BACDAFUCUP

Onyx: Fredro Starr, Big D.S., Suave, Sticky Fingaz. Additional personnel: Chyskillz, Jam Master Jay, Big Steve (various instruments); Reggie Woods (saxophone); Mac Gellenon (trumpet). Producers include: Chyskillz, Jam Master Jay, Kool Tee, Jeff Harris. When their song "Slam" unexpectedly became an enormous crossover hit in 1993, Onyx's fate was unfairly sealed as one-hit wonders. Hailing from Queens, the quartet (some of these "baldheads" even worked at a barbershop!) indulged in unrelentingly enthusiastic ranting and shouting that was certainly shocking in 1993. Gritty, street-smart, and intimidating, the album is both exhilarating and exhausting. "Slam" still stands as an unequivocally great single, and the album as a whole matches it in intensity and an almost paradoxically restrained melodicism.

• Genre: Pop
• Format: Vinyl
• Released: 12/10/2013