Queens, New York legends Onyx—comprised of the iconic duo Sticky Fingaz and Fredro Starr—have returned with their 14th studio LP, It All Started in Brooklyn. While the group’s early catalog, including classics like Bacdafucup and All We Got Iz Us, solidified their status as East Coast titans, their recent output has been inconsistent. Despite a strong resurgence in 2014 with the Snowgoons-produced #WAKEDAFUCUP and the well-received Onyx vs. Everybody, this latest effort unfortunately falls short, largely due to the inclusion of AI-generated beats that plague the listening experience.
The album opens with the “Go Brooklyn” intro, leading into “Get Live” featuring Ayoo Bigz. While the track attempts to capture the group’s signature high-energy boom-bap aesthetic, the instrumental feels clunky and uninspired. This trend continues throughout the project; tracks like “How U Like Me Now?” and “Around My Way” suffer from production that feels run-of-the-mill, failing to provide the necessary grit to match the duo’s aggressive delivery.
Mid-album cuts like “It’s on U” and “The Goonies” attempt to lean into the group’s established thug-rap persona, but the cavernous, artificial-sounding beats drag down the momentum. One of the few bright spots is “Body Ya,” which stands out as the only single from the rollout that feels cohesive, largely because the production—while still utilizing AI tools—is less intrusive than elsewhere on the record.
