Cold Case Files: Vol. 1 is a compilation album by American hardcore rap group Onyx released on August 19, 2008, by Iceman Music Group. This compilation contains singles and lost studio recordings from the group's albums.
The album was produced by Jam Master Jay, Fredro Starr, Kronic Tones, Dominche, Self and Keith Horne. The album features guest appearances from Method Man, X1, Panama P.I., Smoothe da Hustler, Trigger tha Gambler, D.V. Alias Khrist, All City, Still Livin', Gang Green, Whosane and Chocolate.
Background After conquering Hollywood, Onyx return to the scene, emerging from their musical vaults with a new album, Cold Case Files, a 16-track collection of previously unreleased songs executive produced by the members of Onyx and Omar "Iceman" Sharif. The collection features underground singles, lost studio recordings from the group's first three albums, and appearances from Method Man, deceased Onyx affiliate X1, and Gang Green. According to the group, revisiting these sessions also served as a tribute to fallen soldiers Jam Master Jay, X1, Big DS, and all Onyx affiliates who have passed away in the last five years; some of which are still unsolved murders.
Fredro's younger brother, Whosane, archived most of the unreleased tracks. Sonny Seeza, who served as album supervisor shares, "Whosane was usually in the studio with us and kept all our classic recordings that never made it onto albums in the Onyx music vault; so when the time came to select tracks for Cold Case Files, he had tracks that we didn't even know existed on everything from cassettes, DATs, CDs to 2-inch reels. According to Fredro Starr, Onyx has at least 60 tracks, and this is just the first volume of unheard material. DJ Infinite, one of Fredro's good friends, came up with the idea to make this album:"...We wanted to put something out for the fans, especially the true Onyx fans. DJ Infinite, one of my good friends and associates came up with the idea of doing this album and putting out some of these tracks. So my brother Whosane had the cassettes and the DATs saved from back in the days and we just transferred all that into the digital age and now you got the Cold Case album."
Critical response
RomanCooper of HipHopDX gave the album three stars out of five, saying "...This album is easily worth copping – if you're an Onyx fan. If you're not familiar with their music, you'd be much better served scooping up either Bacdafucup or All We Got Iz Us. Cold Case Files doesn't really manage to distinguish itself from common issues associated with compilation albums. That being said, even cuts that didn't make Onyx's albums manage to bring you back to the gritty early 1990s. With a gem or two nestled among these tracks, fans of that sound may want to check this.".
Tika Milan of AllHipHop.com gave the album 5.5 stars out of 10, noting that many of the songs sound so similar that if you don't pay attention, it's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. The production is built on simple basement beats: a drum machine, a few keyboard chords, and a looped sample or two.
Track listing #TitleFeatured guest(s)Producer(s)SamplesLengthYear 01. "U.S.G." Jam Master Jay 0:15 1992 02. "Ghetto Way Of Thinking" Fredro Starr 4:40 1995 03. "O.N.Y.X." "You're A Big Girl Now" by The Stylistics 3:21 2003 04. "See U In Hell Pt. 2 (Freestyle)" X1 "I Loves You, Porgy" by Nina Simone 3:22 1998 05. "Evil Streets (Remix)" Fredro Starr "Georgia Rose" by Esther Phillips "Vamos A Rapiar" by Main Source 4:13 1994 06. "Rock U" Fredro Starr 4:14 1996 07. "Hydro" Keith Horne 3:06 1996 08. "Purse Snatchaz Pt. 2" Fredro Starr "Love Is My Life" by Jimmy McGriff 3:32 1994 9. "Wili'n Wili'n" 4:08 1998 10. "See You In Hell (Freestyle)" "American Fruit, African Roots" by Zulema 3:39 1997 11. "I'll Murda U (Remix)" Gang Green Fredro Starr "Candy Man Blues" by Ten Wheel Drive "Handclapping Song" by The Meters 3:43 1995 12. "Mad World" Self 4:16 1997 13. "I Don't Want To Die" Chocolate Keith Horne "I Believe I Can Fly" by R. Kelly 3:47 1997 14. "Return Of The Madface" Kronic Tones "Donna" by Gerome Ragni 3:22 2003 15. "Candy Man" X1 Fredro Starr "Candy Man Blues" by Ten Wheel Drive 2:12 1995 16. "Hard To Be A Thug" Sticky Fingaz 3:09 1999
Personnel Credits for Cold Case Files: Vol. 1 adapted from AllMusic and CD booklet.Cold Case Files: Vol. 1 credits adapted from the AllMusic reviewCredits for Cold Case Files: Vol. 1
Onyx — performer, vocals Fredro Starr — performer, vocals, executive producer Sticky Fingaz — performer, vocals, executive producer Sonny Seeza — performer, vocals, executive producer Omar "Iceman" Sharif — executive producer Method Man — guest artist X1 — guest artist Panama P.I. — guest artist Smoothe da Hustler — guest artist Trigger Tha Gambler — guest artist D.V. Alias Khrist — guest artist All City — guest artist Still Livin' — guest artist Gang Green — guest artist Whosane — guest artist Chocolate — guest artist Jam Master Jay — producer Kronic Tones — producer Dominche — producer Self — producer Keith Horne — producer DJ Infinite — associate producer Salvatore "Dagrind" Mula — A&R David Rivera — A&R Dagrind Entertainment — A&R Whosane — album supervisor Inkpen — art direction, design
Cold Case Files: Vol. 2
Cold Case Files Vol. 2 is a compilation album by American hip-hop group Onyx released on August 10, 2012 by Major Independents. Physical copies became available on January 23, 2014. The album contained unreleased tracks from the group's first three albums, Bacdafucup, All We Got Iz Us and Shut 'Em Down.
The album was produced by Keith Horne, Onyx, 8-Off Assassin, 3rd Eye (a.k.a. Jesse West) and Jam Master Jay. The album features guest appearances from Naughty By Nature, Biggie Smalls, 3rd Eye (a.k.a. Jesse West), Gang Green (X1, Sife, Still Livin'), All City (Greg Valentine), Jared "Choclatt" Crawford и Tracy "Sunshiine" Woodall.
Background One of the main findings of this collection was the never released before track "Flip Dat Shit". In January 1993, at the recording studio The Hit Factory in NYC, rappers Naughty By Nature, Onyx, Chyskillz, Jam Master Jay, Biggie Smalls, Puff Daddy and producer/rapper Jesse West (also known as 3rd Eye) joined together to record a track "Flip That Shit" special for the soundtrack to the new movie "Who's the Man?". Many years later, fans were still able to hear the track "Flip That Shit" thanks to DJ JS1, who passed this digitized tape to Sticky Fingaz, who added this track to the collection of unreleased songs of Onyx's "Cold Case Files Vol. 2"
The track "To All Ya'll Crews, Whatever", which was not included on the album "All We Got Iz Us", was leaked on Onyx's website in CD quality on March 22, 2016. Earlier, this track was released on Cold Case Files Vol. 2 in poorly digitized cassette quality.
Critical reception
BOOM BAP REVIEWS gave this release a good response saying "The important thing is that Onyx actually took the bold step and we're here now with yet another Onyx collection that appealed. So, is it any good? The very nature of this project should be a godsend to Onyx fans. Plus, for the assholes out there, they're simply telling you to buy it for free. And besides, 6 crap songs out of 16 is still a bargain, right? Right?!".
Track listing # track featured guest(s) producer(s) sample(s) length year 01. "Set It Str8" "Mystique Blues" by The Crusaders (1971) 3:55 1997 02. "Kidz From Queens" Still Livin' "The World Is a Ghetto" by War (1972) 3:41 1995 03. "Bring It" (also known as "Hey!") (The Philadelphia Flyers half time anthem) Keith Horne "Rock 'N Roll, Part 2" by Gary Glitter (1972) 4:02 1998 04. "Hi Hoe" "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life" by Cal Tjader (1971) 3:03 1997 05. "Crime Stories" "Throw Ya Gunz" by Onyx (1992) 4:41 1997 06. "Punk Motherfukaz" (Full Length) "Long Red" by Mountain (1972) 4:40 1995 07. "To All Ya'll Crews, Whatever" Onyx 3:20 1995 08. "Anything Goes" Onyx 3:20 1997 9. "Give It All You Got" Greg Valentine "Risin' To The Top" by Keni Burke (1982) 3:43 1999 10. "Flip Dat Shit" 3rd Eye 4:10 1993 11. "Pussy On The Regular" Keith Horne "Coldblooded" by James Brown (1974) 4:03 1997 12. "Take That" (Full Version) Keith Horne piano from "Rhapsody Rabbit" (1946) 4:03 1996 13. "Raze It Up" (Demo version with different lyrics) Keith Horne 4:03 1996 14. "Love Of Money '96" (Unreleased rock version with different lyrics) 4:55 1996 14b. "You Must Be Outta Your Mind" 3:44 1997 15. "We Comin' Thru Ya'll" (a similar beat was used later on "Broke Willies") Keith Horne "Miss You" by The Rolling Stones (1978) 3:57 1997 16. "Walk In New York" (Jam Master Jay original "working" version with different beat and some different lyrics) Jam Master Jay 3:18 1995 Notes: Information about samples was taken from WhoSampled.
Personnel Credits for Cold Case Files: Vol. 2 adapted from CD booklet.Cold Case Files: Vol. 2 Credits for Cold Case Files: Vol. 2
Onyx — performer, vocals, producer Fredro Starr — performer, vocals Sticky Fingaz — performer, vocals, executive producer Sonny Seeza — performer, vocals Naughty By Nature — guest artist Biggie Smalls — guest artist 3rd Eye (a.k.a. Jesse West) — guest artist Gang Green — guest artist X1 — guest artist Sife — guest artist Still Livin' — guest artist All City — guest artist Greg Valentine — guest artist Jared "Choclatt" Crawford — guest artist Tracy "Sunshiine" Woodall — guest artist Keith Horne — producer Jam Master Jay — producer 8-Off Assassin — producer 3rd Eye (a.k.a. Jesse West) — producer Paul Scavone — associate producer, album supervisor
References
External links Cold Case Files: Vol. 1 at Discogs Cold Case Files: Vol. 1 at RapGenius Cold Case Files: Vol. 2 at Discogs Cold Case Files: Vol. 2 at RapGenius