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Yung Onyx- Return of the Madface Invasion |
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Thursday, 12 October 2006 |
by Kenn Gold
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Fredro Starr in a publicity shot from the film Sunset Park |
Rapper/Actor Fredro Starr, a founding member of the rap group Onyx, has a lot going on these days. Born Fredro Scruggs, Starr started the rap group with his cousin “Sticky Fingaz” and rap compatriot “Sonee Seeza” in 1991. The group’s first album, Bacdafucup went platinum in less than a month. Since 1998, Starr has ventured out on his own to start a solo career, releasing ‘Don’t Get Mad, Get Money!’ in 2003, which was a follow up to FireStar, released in 2001.
Starr also has an impressive acting resume having appeared in such well known movies as Save the Last Dance, Light it Up, and Torque. He also appeared as a recurring cast member on the WB’s Moesha. He recently wrapped filing on the film Day in the Life, due out in 2007 and produced and directed by cousin Kirk “Sticky Fingaz” Jones. He is currently in production with the new film My Brother which stars Vanessa Williams and Tatum O’Neal, also due out in 2007. Additionally Starr is producing a documentary about his late mentor, Jam Master Jay of Run DMC.
{quote_top}While working on many projects simultaneously, Starr is very proud of his new protégée group, Yung Onyx, which is a spin off or remake of the original Onyx. Created in response to the commercialization of current Rap and Hip Hop acts, Yung Onyx is a return to the street anthems that made the original group famous. Starr, along with Yung Onyx member “Khaos”, took time out to talk to MediaBlvd Magazine about what they hope to accomplish with the new group.
“Yung Onyx is a product of the environment. They’re in the same neighborhood that we’re in, South Side Jamaica Queens, so we saw a lot of the same shit growing up. The original Onyx expressed our music in a real grimy energetic tone or fashion, and I feel like right now in the industry there’s nothing like that out there. Everybody wants to be bling bling, and make up a dance and stuff like that. But meanwhile there’s serious things going on in the ghetto,” Starr says. “And the feeling that we’re feeling right now is that we’ve got to raise the flags again- Let the people know what New York is about, and what the hood is about,” he added.
Starr has known most of the members of Yung Onyx their whole lives. “I met Khaos when he was 5 years old. He used to come to the video shoots and come to the studio with his father. His father was real cool with me, and he would always bring his son around. Over the years, I kept a relationship with him as he was growing up, checking up on him and seeing how things were turning out for him, and he was always rapping. I knew the kid for over 13 years,” he says. “And Schitzo is his cousin, so he was automatically drafted into the group. And M.I., who is only 16, I met him in the hood. Just watching these little kids in the hood, they got people battling each other, and I saw him, I was like ‘I like that kid’. And Khaos said, ‘I know that kid, I battled him a couple of times’. So he came to the studio and we just started working. That was 6 months ago.”
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The MadFace Invasion was reborn with the release of Yung Onyx's CD on Sept. 11, 2006 | Unlike the original Onyx, Yung Onyx has added a singer to the mix which brings the group a different sound. “Primo brings a different vibe to Yung Onyx than regular Onyx. He was just meant to be in the group. That’s a way of life. He gets up in the morning, and he looks up to me, and he keeps the legacy living on, you know? So Primo definitely had to be in the group. Plus, he’s a good looking kid, for the girls, you know,” says Starr.
Fredro went on to explain the more Rock and Roll feel to the original Onyx, and how Yung Onyx is getting away from that. “I felt like the first Onyx was more on the Rock and Roll edge. I think we crossed over more on the Rock and Roll edge because we did records with Bio Hazard and stuff like that. Right now, Rock and Roll ain’t really cool to me. When we did it, it was like Nirvana and Red Hot Chilli Peppers, they had a big following with the black community. Right now it’s like R&B’ish. I see Akon and what he’s doing and how he sings. He sings that ghetto shit, real melodic, but it’s still representing our hood.”
{quote_middle}The album, which was released on September 11, has been doing quite well for the group, considering that until this point, there was no third party distributor involved. “We dropped it on 9/11. We didn’t mean to do it like that, it just happened. That was just the Monday that we wanted to put it out. We already sold 5000 CDs on the street with no distributor handling us. Selling hand to hand, out of the truck, 5000 CDs gone! We just got a situation where we can put our records in Best Buys. South Side Distribution is on burn arounds- you go to YungOnyx.com on line and you get the music. So right now, we’re just saying ‘fuck the labels’, lets just make some noise, and let the labels come to us when they’re ready. As long as the kids know the stuff’s out there, they’re going to get it, so we don’t really need to have a 3rd party paying us.”
Band member Khaos is excited to be working with Fredro, and thinks that Yung Onyx will have a wide appeal for fans of all ages. “Man, I’m working with the best, and we’ve got to be nothing but the best. We’re about to take over the whole industry, just like 13 years ago. The album is crazy! I don’t even got no favorites. From 1 to 18, the album is fired!,” he says.
Khaos also thinks the album is something that has appeal to all ages. “I say about 15 and older up to 32. We got an older fan base too, following the old Onyx. We’re taking over- we’re going to cover all bases. We going to set the record straight. There are a lot of things in hip-hop that people aren’t eluding to right now. We’re going to set the record straight. We’re teenagers, so we’ve got a lot to prove. We’ve got a big single, called Bang Out, we’ve got another one featuring Fredro, called “In the Hood Like” You’ll be hearing that on the airwaves very soon,” he says.
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Yung Onyx has plans to take over the world | Yung Onyx is very appreciative of their fans, and has lots of new things in the works, according to Khaos. “I love the fans! We’ve been getting a great response from the crowd, and Fredro’s showing us the way. We’re about to take over the whole planet! Mad face is here. The clothing line is crazy. We’ve got the Yung Onyx clothing coming out. We’ve got the comic book. We’ve got a couple of things in store, but don’t want to release everything yet. We still want to shock the world next year. So March or early April, you’ll know everything,” he says.
{quote_bottom}Yung Onyx may be the first protégé group that Fredro Starr works with, but it won’t be the last. He has recently signed several other groups and plans to bring their music out in the near future. “What I wanted to say about South Side Distribution, I basically came up out of South Side Jamaica. And I really feel a lot of talent in the neighborhood. And I feel like I should be the one to give these guys a chance. So I set up South Side Distribution, and signed 8 acts from South Side Jamaica, and I’ll be distributing their records too in the future. “
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