NEWS
EVENTS
Onyx ready to wreak havoc at Archspace
RnB/Hip Hop | Monday 9th April 2018 | Jake
Perhaps aware of the renewed interest in rugged raw rap, nineties hip hop legends Onyx are to play a gig at the East London venue Archspace on the 6th May.
The Queens natives have not enjoyed public appeal since their heyday in the nineties when a string of hits rocketed them to the height of hip hop fame. Emcees Fredro Starr and Sticky Fingaz both took a step back from recording new music to focus on acting in the 2000s.
They could have been mistaken for thinking their cultural relevance had faded, their distinctly rough vocals were not in vogue. Yet the rapid development of subgenres in the 2010s, many coming from Atlanta, birthed a southern take on violent, noisy rap, with Waka Flocka Flame in particular influenced by Onyx’s sound.
Whereas Onyx’s beats were skeletal, hard-hitting with snappy drums, the new Atlanta sound was wedded to the drop-heavy trap style, and Flocka couldn’t help but flow over it with an Atlanta cadence.
Onyx are rarely credited with providing the foundations for this new subgenre, but fast forward a few years and there’s no denying their legacy. Deriving from Bushwick, New York City, 6ix9ine has released hit after hit, with his signature screaming going over punchy beats with heavy drops and a fast pace similar to Onyx.
The influence is clear, Onyx perfected the shout-anthem, providing the blueprints for 6ix9ine to add a modern twist to it. With his success many have developed a taste for the subgenre, and Onyx have enjoyed a return to the rap scene, with fans seeking out the inspiration for a sound which is dominating the scene.
There’s no doubt Onyx will be amped to remind the crowd who the originators of ultra-hype scream-along hip hop are, tickets for the gig are available on the ticketweb website here.
