Shut Em Down was Onyx’s more corporatized album with a commercial sound which featured a lot more guest artists than their last album did. The album featured everyone from Method Man to Big Pun. Despite the number of guest spots and commercial sound, Onyx manages to keep things “Shiftee! Low down, gritty and grimy”. Broke Willies and Face Down are some examples of Onyx managing to keep things “Shiftee! Low down, gritty and grimy”.
What’s stands out about this album is their storytelling capabilities and styles. Songs such as Conspiracy and Rob and Vic display Onyx’s story telling capabilities. Now Onyx always has anthem songs on their albums. This album is no exception. Raze It Up was Onyx’s new anthem for the year 1998. This was an anthem song.
Conspiracy is one of their songs which was a great display of their story telling capabilities. The song is about how the members of get paranoid because he knows the streets are going to kill them. You know what happens in the actions of the inner city tale.
These streets are tryin to kill Onyx. Best friends could be worst enemies. This game is deadly. This ghetto might murder them or lock them up.
Sonny Seeza is caught up and stuck in the tangled web where they’d love to see him dead. So the tricolored silenced Rugar stays off safe. To take off a face just in case. Police want to brutalize him to death. And his foes wanna see him lose all his breath. Maybe friends want to come and merk him for his beans.
Niggas trying to kill Sticky Fingaz. They caught him by surprise. They just shot Sticky Fingaz in the stomach! That’s when he blacked out. His life flashed before his eyes. Sticky Fingaz never gave a shit his whole life due to his kill or be killed mentality he had growing up in the ghetto. His mentality was kill or be kill. Shoot or get shot. If the gun ain’t jam, he would bust you. If he can’t trust his own mother, then how can he trust you? He did some things that he sort of regrets. Sticky left behind a widow and a bastard kid. The streets were tryin to kill him and it did.
Rob and Vic was one of their songs which was another great display of their story telling capabilities. This is one of their most poignant stories which still holds relevance today. This is one of the best songs which hardly ever gets any mention or accolades. The song Rob and Vic explained how people will rob from each other for the love of money.
Now this rap song actually has a message and a moral unlike rap songs of today. The message and moral to this song is don’t let money change you because mo’ money mo’ heat. With more money, there comes more problems. Don’t let money change you!
The setting for the story of Rob and Vic is set in a bad area of New York City in 1993. 1993 was a particularly grim time since the crime rate in New York City was near its all-time peak. A time when New York City was very grimy most certainly. That is the setting and climate of the story in a nutshell.
The story of Rob and Vic is a story about two brothers named Rob and Vic who grew up in the world alone and forced to fend for themselves in the Rotten Apple of New York City. God forgot about them.
Rob and Vic would get cash in big amounts by robbing people. They commit their sixth stick-up turned homicide without remorse or showing any signs of caring at the beginning of the story. This is the same way their mother died. The two brothers slid and had to get to their game plan together because this little bit of stickup money is not going to last them forever. These two brothers are desperate and on the edge with no place to go. They cannot go back to the hood because they robbed everyone they knew. People will kill their own for the love of money!
Now every time Rob and Vic hear a siren, they get paranoid. They were supposed to be gettin work from this large cat. But since they know about the location of his residence, they decide to rob him instead. Rob and Vic heard this cat had a 100 G’s ($100,000 dollars) on his Gold Card. His crab wife showed Rob and Vic mad cash in her blouse She said he the mad stash at the house. They couldn’t pass up a jooks like this on any day.
On their way there, they were feelin’ bad vibes. That’s when the two brothers bumped heads with victims that they stuck from way back up on the Atlantic Ocean. The people they robbed in the past were driving in a frantic manner. Shots rang through the windshield violently out of nowhere. They jump back and bust three shots those people shooting at them. Rob and Vic hit the kid behind the steering wheel. In a state to kill.
Later on, Rob and Vic are in an elevator in a building in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood. Rob and Vic got off the 5th floor ready kick the door. So they bust shots by entrance. The person inside tried to run and reach for a knife but was shot in the leg. Rob and Vic demand that person tell them were the money is located at. Rob and Vic dragged the victim down six flight of stairs to the basement where there was a conveniently placed trap door in the pavement.
There had to be at least 500K ($500,000). Now here comes the bitch talking bout her share of the wealth. So they put her and the husband out. The plan was splendid because they got all this money and can’t even spend it. Rob and Vic bounced out of town and went down to Miami, Florida because most of those cats they robber were like family. Now Rob and Vic are beefing. It all started when all they had was each other. The song ends with one of the the brothers getting killed because one brother betrayed the other.
Raze It Up was Onyx’s new anthem for the year 1998. This was an anthem song. Now Onyx always has anthem songs on their albums. This album is no exception.
I rate this album 4/5****!
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