"Live Niguz", also known by its censored title "Live!!!" is a song by American hip hop group

Onyx Onyx is a typically black-and-white banded variety of agate, a silicate mineral. The bands can also be monochromatic with alternating light and dark bands. ''Sardonyx'' is a variety with red to brown bands alternated with black or white bands. ...

. It was released on July 18, 1995 by

Def Jam Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

Rush Associated Labels Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop music, hip hop, contemporary R&B, Soul m ...

and

JMJ Records JMJ Records was an American record label which was founded in 1985 by Jason Mizell, better known as Jam Master Jay from Run-D.M.C. The label was relaunched in 2017 by Jam Master J'Son, the oldest son of Jam Master Jay. The label released such ...

as a single from Def Jam's '' The Show: The Soundtrack'' and as the first single from Onyx's second album, ''

All We Got Iz Us All We Got Iz Us is the second studio album by American hip hop group Onyx (hip hop group), Onyx, released on October 24, 1995, by JMJ Records and Rush Associated Labels. The album was produced by Onyx. The album features guest appearances from r ...

''. Produced by all three members of Onyx, "Live!!!" only found minor success on the R&B and rap charts, becoming the group's first single not to reach the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Background

Sticky Fingaz Kirk Jones (born November 3, 1973), better known by his stage name Sticky Fingaz, is an American rapper, record producer and actor best known as a member of multi-platinum hardcore rap group Onyx. Sticky Fingaz was discovered by Jam Master Ja ...

's verse is molded off of

Slick Rick Richard Martin Lloyd Walters (born January 14, 1965), better known as Slick Rick, is an English-American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence as part of Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew in the mid-1980s. His songs " The Show" and ...

's in "La-Di-Da-Di" but flipped. For his verse, Sticky Fingaz took and redid the Slick Rick's verse from the song "La Di Da Di". Almost all the lines in a verse of Sticky begin and end with the same words as in the song by Slick Rick, but they have a completely different meaning. In 1995, song was also included in a cassette single Onyx "Untitled". In 2010 an original version of this song (with different intro) was found. In the beginning was dialogue between Fredro Starr and Sonee Seeza, later this part was cut from the song, and Sticky Fingaz's verse was re-recorded.

Music video

The music video was directed by

Diane Martel Diane Martel (also known as Bucky Chrome and Diamond Martel) is an American music video director and choreographer. As a music video director, she has worked with Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Sting and Jennifer Lopez. One of her ...

. The video was filmed in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Prodigy Prodigy, Prodigies or The Prodigy may refer to: * Child prodigy, a child who produces meaningful output to the level of an adult expert performer ** Chess prodigy, a child who can beat experienced adult players at chess Arts, entertainment, and m ...

Method Man Clifford Smith, Jr. (born March 2, 1971), known professionally as Method Man, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He is a member of the East Coast hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan, and is half of the hip hop duo Method Man & R ...

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

Tyson Beckford Tyson Beckford (born December 19, 1970) is a Jamaican Americans, Jamaican-American model and actor best known as a Ralph Lauren Polo model. He was also the host of both seasons of the Bravo (American TV network), Bravo program ''Make Me a Superm ...

Keith Murray Keith Omar Murray (born May 29, 1972) is an American rapper from New York. He is best known for being a member of the hip hop group Def Squad, which includes fellow rappers Redman and fellow Long Island native Erick Sermon. The group releas ...

Ja Rule Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. Born and raised in New York City, Ja Rule became known for blending gangsta rap with pop rap, pop and contempo ...

and

Mic Geronimo Michael Craig McDermon (born September 14, 1973, in Queens, New York), better known by his stage name Mic Geronimo, is an American rapper who was acquainted with Irv Gotti of Murder Inc. Gotti and his brother met Mic Geronimo at a Queens hig ...

had a cameo appearance in the video. Video premiered on The BOX on Saturday, August 12, 1995. On the set of this video Prodigy and Keith Murray squashed the beef starting over record "I Shot Ya" (Remix) by

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...

. Diane Martel created two versions of the video: censored for television and uncensored. In the censorship version: 1) the word "niggaz" is scraped into audio; 2) footage on which the robbers kill Sticky Fingaz at the funeral, were cut out; 3) shotgun, from which the robbers kill Sticky Fingaz, is hidden; 4) there are small differences in the lyrics of Sticky (the phrase "Kids is cruel for a cause and these fucked up conditions that we all hate but fuck it if this our fate" is replaced by "See we cruel for a cause and these dis conditions the mate when i create generate man's hate") The video can be found on the 2008's DVD ''Onyx: 15 Years Of Videos, History And Violence''.

Releases

CD single track listing

#"Live!!!" (LP Version)- 3:31 #"Kill Dem All" (LP Version)- 4:47 (Kali Ranks) #"Live!!!" (Instrumental)- 3:31

12" vinyl single track listing

#"Live!!!" (LP Version)- 3:31 #"Kill Dem All" (LP Version)- 4:47 (Kali Ranks) #"Live!!!" (Instrumental)- 3:31

12" vinyl promo single track listing

#"Live!!!" (Radio Edit)- 3:31 #"Live!!!" (LP Version)- 3:31 #"Kill Dem All" (LP Version)- 4:47 (Kali Ranks) #"Live!!!" (Instrumental)- 3:31

12" vinyl promo single track listing

#"Live!!!" (Clean)- 3:11 #"Live!!!" (LP Version)- 3:22 #"Live!!!" (A Capella)- 3:08 #"Walk In New York" (Clean)- 4:07 #"Walk In New York" (LP Version)- 5:00 #"Walk In New York" (Instrumental)- 2:08

Cassette single track listing

#"Live!!!" (LP Version)- 3:31 #"Kill Dem All" (LP Version)- 4:47 (Kali Ranks)

Samples

*"Wherever You Are" by

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, songwriter, composer, and actor. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records in the 1960s, serving as an in-house songwr ...

*"I Like Funky Music" by Uncle Louie *"Kool Is Back" by Funk, Inc.

Personnel

* Onyx - performer, vocals * Fredro Starr - performer, vocals * Sticky Fingaz - performer, vocals * Sonee Seeza - performer, vocals * Don Elliot - engineer * Tom Coyne - mastering * Andrew Massop - producer, engineer ("Kill Dem All") * Marc Pomeroy - producer, engineer ("Kill Dem All") * Element 9 - guitar, background vocals ("Kill Dem All")

Charts

Weekly charts

References

External links

Live Niguz at RapGeniusLive Niguz at Discogs
{{authority control 1994 songs 1995 singles Onyx (group) songs JMJ Records singles Def Jam Recordings singles Music videos directed by Diane Martel