Onyx – “It All Started in Brooklyn” review

Queens, New York duo Onyx consisting of Sticky Fingaz & Fredro Starr dropping their 14th studio LP. Their debut Bacdafucup followed by All We Got Iz Us & Shut ‘Em Down under Def Jam Recordings are rightfully considered by many to be East Coast classics, releasing 2 mediocre albums in the early 2000s returning in 2014 with the Snowgoons produced #WAKEDAFUCUP. The sequel Snowmads was great & I also enjoyed Onyx vs. Everybody more than others, coming off the subpar reception of World Takeover as well as Blood on da X & Lower Eastside to the remind everyone It All Started in Brooklyn.

After the “Go Brooklyn” intro, “Get Live” featuring Ayoo Bigz produced by Fredro Starr finds the trio over a clunky boom bap instrumental talking about looking to hype the crowds whereas “How U Like Me Now?” aggressively talks about going from the barbershop to coppin’ different whips even though the beat isn’t much better. “Around My Way” menacingly cautions to show no fear around them although it instrumentally feels run-of-the-mill just before “Lift Off” talks about nobody being able to terrorize a club like them.

“It’s on U” continues from there hopping over a cavernous boom bap beat asking if one’s gonna take the charge or go out blastin’ while “The Goonies” likens themselves to thugs who be waitin’ for muhfuckas in the alley carrying baseball bats. “Hear Dem Knocking” talks about paying attention to the feds tryna come inside the spot leading into “Body Ya”, which was the ONLY single from the rollout that I didn’t mind since Fredro’s instrumental was less clunky albeit still AI.

We get an underwhelming “Last Dayz” sequel with “Still Last Dayz” mainly because of the beat dragging it down while “Up Dat” aggressively suggests for opponents to upgrade their arsenals. “Lordz of Flatbush” was actually a cool representation of the Brooklyn neighborhood that I can appreciate but once “Fuck Love” tepidly shows a more romantic side to Onyx, the title track concludes It All Started in Brooklyn taking everyone back to where it all began for both of it’s remaining members.

The last time I enjoyed a project from Onyx was when Onyx vs. Everybody initially came out 4 years earlier & considering the mediocrity of the singles, I wasn’t anticipating It All Started in Brooklyn to change that & it surely enough joins Triggernometry in becoming one of the pairing’s weakest collection of material in their entire discography. Sticky Fingaz & Fredro Starr can still very much rap, but I wish Fredro would handle the production the same way he did Onyx vs. Everybody because these AI generated beats “Powered by Play That AI” are absolutely hideous.

Score: 1.5/5

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UFO Fev – “Strapped” review

Harlem, New York emcee UFO Fev teaming with Fredro Starr to produce his 8th LP. Coming up in 2014 off his full-length debut Around My Way, it wasn’t until 2020 when he saw his biggest year yet by dropping not 1 but 3 well received projects: the Statik Selektah-produced sophomore effort Fresh Air along with the Termanology-produced debut EP From El Barrio, With Love & the Big Ghost Ltd.-produced 3rd album The Ghost of Albizu. This was all followed up with Magnum Opus along with the Vanderslice-produced Enigma of Dalí & 4 EPs: The Most High, Prayer, Weed & Music, E Pluribus Unum, Sunsets in the Ghetto & of course the Finn-produced Blood on the Bills. A year & a half after Painting Houses though, expectations for Strapped were up there.

After the titular intro, the first song “Best Dressed” is a drumlessly crooning opener & a full circle moment for Fev himself whereas “Batumi” dives headfirst into boom bap territory doing exactly what he’s supposed to do right on schedule. “Can We All Get Paid?” works in a soul sample with kicks & snares asking if everyone can make bread in order to live better days ahead of “Bullets” featuring Red Inf recapturing the energy of their Vanderslice-produced collab EP Chemistry about 3 months ago.

“Fast Life” atmospherically breaks down the lifestyle he lives of being at his level within the underground just before “UFO Teknology” featuring Teknology brings the trio together over a soulful beat so they can reassure everyone knows the game & the subsequent outcome of it. “Peace God” takes a jazzy approach attempting to teach his youth some knowledge leading into “Sade X” calmly showing off his new glow.

Nearing the conclusion of Strapped, the penultimate song “Free Rice” returns to the boom bap with a spacious twist instrumentally listening to b-sides as well as building a catalog & dodging bullets in the matrix prior to “Visiting Hours” officially wrapping up Fev’s best album in a couple years mixing pianos & crooning background vocals bringing fresh flowers to his old girls behind bars wiping his tears away assuring him they’re ok.

Fredro Starr has really been elevating his game behind the boards these last couple years & much like how he gave SmooVth his best album in recent memory with Project Near You, he helped Fev deliver what has to be the most I’ve enjoyed a project of his since Blood on the Bills a year & a half ago. The general sound expands beyond boom bap in favor of jazz rap & drumless while Fev shows the audience a personal side to him.

Score: 4.5/5

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SmooVth – “Project Near You” review

This is the 14th full-length album from Hempstead emcee SmooVth. Coming up as 1/2 of the duo Tha Connection alongside Hus Kingpin, he would also build an impressive solo discography for himself along the way with my personal favorites being just about everything that Giallo Point has ever done with him: Portrait of a Pimp, Medellin, the sequel to the latter Medellin II: Don Fabio & Amongst Wolves. But when it was revealed that Fredro Starr of the revered Queens duo Onyx was gonna behind the boards for Project Near You from beginning to end, my anticipation for it was very high considering that Q started making beats recently as well as Onyx vs. Everybody being the best thing that he & Sticky Fingaz have done together since the Snowgoons-produced SnowMads nearly 3 years back.

“Project” is a soulful opener vividly describing how it be in Hempstead whereas “The High” works in some pianos to talk about making a band. “That’z Us” brings some stellar vibraphones in the mix so that both parties can give it to you raw & uncut, but then Tha Connection links up for the piano/boom bap hybrid “Niggary” with both MCs spitting some gritty ass gangsta raps.

Meanwhile on “17 a Key”, we have SmooVth over a drumless loop getting on his pyrex shit leading into J.D. Era tagging along for the dreary “100 Up” talking about how no one can fuck with them even though J.D.’s verse has to be the weakest feature on the album with all respect. Fredro himself comes into the picture for the title track lacing some acoustics & dusty drums advising that they’ll be pulling up to a hood nearby just before “Straight A’s” brings back the keys looking back on being told he can’t get paid or laid.

The song “Imagine” shoots for a more tranquil aesthetic instrumentally providing food for thought while the penultimate track “Corner Pockets” returns to grimier territory talking about how ruff & rugged shit can get. “Sad & Blue” however ends the album with glossy beat & a sample of “La Di Da Di” by Slick Rick as SmooVth tells his audience that’s exactly how he’s feeling.

Now, if you happen to be a fan of both of these guys like I am, then I highly recommend giving Project Near You a listen because it’s one of my favorite SmooVth albums to date. The lyricism from him & nearly every feature takes you through the harsh realities of the Big Apple with Fredro’s continuing to refine his production game, as the shit he cooks up here is even better than what I heard on the last Onyx EP.

Score: 4/5

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Onyx – “Onyx vs. Everybody” review

This is the 2nd EP from Queens duo Onyx. Consisting of Sticky Fingaz & Fredro Starr, the first 3 outings Bacdafucup as well as All We Got Iz Us & Shut ‘Em Down are rightfully considered by many to be East Coast classics. They went on to release 2 mediocre albums in the early 2000s before going AWOL, returning in 2014 with the Snowgoons produced #WAKEDAFUCUP. Black Rock was ok Snowmads was a great follow-up to #WAKEDAFUCUP, but Onyx 4 Life & 1993 were as mid as Black Rock to me. That being said, I was very much looking forward to Onyx vs. Everybody given that Fredro is producing the whole thing.

After the titular intro, “It’s Goin’ Down” opens up the EP with some horns talking about going brazy whereas “Shoot Wit” is a raw boom bap banger calling to raise the hand that the shooters let off rounds with. “Real Evil” ominously opens up about killing people leading into Termanology tagging along for the symphonic “Project Gladiators” declaring themselves as such.

“I Rap Like” works in some pianos & dusty drums showing y’all they still got it, but “Bac Up Off Me” with Harrd Luck is so short that there’s literally no point of it being on here in my opinion. The song “Raze the Crime Rate” returns to the raw street life anthems despite the Ricky Bats feature missing the target & after the “Brooklyn Bullshit” interlude, the closer “Talk in New York” with Big Twins rounds everything out with a fresh ode to the 5 boroughs.

For an EP, I think this happens to be one of Onyx’s best bodies of work in a while. I wish it was a little more fleshed out & a couple of the features are questionable, but Fredro schools it behind the boards as he & Sticky Fingaz still deliver the hardcore hip hop style they blew up off of.

Score: 3.5/5

Onyx – “SnowMads” review

Onyx is a revered hip hop duo from Queens, New York consisting of Sticky Fingaz & Fredro Starr. Their first 3 albums Bacdafucup, All We Got Iz Us & Shut ‘Em Down are rightfully considered by many to be East Coast classics. They went on to release 2 mediocre albums in the early 2000s before going AWOL, returning in 2014 with the Snowgoons produced #WAKEDAFUCUP. This was followed up early last year with the long-lost Black Rock but with Thanksgiving around the corner, they’re getting back with the Snowgoons to deliver a follow-up to the album that returned them to form.

After the intro, the first song “Who da Fuc?” finds Sticky & Fredro challenging their opponents over a boom bap beat with some suspenseful string sections. The next track “Robbing Hip Hop” with Bumpy Knuckles & NEMS sees the 4 comparing taking the game back to a burglary over a frightening instrumental while the song “Monsters Gorillas” with V Knuckles sees the 3 talking about being stone-cold killers over a suspenseful boom bap beat. The track “Rat Tat Tat” of course talks about guns which is cool, but the Quadro & UFO Fev features don’t do anything for me.

The song “Hoodies Down” finds Sticky & Fredro talking shit over an adrenaline pumping beat while the track “Kill da Mic” shows that their lyricism is still grittier than ever over mafiosi-like instrumental. The song “Street Art” with SickFlo sees the 3 showing y’all how hardcore hip hop should be done over a boom bap beat with a fantastic organ lead while the track “Trolling” with V Knuckles is an actually decent diss track towards Charlamagne tha God & 6ix9ine. The song “Ringolevio” flawlessly goes back & forth over a bloodcurdling instrumental while the track “Built Like That” talks from the heart about their courage & strength over an upbeat instrumental.

The song “Mad Shoot Outs” with Flee Lord lyrically needs no further explanation & the lugubrious instrumental fits very well whereas the track “I Got the Tec-9” continues the themes of the previous joint over a boom bap beat with some keyboards. The standard edition closer “Ain’t No Time to Rest” feels like a leftover from Onyx’s Shotgunz in Hell collab album with Dope D.O.D. & then the album finishes with the bonus cut “Good Fight”, which is an energetic crowd mover.

I’ve been wanting a #WAKEDAFUCUP follow-up for a while now & I’m finally glad they did it. Some of the features I could do without, but the Snowgoons‘ raw production yet again fits the duo’s cutthroat lyricism like a glove.

Score: 4/5