Review Summary: Prioritizing style over anything else, Onyx's focused approach to this album helped cement their noteworthy positions in the already packed 90's hardcore hip-hop scene.
By this album's release in '95, Onyx manages to place themselves in a discrete and necessary place in the New York hip-hop renaissance. Following the success of their '93 single "Slam!," they came off as the wild "blow this mf up!" rappers from Queens, but also incorporate elements that their peers at the time used to carve their lane in an already hyper-competitive environment.
The album moods are dark, rowdy, and bottom-of-a-New-York-dumpster grimy. Unlike RZA's grimy production paired with super-lyrical rhyming from the Shaolin emcees, Onyx takes an almost-inverse approach: use smooth and groovy beats and match them with some of the grittiest lyrics the two could come up with. Mobb Deep made dark music that put the listener in a state of constant anxiety yet street-smart bravado, while Onyx makes that dark look fun by reveling in the "what-if" situtations that nihilistic street rap often alludes to. Songs like "Punkmotherfukaz" and the title track are songs to bounce to, and there are enough cuts in the album like "Most Def" and "Last Dayz" that you can sit and vibe to.
This approach is successfully executed by the duo's emcees. Stickyfingaz, the more memorable of the two, takes "just don't give a f-ck" to a new level. His self-destructive and comically evil persona directly inspired Slim Shady (Fun Fact: the intro track where Stickyfingaz has a suicidal conversation with his alter-ego was a direct inspiration to the Slim Shady EP intro where Eminem does more of the same thing). His "one foot in the grave, the other on a banana peel" approach is found in all of his lyrics. He's about that life. Rather, he seems to welcome death at every opportunity. His balance of 60% horrorcore with with 39% gangsta rap and 1% of self-reflection is marvelous. Fredro Starr, the producer, expectedly tries his best to match the album tones in his verses. His way of literally spitting his rhymes from the back of his throat, constantly talking about drug dealing, street and prison violence and being tough as hell is amusing, even if I felt he was way less believable than Sticky. Good thing it's all fictional and in good fun, right? (right?)
Even though hip-hop is one of my favorite music genres, I'm easily impressed if two criterion are met: (1) The beats get my head nodding and (2) the rappers spit that fire (subjectively defined.) This album, while satisfying both to a degree, wins me over on style rather than substance. All we Got iz Us puts me in a MOOD. I have no favorite tracks because I find myself just listening to it from beginning to end, feeling no need to skip or rewind any tracks. By the end, I feel persuaded to smoke 2 joints and down a fifth of whiskey and go do something stupid, so cheers to that. After all, Onyx DEFINITELY isn't for the children.
