When Terrorizer And TesseracT Went To A Rap Gig

So it turns out TesseracT axeslinger James Monteith and I love a little bit of bar spittin’ and throwin’ gangsta gunz in the air. We head to London’s Jazz Café to catch New York’s veteran rap crew Onyx.

Opening with ‘Bacdafucup’ the pit starts slammin’ (you’d think it was Biohazard on stage) and shit gets laid down heavy with  Sticky Fingaz and Fredro Starr on tight form, their lyrics delivered viscerally and with genuine menace. I end up spilling beer when that lanky twat decided to pull me into the pit for ‘Slam’ but I’ve rarely seen so much energy and brutality as well as crowd camaraderie at show as much as I saw tonight. Judgement? Totally bitchin’!

How was it for you lanky?

Wow! Just, wow. Tonight is possibly the heaviest, most aggressive, energetic show I have been to in years. I remember when I first heard onyx when I was around 12 at school, and I was genuinely scared, and in later life I’ve learned that fear is a sign of something I’ll love, and Onyx are no exception. Fredro Starr and Sticky Fingers’ vocal delivery is so in your face that it almost feels like they’re about to jump off stage and beat the living shit out of you. The beats are most brutal, and if you don’t end up jumping around like a loon, or pulling some shapes in the mosh pit (yes, there was a full on mosh pit) then you’re clearly deaf or don’t like heavy music. The only disappointment is the absence of ‘Blak Vagina Finda’, but after hearing classics including ‘Throw your Gunz’, and ‘Slam’ (Soz Lee), we can let that slide. Overall? Brutal.