Onyx don't need an introduction, and they've never asked for one.
Formed in 1988 in Queens, New York, by Fredro Starr, Sonny Seeza and Big DS, with Sticky Fingaz joining in 1991, they've spent over three decades as one of the hardest, loudest and most uncompromising units New York hardcore rap has ever produced. Discovered by Jam Master Jay, who signed them to JMJ Records on the condition that Sticky be part of the group and that decision shaped everything. "Bacdafucup" in 1993 delivered the blueprint: screaming delivery, raw aggression, moshpit energy before the term existed in rap vocabulary. "It All Started in Brooklyn" arrives as a fourteen-track album that circles back to the source. Executive produced by Fredro Starr, Sticky Fingaz and Perry Papadakos via 100 MAD. The limited Digipack CD is pressed to just 150 units, distributed through the Snowgoons a partnership that makes perfect sense given the Goons' proven track record in physical underground distribution. The production is split across five hands, and the distribution matters: Lord Nez handles four tracks (1, 3, 7, 10), Fredro Starr himself produces three (2, 9, 12), Quab Lab takes three (6, 11, 14), DFNS delivers two (5, 8) and DJ Audas covers two (4, 13). Fredro producing three tracks adds a dimension the album needs he's not just controlling the mic, he's shaping the sound. Quab Lab provides a hard foundation, and Fredro Starr and Sticky Fingaz carry it all with the physical vocal presence that has always defined the group. The tracklist reads like a manifesto: "Go Brooklyn," "Get Live" (feat. Ayoo Bigz), "How U Like Me Now," "Around My Way," "Lift Off," "It's On U," "The Goonies," "Hear Dem Knocking," "Body Ya," "Still Last Dayz," "Up Dat," "Lords Of Flatbush," "Fuck Love" and the title track. Ayoo Bigz is the only feature guest everything else is Fredro and Sticky, period. No feature inflation, no guest appearances designed to generate streams. This is Onyx in their purest form: two voices feeding off each other over beats that hold the pressure. Onyx don't turn "It All Started in Brooklyn" into a museum piece. They use it as an origin statement. The record works because it doesn't try to sound younger. It trusts the essentials: pressure, voice, aggression, identity. Brooklyn isn't used as a slogan it's the source code. Titles like "Lords Of Flatbush" and "Around My Way" anchor the album in concrete geography these aren't abstract streetrap backdrops, these are streets that Fredro and Sticky walk. Sticky Fingaz born Kirk Jones in Brooklyn, New York his lazy eye, raspy voice and boundless energy brought attention to the group, and he became the frontman. Raised in Bloomfield, New Jersey, where his mother enrolled him in Manhattan's High School of Art and Design, he moved at sixteen to South Jamaica, Queens, to live with his cousin Fredro Starr. That family dynamic cousins pushing each other is the engine that has driven Onyx for over thirty years. "It All Started in Brooklyn" makes that audible: two voices that know each other like no one else, challenging and carrying each other in equal measure. The Snowgoons connection as distribution partner is no accident. The Goons DJ Illegal, Det and Sicknature are European hip-hop producers whose gritty, authentic sound has earned recognition in both the US and the European scene. The 150-unit CD limitation is a conscious choice: if you're buying physical, you know what you're doing. This isn't a mainstream release pressed for mass consumption this is underground distribution at its most deliberate. Onyx's 2026 output has been remarkable: alongside the album, they've already dropped singles including "Body Ya," "RB & Knockout," "Hollis 2 Southside" (feat. DMC), "New Old" and "MAGNUM" all in the same year. The "Hollis 2 Southside" collaboration with DMC is particularly significant: two acts from the JMJ Records orbit, brought together by Jam Master Jay's vision, finding each other on a track. That's not a feature that's history narrating itself. "It All Started in Brooklyn" isn't a comeback album. It's an album from a group that never left that simply never stopped doing what they stand for. Fredro and Sticky don't sound like veterans trying to stay relevant. They sound like Fredro and Sticky. That's enough. It's always been enough.
