October 24, 2015

Onyx "All We Got Iz Us" (Press Kit, 1995)


"All We Got Iz Us is the eagerly awaited follow-up to Onyx's ultra-high-energy platinum debut album, Bacdafucup. Featuring "Throw Ya Gunz" and the thrash-rap anthem "Slam," Bacdafucup escalated Onyx to the heights of international body-slamming mania and became one of the most talked about, most popular albums of 1992. Now, they're back and they're grimmier than ever. "We were in no rush to make this album," says Onyx's Fredro Starr. "We ate, we hibernated, and now we're coming back mad phat." Onyx is comprised these days of Fredro Starr, Sticky Fingaz, and Sonee Seeza (fka Suave). D.S., the fourth original member of the group, is no longer with them. "This is the armee," explains Sticky. "He went AWOL." Produced by the members of the group themselves, All We Got Iz Us represents a considerable artistic leap forward for Onyx. What hasn't changed is their commitment to telling the tales of their hood (Southside, Queens aka South Suicide, Queens) and their vertiginous pinballing between moods of black despair and raucous joy." Cont'd below...


"The album commences with a little skit in which a suicidally-inclined young man is encouraged to act out his dire plan on the strength of the reasoning that he'd be "betta off dead." It ends over an hour later with "Maintain," a keep-your-head-up, anti-suicide anthem, and in-between, on "Last Days," Sticky even manages to joke about the suicide option, "Think of takin' my life, I might as well / 'Cept they might not sell weed in hell." If any one moment can be said to set the overall tone for All We Got Iz Us, it is the "All We Got Skit," which includes the following chorus: 'These evil streets is rough / Ain't no one we can trus' / Either roll with the rush or get rushed / 'Cause all we got iz us!'" - Press Kit (1995). You can read more in the press release and Onyx bio below...