Onyx - #WakeDaFucUp (2014)

At the time that Bacdafucup hit the record racks and airwaves, Onyx seemed to be inventing a genre all their own: heavy metal rap. Of course, on closer inspection, it is not at all surprising stylistically, given their link to Def Jam and Run DMC, the record company and crew that introduced heavy guitar riffs into hip-hop. Onyx, though, seemed far more threateningly hardcore than Run DMC ever were, and each song on their album seems like a quick-triggered, menacing chip set squarely on the shoulders of MCs Big DS, Suavé, Fredro, and Sticky Fingaz. That the entire album from beginning to end circumvents almost any backlash by being so brilliantly catchy as well, is a sterling tribute to how strong a quartet Onyx truly is on this first effort. The group gives the impression that they wanted to spotlight the sort of cartoonish, directionless anger that existed in a lot of hardcore rap, and then funnel that sort of energy into songs full of singalong choruses and joyous, chanted hooks that lend a certain feeling of camaraderie to the whole album.

TRACKLIST

01. Wakedafucup Intro
02. Whut Whut
03. We Don't F****n Care (feat. A$AP Ferg & Sean Price)
04. Hustin Hour (feat. Makem Pay)
05. Buc Bac
06. Wakedafucup (feat. Dope D.O.D.)
07. The Tunnel (feat. Papoose & Cormega)
08. The Realest
09. Dirty Cops (feat. Snak the Ripper)
10. Boom!!
11. Trust No Bitch
12. One 4 Da Team (feat. Reks)
13. Hammers On Deck
14. Turndafucup