"Shifftee" is a song by American hip hop group

Onyx Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The c ...

. It was released on August 30, 1993 by

JMJ Records JMJ Records is an American record label which was founded in 1989 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 the legendary Jam Master Jay. The label re ...

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, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

and Chaos Recordings as the third single from Onyx's debut album, ''

Bacdafucup ''Bacdafucup'' is the debut album by American hip hop group Onyx, released on March 30, 1993 by JMJ Records, Rush Associated Labels and Chaos Recordings. The album was produced by Chyskillz, Jam Master Jay and Kool Tee. ''Bacdafucup'' peaked at ...

''. The song was about being grimy and having that echo into a myriad of life situations. Produced by

Chyskillz Chylow Parker (July 19, 1969 – February 13, 2018), known by the stage name Chyskillz, was an American record producer, beatmaker, DJ, hardcore rapper, and a member of multi-platinum hardcore rap group Onyx. Chyskillz was discovered by the ...

and

Jam Master Jay Jason William Mizell (January 21, 1965 – October 30, 2002), better known by his stage name Jam Master Jay, was an American musician and DJ. He was the DJ of the influential hip hop group Run-DMC. During the 1980s, Run-DMC became one of the bi ...

, "Shifftee" was not as successful as the first two singles, but it still managed to make to five different ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' charts, peaking at 2 on the

Hot Rap Singles Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...

. The song was sampled by several rap artists including

Mad Skillz Donnie Shaquan Lewis, (born June 2, 1974) also known as Skillz, or Mad Skillz is an American rapper known for his acclaimed 1996 album ''From Where???'', a reference to his origins in Virginia, not a New York City or Los Angeles rapper. H ...

Raekwon Corey Woods (born January 12, 1970), better known by his stage name Raekwon The Chef, or simply Raekwon (), is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, which achieved mainstream succe ...

, Marco Polo and

Noreaga Victor James Santiago Jr. (born September 6, 1977), better known by his stage names Noreaga and later N.O.R.E., is an American rapper. Born and raised in Queens, New York, Santiago first rose to prominence as one half of the East Coast hip hop du ...

Background

In an interview with

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group. ...

Fredro Starr Fred Lee Scruggs Jr. (born April 18, 1971), better known by his stage name Fredro Starr, is an American rapper and actor best known as a member of the hardcore rap group Onyx. Fredro Starr was discovered by the late hip hop star Jam Master Jay of ...

revealed the concept of the song:

"...The concept basically underlined what Onyx is. Onyx is the shiftee, low down, gritty, and grimy. So we made a song about it. We represent the struggle, we represent the out crowd, the dudes who can’t get in the club, the guys who got to sneak in the club, bumrush the door. Those dudes."

The single also included a remix of the song named "Shytizon Remix". This remix was made by a

's friend, Dex.

Music video

The music video was directed by Parris Mayhew, known in the past as guitarist and songwriter of

Cro-Mags Cro-Mags are an American hardcore punk band from New York City. The band, which has a strong cult following, has released six studio albums, with the first two considered the most influential. With a Hare Krishna background, they were among t ...

Drew Stone Drew Stone is an American film director, producer, film editor, author and musician. His works include music videos, commercials, documentary films and television. He played an active role in the early stages of the New York hardcore and Boston ...

's production company ''Stone Films NYC'' was a producer of this video. The video was filmed on

42nd Street (Manhattan) 42nd Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, spanning the entire breadth of Midtown Manhattan, from Turtle Bay at the East River, to Hell's Kitchen at the Hudson River on the West Side. The st ...

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

on June 3, 1993, and was premiered on The BOX on August 30, 1993. Director Parris Mayhew made two versions of the video: censorship and explicit. The explicit version begins with the fall of the Onyx logo with the inscription "Throw Ya Gunz", and the video itself begins with riots on the street: two groups of people run on each other from the opposite sides, and eventually they faced. The censorship version begins with neon signs indicate a pornographic theater. Onyx performs on the street near the signs as people around them jump around and dance. In an interview with

said that

Lyor Cohen Lyor Cohen born October 3, 1959) is an American record executive and entrepreneur. Cohen has been actively involved in hip hop at various record labels for more than 30 years. He started by managing rappers for Rush Productions, then led Def J ...

came up with the idea of using $3,000 multi-colored jackets in the video:

"...Lyor Cohen, President of Def Jam said, "Yo I'm gonna take y’all to this store, and I’m gonna get y'all some ill shit to wear!" We were like aight whatever, and we went to the store and the jackets we had in the "Shiftee" video was 3G's a piece."

Director Parris Mayhew also added that Lyor Cohen came up with idea how to shoot one scene with

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

and originally the video had to come out in black and white footage:

"...I do remember Lyor had a cool idea to incorporate in the video which I did shoot. He wanted Sticky lying on the ground face rapping. And the jackets were amazing, although after we shot it there was a lot of talk about how the jackets were "not Onyx" and they asked to make the footage black and white which I fought and ultimately it stayed in color.."

Parris Mayhew told that Fredro Starr was a screenwriter of one scene, which was later cut out by the decision of

Russell Simmons Russell Wendell Simmons (born October 4, 1957) is an American entrepreneur, writer and record executive. He co-founded the hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, and created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris. Simmons ...

"...I wrote the treatment of my idea for the video (just like I did for "Slam") and that's what we shot. I remember Sticky saying "I loved the line in the treatment, "like being on acid in a riot". The group did contribute one idea, a narrative scene with a white family at dinner serving pork. The child refuses to eat the pork and it is revealed he has a mad face tattoo. We did shoot Fredro's concept, to play at the beginning of the video but Russell said, "cut that out." So I did. The rest of the video was my concept. Great group, great song, great video."

Appearance on television

* Onyx performed the song live on a

syndicated Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

music television show "

It's Showtime at the Apollo English auxiliary verbs are a small set of English verbs, which include the English modal verbs and a few others. Although definitions vary, as generally conceived an auxiliary lacks inherent semantic meaning but instead modifies the meaning of an ...

" aired on November 6, 1993. * "Shifftee" was performed live on

's ''Phat Jam'' at The Academy Theatre, NYC on June 18, 1993. * The song was performed live on an American music-dance television program

Soul Train ''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. It aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. Across its 35-year history the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists. The series ...

at stage 30 at the

Paramount Studios Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production and distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldest film studio in the world, the second-oldes ...

aired on December 11, 1993.

Appearance in movies

* In 1993, the song appeared in ''New World Order'', the movie by World Industries about skateboarding. * In 2011, the song appeared in ''Stene 6-1'', the movie by Stene Productions about skateboarding. * The song was sampled by several rap artists including

, Marco Polo and

Single track listing

A-Side

#"Shifftee" (Radio Mix)- 3:27 #"Shifftee" (Shytizon Remix)- 3:28 #"Shifftee" (Spikinspan Remix)- 3:28 #"Shifftee" (Acapella)- 2:32

B-Side

#"Shifftee" (Instrumental)- 3:26 #"Shifftee" (Instrumental Remix)- 3:28 #"Bichasniguz" (LP Mix)- 3:54 #"Bichasniguz" (Instrumental)- 3:54

Personnel

* Onyx - performer, vocals * Fredro Starr - performer, vocals * Sticky Fingaz - performer, vocals * Sonee Seeza - performer, vocals * Big DS - performer, vocals * Chyskillz - producer, performer (musician) * Jam Master Jay - producer, performer (musician), remixer * Dex - remixer * Tony Dawsey - mastering * Rich July - engineer * John Kogan - engineer * Gary Clugston - engineer * Kevin Crouse - assistant engineer * Troy Hightower - engineer * Norman Bullard - assistant engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

References

External links

*
Shifftee at Discogs

Shifftee at RapGenius
{{Authority control 1992 songs 1993 singles Onyx (group) songs JMJ Records singles Def Jam Recordings singles Music videos directed by Parris Mayhew