacdafucup II / Koch / 2002