The first real song is called "Raze It Up" which uses some lyrics from "Throw Ya Gunz". This is a dope song which is guarenteed to get you amped. It's call-response chorus makes it doper. "All my hardcore n*gguz better.. Raze it up! If you don't wanna get shot.. you better Raze it up!" It's a dope opener to hardcore hip hop album which is about to punch you in your face.

The next song is one of the dopest and hardest songs on the album. It's called "Street N*gguz" and uses a dope horn loop and another call-response chorus. "Street N*gguz- getting high all the time. Street N*gguz  - f*ck beef and drawin' a nine. Street N*gguz - always yelling f*ck the cops! Street N*gguz - we the n*gguz that call the shots!" SSticky Fingaz, as always steals the entire show especially on this jam. "Smoking weed, drinking brew. That's all I do. F*ck b*tches, get money. That's all I knew.... I got no respect for life, my mind's on drugs, scared to look me in the eyes, I roll with nothing but thugs!... I'm so trife! I'll take your wife! I fear no man, I swear on my mother's life!" Sticky Fingaz is obviously the illest emcee known to man in the hip-hop industry. This is one of the illest song ever made.

"Shut 'Em Down" features DMX and is another dope, ill song with has tons of energy. It gives you that feeling that makes you want to pound someone face in with your fist. This is really tight lyrically. Especially, DMX and Sticky rock it well. Sticky has the classic line at the end: "To all my real willies, hold your Rollies in the sky! And all my real n*gguz, rob them players outside!" Onyx could shut down the hip-hop industry and bring it back to the street... where it should be. The chorus, though simple (it's just the title repeated over and over again),still brings a strong energy because of the energy of the emcees. This is a dope song!

"Broke Willies" is a faster song which goes out to all of those "Broke willies, keep running your game." This song does show that they are now successful and well paid now. They obviously got on that money-making, fashion tip.. though they still show that they are still hungry. This is a cool song but not as cool as the others. "For Nothin'" is a little skit which again... includes gunfire and someone dying.

"Rob & Vic" is a morbid story about two brothers who rob and jack other people. They use R&B singers for the chorus who sing "For The Love Of Money" hook. The rhymes are dope because they go back and forth but the chorus has been heard so many times that it makes me think that they could of thought of something original even though it fits with the song. One of the brothers end up shooting the other one. It's a gritty tale and the reality of it makes it a better song.

"Face Down" is another dope song which is better than the previous one I mentioned. The beat is slamming and the chorus uses scratches of someone rapping "Face down on the pavement" This is a hard, ill song which is perfectly dope!

"Cops" is another skit which has Sticky being pulled over. It's short and shows how cops always harrass them... well, their songs and style don't have them look like they are going out to play Bingo..

"Conspiracy" is an alright song which is somewhat like filler in my ears. There's nothing really wrong with it. The beat's good. The rhymes are good and the lyrics are completely hardcore. They are paranoid. They claim for the chorus: "For every n*gga shows me love, two n*ggaz try to kill me..."

The next song is called "Black Dust" and has another paranoid feel to it. Like the previous song, it's not bad but not one of the better ones. The chorus has them claiming that "The streets are trying to kill me" The illness and reality saves the song. "One Nation" is a skit used from a radio interview which has a caller saying that rapper sell out when they are in movies. Fedro Starr was in "Sunset Park" and Sticky Fingaz (along with Fedro) was in Spike Lee's "Clockers". They just answer that whatever wax they make, "They lace it!" It's short enough that it does not get annoying.

"React" is probably the most popular one from this album with a dancey beat and party chorus. Still, even in a commercial effort, they "kill"..You know the chorus  "Killin in the club, baby, show some love... All my n*gguz in the spot, show me what you got. Fake cats in the back get rocked what? react!" Still, with the slamming beat and the decent chorus, Sticky Fingaz steals the show rhyming last!: "...I hate life! Gimmie the glock, I'm about to join Biggie and Pac and you commin' like it or not!..." This is a dope song and not too commercial to be annoying or wack... brilliant!

"Veronica" is another story song with another tragic ending. The voices used in the story work well. Onyx hides out in this woman's crib but she secretly sets them up and they meet their demise before they can kill their enemies. Again, it shows their paranoia because they got burned for trusting a woman. Sticky rips it up when he has sex with her.. and she goes nuts grabbing her ankles.. There's no real chorus but they do say "Veronica.. oh, Veronica, Veronica" at the end. It's cool...

"F*ck Dat" features All City and has a cool scratched sample and hard beat. Though the beat is not thick, it is hard.. It's a cool song though it doesn't shine as bright as the others.

"Ghetto Starz" featuring the Lost Boyz is no doubt the Worst song on this album. The bassline sampled from "Another One Bites The Dust" is pretty cool but Mr. Cheeks rapped chorus just gets annoying because it's repeated so many times and his voice gets annoying too. The sentiments aren't that great either because they don't fit in with the rest of the feel of the album. They rap about how much money they get and how they went from the slums to gold. This is wack, not as wack as puffy, but wack. (Even though it's better than any of those commercial rap artists who have sold out.)  This song should have been replaced by that song they put on the "Survival Of The Illest" compilation on the DMX debut album.

The next song, "Take That" uses a hook (used only once) from the song I loved on the "Survival... " comp. This is a short song where Sticky goes completely insane over a piano loop and a hard but not thick beat. At the end, he yells "Take that! where your heart is at! Take that.. and that and that and that!" as gunshots blare. This is one of the illest songs on the album and one of the best. It just shows that Sticky should have a solo joint. I would buy that in a second.

The next song is also dope: "The Worst" features The Wu-Tang Clan. The beat is slow and the scratched chorus is sampled from "Proteck Ya Neck" where Ol Dirty Bastard raps "First things first you'r (noise-ing!) with the worst!" Both shouts of Wu-tang and Onyx are yelled too! Raakwon kicks the song up and rips it well. He' got a magnificent flow but the real dopeness comes from the end where Sticky Fingaz and Method Man go back and forth. They steal it. Lyrically, they are tight and innovative while flow-wise, they are original and wild. [Method Man, (Sticky Fingaz)] "(Holy sh*t, who the f*ck is that) it's john, john (sticky fingaz, kid, you got my back) i got your back cousin (i got the mac cousin) and when them niggaz start jumpin, bust back cousin" Sticky Fingaz also kicks another dope rhyme: "I slap rappers turn em in to singers, touch something of mine and you'll have 9 fingers" This is one of the dopest songs of both Onyx and Wu-tang... It's a brand new classic! Brilliant and Dope!

There's a hidden track after it called "Overshine" with All-City. It's very slow and uses a sample from an old soul song. It's kind of boring and sounds no where near as good as the previous song. It's not wack.. it's just not great. 

Finally, the album ends with "Shut 'Em Down (Remix)" featuring Big Pun and Noreaga. It's basically the same beat with a different chorus. Still, it's dope because of the lyrics. Both Big Pun & Noreaga do a dope job but once again, Sticky Fingaz kills it with one of his best rhymes ever... "They scared to death motha f*ckas tryin to ban me. I'm the one who told Ol' Dirty to shut down the Grammys- You think they thinkin kid well me Stick I burn all o' ya I don't care if Puffy do ya remix!...I'll make you sleep where the worms doI couldn't care less if you ate sh*t and died and turned blue. N*ggaz like us  gonna bring the game back.There's so many wack rappers out here I don't know where to aim at!" This is a dope song and it's even doper because it's a remix that they put a lot of effort into. They didn't just give the same song a different beat. The lyrics, the chorus, and the guests are different, making it a new song which is DOPE!!!

Overall, Onyx made a dope album. There's only one annoying song and only one R&B song which is very hardcore. The lyrics are all rough and they know how to tell a story. Guns, weed, crime, sex, New York, and rap are the primary concerns. They are original because it seems like no one is as hard and as ill as they are. They don't have a soft spot... It's like they are ready to walk into a hail of bullets. Sticky Fingaz should be on it more. He steals the whole album. His rhymes and delivery are not only orginal but the hardest and illest out of everyone I have ever heard. Production wise, the beats could be thicker. The beats are hard and rough (minus "Ghetto Starz" and "Overshine") but for the most part, they are not very complicated or fat. Still, they are very easy to get down and get into to. Though there are some scratches (like on "The Worst" and "Face Down"), there should be more. Still, the scratches that are there are dope. The album flow well becuase the songs are diverse and none of the songs are too long. The listener has to be use to the rough voices, the curses, and the gunfire. Onyx is the hardest group I have ever heard. I respect them totally. This is a dope album which any true hardcore hip-hop head should have. Thank God, Onyx is comming to shut down the hip-hop industry and bring it to the streets. Beats: 8/10, Lyrics: 9/10, Album Flow: 9/10, Originality/Creativity: 9/10, Production: 9/10, Hardcore Rating: 10/10.
[ Overall Rating: 9/10 ]