Onyx - Bacdafucup, Part II

Everyone always tries to encourage kids with the promise that “there’s no shame in trying.” Unfortunately, Onyx prove that truism wrong, track after track on the unsurprisingly lame Bacdafucup: Part II. Trying to reclaim the past glories the Queens threesome just sound generically and unconvincingly “hard” over the course of 12 tracks. Which is a shame, really, since “Slam” was a genuinely inspired and influential single, ushering in the barking style that became a staple of mainstream East Coast rap (what, you thought DMX just had a cold or something?) as well as the early wave of hiphop/rock collaborations that are so commonplace now. Yet anyone looking to see new ground broken should look elsewhere, as the closest thing to freshness Onyx bring is a…Welcome Back Kotter sample (YES!) on “Slam Harder,” a slickly produced party jam replete with a “lemme hear my ladies holler” call out that even Ja Rule wouldn’t be seen next to. And believe me, it all goes downhill from there – a 9/11 tribute, a song-long proclamation that “Onyx Is Back,” and countless other unremarkable joints all fail to ignite. Even Dr. Dre/The Roots collaborator Scott Storch offers the limpest of beats on the album’s closing track. When LL Cool J shouted “don’t call it a comeback,” he did it on one of the most powerful and propulsive tracks of his career. Yet Onyx’ re-entry to an already crowded field of generic rap music doesn’t even come close to a comeback – or whatever you want to call their disappointing album. Some things are just better left alone. [www.allmusic.com]