Sticky Fingaz

With his signature raspy voice and dark lyrics, Sticky Fingaz always stood out from his fellow Onyx cohorts. The group’s first album, Bacdafucup (1993) and the single “Slam” are both certified double platinum. The monster success of Onyx’s debut release paved the way for three years of touring, during which time the group shared stages with hip-hop royalty such as Run DMC, Dr Dre, and DMX. The posse’s second and third albums, All We Got Iz Us (1995) and Shut ‘Em Down (1998), went gold. Now Sticky Fingaz is set to release his solo debut, Black Trash: The Autobiography of Kirk Jones, on Universal Records.

Though he’s been a little low key on the music front over the past 3 years, Sticky has been anything but idle. During the early days of Onyx the Los Angeles-based artist landed a cameo in the HBO original film Strapped. He was immediately intrigued by the idea of storytelling and being a part of the cinematic process, so, with the break up of Onyx, Sticky turned his eye towards acting and snagged choice roles in Spike Lee’s Clockers, Ice Cube’s Next Friday, and the Hughes Brothers’ Dead Presidents. Other roles followed on both the big and small screen, but Sticky never put down his passion for hip-hop. The rapper guested on a number of tracks, including “Buck ‘Em” from Snoop Dogg’s platinum-selling Topp Dogg, and “Remember” from Eminem’s multi-platinum sophomore effort Marshall Mathers LP. “People always ask me which I like better – film or music – but I feel them both the same,” explains Sticky.

With a string of successful films under his belt, the multi-talented artist continued pursuing his acting career, but he also began making new moves on the music front. This time, however, Sticky planned to stay behind the scenes and help build the careers of other aspiring hip-hop artists. But fate intervened, and as Sticky shopped other artists for deals A&R executives constantly asked if he was interested in recording his own project. “I wasn’t even looking for a solo deal; I was just out shopping my little brother X One,” Sticky says. But the inquiries and offers for Sticky to record his own album kept coming. Then, last year Universal Records came to the table with an irresistible deal. “They provided the one thing no one else was offering: artist freedom. I don’t want to be under no one’s wing. Plus, I have a lot of other talented people I would like to put on.”

With Black Trash Sticky has created a totally original concept album that makes the most of his artistic freedom. Best described as an audio drama, Black Trash follows the perils of Kirk Jones – an ex-convict who falls back into a life of crime after being released from jail. “I’m erasing the line between movies and music,” says Sticky, who fills each track with his edgy, highly visual lyrics. “I think people are going to be intrigued and that they’ll appreciate what they hear. I’m trying to make it harder for artists to put out corny albums with lyrics about guns and thugs, but no creativity. I want to go deeper and tell a story that connects action and consequence.”

The album’s lead single is the thought provoking cut “Ghetto,” on which Sticky offers that being ghetto is a matter of how you live, not what you have. “Can you be rich and be ghetto? (Yup)/And just ’cause you poor do that mean that you ghetto? (Nope)/Some people don’t understand what it mean to be ghetto/And if you have to ask then you’ll probably never know,” raps Sticky.

Other standout tracks include “What If I Was White,” where Sticky explores the concept of white privilege and asks if life might be different if he were white; “Oh My God,” a dark, philosophical cut that finds Sticky holding a one-on-one conversation with God and confronting him about the pain and challenges that life brings; and “The State Versus…” which plays out a court drama, with Rha Digga, Redman and Canibus guesting as the judge, defense attorney and witness.

While the album is Sticky’s brainchild, the rapper was not afraid to enlist a bevy of talented producers and artists to help bring life to his vision. The project features production by Dr. Dre (Snoop, Tupac, Eminem), Rockwilder (Jay Z), Damion Elliott (Mya), Scratch (Busta Rhymes, Q-Tip), Prophecy Entertainment (Mobb Deep), Self (Ja Rule, DMX, Lil’ Kim), the Teamsters (Busta Rhymes) and Sticky himself. It includes guest appearances by Omar Epps, Raekwon, Canibus, Redman, Eminem, Rah Digga, Dave Hollister and Superb.

“This album was effortless,” says Sticky of his debut solo effort. “When you work with a group if all the members don’t agree on an idea you don’t do it. Here, I could explore my imagination and be as creative as I wanted to. My whole career with Onyx I don’t think I smiled once. All people saw was the ‘Throw Your Guns Up ‘ dimension of me. But with this project I’m getting to explore a lot of different personas and ideas.”