![]() Important to note, Gang Green's single wasn't as useless as many people perceived. Oh, and did I mention it was my fucking blog? and 3. Metropolis Gold was promoted first, in 1995. Now, for that nitpicker out there who questions the reason my last post came before this one, even though Shut 'Em Down was released first: 1. Meanwhile, Onyx were already trying to establish themselves as an influential force in the rap game by expanding their roster to include groups like All City and Gang Green, helping the former in signing a deal with MCA Records, who released the duo's lone album Metropolis Gold (on which two songs were produced by Agallah) while the latter simply released a single (also produced by Agallah, which resulted in a song that would've fit perfectly on All We Got Iz Us). Of course, this approach certainly didn't do them any favors commercially, which sent Def Jam into a frenzy, trying to find a way to make these loons a successful act again. Also, the album saw the emergence of Agallah, the producer, with some of the grimmest yet most melodic beats in hip hop history, all under veteran DJ and executive producer Jam Master Jay's close tutelage. Everyone who heard the friggin' thing recognized why immediately. In reality, though, they shut the critics up with their interesting take on concept albums, where they played characters so determinedly evil that the album could be considered a conscious album and nobody would object, at all. On paper alone, Onyx pulled a goddamn forest of rabbits out of their hats with that album, and deserve each and every complement they got for producing that masterpiece. These pieces always connect very deeply with many people, and I'm pretty confident in saying that Onyx' All We Got Iz Us is one of those pieces and proud to say that it connected with me. So we get so caught up in our comparisons of hip hop artists that we lose sight of the pieces presented to us for observation. Even reading that sentence is ridiculous, right? People in hip hop chalk it up to it in essence being a confrontational art, which is some premium made bullshit. For example, I have never heard of Roy Ayers starting a beef with Lonnie Liston Smith because some fan ranked the latter higher than him in their "top 5 best jazz pianists of all time". So much so that we start seeing a lot of stupid shit. It is a shame, however, that we rank contributions to this art form so fervently that we forget a lot of people and their hard work while other genres simply appreciate what's been handed to them. Many contributions in as many art forms connected with us humans over time. (His secondary antagonist character was awesome.) Which brings me to the end of story time and to my next point. ![]() Because, as I've also said before, I didn't make the connection between hearing him on Throw Ya Gunz for the first time on Def Jam Vendetta (even though Sticky clearly states his name on the goddamn song, which says enough about my attention to lyrics at the time.) and being introduced to his crazy ass on its sequel, Def Jam: Fight For NY. One of the songs he was included in was the remix to Shut 'Em Down by crazy people Onyx, on which he was joined by Noreaga (whom I don't really care for outside of The War Report.) As I've previously stated, listening to this song marks the precise point where I realized that Sticky Fingaz was a member of Onyx. I remember being really impressed with Pun. Anyway, the most included artists, whether via guest appearances or their own shit were the Wu, (whom I've already heard of at this point) the LOX & Big Punisher (both of whom I've been introduced to by this game). Shook Ones, Incarcerated Scarfaces and Do What Ya Feel were among its many highlights. After the talk station, Liberty City Free Radio, this was my favorite station as I spent hours of my actual life grinding its selection of 90s classics into my unwitting brain as I carried my PSP around wherever I went. One of the stations was The Liberty Jam, an East Coast hip hop station hosted by DJ Clue. I distinctly remember enjoying the game's radio stations very much as I was blowing up my path through the game's missions, which were set in 1998. ![]() My post today takes you specifically ten years ago, where a teenaged shoe-in bought his precursor to the iPod, his very first Playstation Portable with Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories bundled with it. This is a fact that will not be disputed here on BBR. ![]()
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