Who was the best group in hip-hop history? Was it Wu-Tang? Was it Naughty By Nature? Was it Bone Thugs N Harmony? One thing is for sure and that is if you’re talking about the greatest group of all time you have to mention Onyx.

Onyx took the game by storm in a time when hip-hop was at its peak and delivered that true East Coast hip-hop. From the way they wore their clothes to their signature “grimy” style Onyx was a force to be reckoned with and they still are.

Sixshot.com caught up with the legendary group to discuss Cold Case Files, their upcoming album The Black Rock, and their impact on hip-hop.

Aight fellas you got the Cold Case Files album dropping which is an album of unreleased tracks. Why weren’t these tracks released?

Sonny: We had an abundance of tracks that we had done for the All We Got Is Us album. We were constantly in the studio, day in and day out. We just had way too many tracks. You know albums gotta be a certain length. We didn’t want to do a double so we kept the jewels up in the vault. That was Fredro’s little brother Whosane who orchestrated all that. He was real young at the time and he was always in the sessions and he was holdin’ onto joints that was gems and now we could release them today.

Since the tracks are older, do you feel like they might sound dated or will they fit in well with today’s music?

Sticky: These tracks are timeless brother.

Sonny: Everything that’s going on now we recorded in 1995. It was just the same vibe as it is now. There was a war back then and there were people coming back from Desert Storm. There are troops over there now. There was war then and there’s war now. It’s the same vibe.

Sticky: Really the tracks are timeless and they all address things that are still relevant in today’s society.

I always feel like when discussions about the greatest groups in hip-hop come up, Onyx gets left out consistently. Given all that you guys have done for hip-hop, do you ever feel a little over looked?

Sticky: Yeah man I feel that but that’s because we took our careers to different avenues whether it was television or movies or whatever. We kind of put the music on in the backseat. Now we’re putting the music back in the front seat. We never stopped. We just did some other thing to keep the lights on.

Sonny: Onyx is the group that people love to hate. I been seeing that a lot too. When people talk about groups and about icons in the game they talk about Naughty by Nature and Wu-Tang. Where’s Onyx up in there though? People love to hate us and love to imitate us.

You guys dropped your first single in 1990. It’s 2008 now. How much has the game changed since then?

Sticky: Things ain’t changed much man. There’s definitely a bigger censorship issue in hip-hop. Also the South has infiltrated the scene. You got people using fucking voice boxes more and more now. It’s the same shit man, same shit, different day. The world hasn’t really changed much. We got the internet and Youtube and all that shit now but people still got the same problems, pains, pleasures, problems, and struggles.

How do you feel the hardcore Onyx fans are going to react to this album?

Sticky: I think they’re gonna like it a lot. It’s gonna give them something they’re missing. They’re getting classic joints that just didn’t make the album because it would have been too long. I really think they’re gonna love the new Onyx album we got coming called The Black Rock. It’s like a hybrid of hip-hop and rock and roll.

That’s interesting. What made you take that route?

Sticky: We’re just trying to take it to the next level really. If you’ve ever seen an Onyx show we’re like rock stars man. We kick monitors off the stage, stage dive, throw water off the stage. We got the crowd screaming and going nuts. They’re all slam dancing. We’re rock stars and the fans are gonna love it. To tell you the truth I feel like we should have been did this.

Sonny: The fans are really gonna love this for real. The hardcore fans rock with us and we’re gonna continue to rep for them.

That’s something that’s really lacking today. What makes you guys put so much into your live shows?

Sticky: You only live once man so it’s like you gotta go hard or go home. We got a passion for this. We might go to a show and there’s 40,000 people in the audience and we’re gonna give our all. If there are 400 people we’re going to give our all because those 400 people are going to tell another 400 and the word is going to spread. We go all out with everything not just shows.

Onyx hasn’t really been exposed to the sales slump. Do you have any feelings on records not selling like they used to?

Sticky: There is no sales slump man. Motherfuckers are just putting out bullshit ass albums and motherfuckers don’t want to buy it. Lil Wayne just sold a mil in his first week. I mean of course your sales are gonna slump if you’re corny. And the other thing is that there are a lot more outlets for the music now and there are also a lot more rappers and producers.

Fredro: Lil Wayne did them big numbers. It’s just different over the counter now. The industry hasn’t figured out how to keep tabs on the digital sales yet. Once they figure out how to calculate it things will even out.

So will Onyx be getting down on the digital trend?

Fredro: Yeah man, we gotta go digital. It’s a digital age.

Sonny: We gonna do what we gotta do and get this digital money. We gonna get that mad face in the sky shining on the buildings like in Batman. We gonna put that mad face on the world.

You guys epitomized New York hip-hop. If people think New York hip-hop they have to think Onyx. How do you feel about New York hip-hop today?

Fredro: It feels like all the New York hip-hop is on mixtapes now and I’m enjoying it. I’m enjoying some of the younger dudes like Papoose, Uncle Murda, and Maino. It’s gonna come back around to the East Coast. When we came in the game Dre and Snoop had the whole thing on lock. We turned it back to the East Coast. Atlanta is doing their thing right now but I see the transition and it’s gonna come back to the East.

Sticky: It’s like a 360 degree on an axis on a globe and it’s gonna come around.

Fredro: Some New York dudes sound Southern and spent one fuckin’ day in Alabama. I’d rather New York artists be themselves and wait for it to turn back around.

Sticky: Or better yet make what you spit so ill you gotta turn it around. Make it happen. The world is about to see what we’re gonna do.

So are we gonna get that vintage Onyx sound on Cold Case?

Sonny: It’s a little bit of everything man. It’s that tightness and that lyricism. It’s that hardcore Onyx.

Fredro: This is a collectible album so Onyx fans can have this like a keepsake.

Aight fellas besides Cold Case Files what can we look out for?

Sticky: Sticky Fingaz solo album is coming out soon called StickyFingaz.com. The single is gonna be on Itunes and all that within a few weeks tops.

Sonny: The Titanium Group is coming out. This is all a culmination of the work we’ve done. StickyFingaz.Com is coming soon. We got Mad Face music, Mad Face clothing coming, it’s a lot happening. It’s about to pop.

Anything you want to say to those hardcore Onyx fans out there?

Fredro: Enjoy the album. It’s a collectible. Hopefully we’ll pick up some new fans along the way and that’ll be cool. We bringin’ it back to the 90’s so put on your throwback and them throwback Nikes. Ride, smoke, fuck, fight to it.