Sy ShacklefordThough this album has been promoted as a return to their NY roots, I don’t think Onyx ever truly left them. Though the group has lost members, they’ve never lost their hardcore aesthetic birthed from their native Southside Jamaica Queens. It’s what brought them attention and a legion of fans on their first three albums and what re-introduced them to a new generation of fans in 2014 via the Snowgoons. Originally a quartet, the death of Big DS and the departure of Sonny Seeza have left Fredro Starr and Sticky Fingaz holding it down since the early 2010s. This marks the release of “Lower East Side”, the group’s fourteenth album. Some New Yorkers say the Lower East Side isn’t what it was and that it’s now been heavily gentrified. Pardon the pun, but Onyx (by contrast), has not.
To drive that point home, the album begins with “Blk Sknhds”. Not meant as a jab at the Kanye West track or his latest antics, but as a reference to the innovations and trends Onyx has brought to hip-hop: Bald-headed street rappers with the energy of hardcore heavy metal fans. The album is produced entirely by Lord Nez who tailors his beats to Fred and Sticky’s anthemic lyrical blend of street-level crimes, threats, and experience. “We Will Rob U” vocally interpolates Queen’s “We Will Rock You” over Nez’ surreal minimalistic soundscape. A looped drum sample begins the horror-esque “America’s Nightmare” where Sticky reminds listeners that in his world, there are no rules. He maintains his trademark raspy monster voice as the hook samples the lines of Fredro’s opening verse from “Last Dayz”. “Stray Shots” is a short story of robbery with Sticky being the more descriptive of the violent narrative in his verse. The single “Tear Shit Up” has the stench of Onyx’s hardcore menace all over it, from the beat to the lyrics:
“Rock Boxx” has Nez giving his own sonic interpretation of the classic RUN-DMC song of (mostly) the same name as Onyx lyrically reference several RUN-DMC songs and lyrics as they go about their lyrical rampage. Halfway through the album, Onyx has had no guest rappers and it remains that way. On the title-track, Fredro and Sticky spin yarns about how anything criminal can happen in that part of New York. On “Get Wasted”, the production is reminiscent of the nu-metal hip-hop inflected sound of hard rock bands in the late ‘90s. “Monsters Under My Bed” has Onyx showing a little of the demons that drive the hardcore personas which both men show in their rhymes. The production is slowed down slightly on “Over Petty Shit”, where both emcees issue violent boasts with the hyperbole turned up to the max.
The duo raps an ode to their home city on “NY What Up”, but largely in terms of warnings to outsiders. With all the aggression both emcees rhyme with and the violence in their lyrics, they almost qualify as social commentators. “Green Eggs & Spam” flips the Dr. Seuss book title into loose autobiographical rhymes of Onyx’s come up to explain their present-day loose cannon natures. The album closer “Creepin in da Park” is some of Lord Nez’s best production on this release. It’s also the shortest track, there isn’t much there lyrically and is more of a coda. Onyx have been in the rap game for over 30 years and managed to retain their relevance. One key element of the group’s longevity is their willingness to work with producers who give a musical spin on the group’s unyielding hardcore style that ultimately meshes well with them. “Lower East Side” doesn’t waver from that purpose.