Throwback Thursday: Onyx “Slam” (Video)

I'd like to take a moment to apologize to my mother. Mom, I'm sorry my brother and I broke that lamp jumping around in our living room while we blasted Onyx' 1993 smash "Slam" at full volume. You were right, rappers are terrible role models...still, that was one hell of a video.



The Refined Take:

1) Watching this reminds me that in the mid-90s rappers showed how tough they were by being crazy energetic and wild (see DMX for more). Now? You'd be hard pressed to get a rapper to do more than sit in a chair with a gun. See, we have gotten fatter and lazier as a country.

2) I've been trying to count as I watch the video, but frankly it's impossible to count the amount of time an Onyz member rubs the top of his own bald head. I wouldn't be surprised if it was an even 100. Those guys were big fans of their lack of hair. Big fans.

3) What was the pitch meeting for this like? Director: "Um, so I was thinking we'd just get a bunch of people into a warehouse and have them go f**king crazy." Onyx: "Book it."

4) You gotta love that they threw in a bunch of crazed and tattooed white boys at the end (ex. the 3:10 mark). You can always count on white guys to go completely overboard - there's a reason the Jackass crew was completely white.

5) Time for the "where are they now?" portion of the program...after a several year hiatus Onyx is essentially back together and trying to put out a new album, "The Black Rock", but the release has been continually delayed. It's now slated to come out sometime this year; and I do mean "sometime."