"React" 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 June 2, 1998 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 rele ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

as the third single from Onyx's third album, '' Shut 'Em Down''. The song featured Onyx affiliates X1, Bonifucco and Still Livin' and then-unknown

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...

in his first official appearance on a song. Produced by

Bud'da Stephen Anderson, better known as Bud'da, is an American producer, songwriter, composer and rapper for artists such as Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Xzibit and Aaliyah. Through the successful Westside Connection stint, and the mutual acquaintance of fello ...

, ''React'' was successful on the R&B and rap charts, peaking at 62 on the US ''Billboard'''s

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

and 44 on the US

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 ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

highlighted the song itself when they reviewed the album.

Background

mentioned

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 big ...

as the man who put him on a song, during his book ''From Pieces to Weight: Once Upon a Time in Southside, Queens'':

"...Jam Master Jay got me on a song called "React". At the time we did a song, no one expected it to be a single. They just put me on the song as a favor to Jay because I was the new nigga in his camp.

Music video

"React" was the first

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

directed by

Director X Julien Christian Lutz (born October 31, 1975), known professionally as Director X, is a Canadian filmmaker, commercial director, music video director, and television director. Having directed more than 100 music videos, he is widely known as a pr ...

; and it premiered on "

Rap City ''Rap City'' is a music video television program block that originally aired on the Black Entertainment Television (BET) network from August 11, 1989, to November 8, 2008. The program was an exclusive showcase for hip hop music videos, and featu ...

" aired on

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

on June 13, 1998. The video concept called for rappers to be hockey players.

spoke on his appearance in the video "React" when asked about the last time he went ice-skating.

"...It actually was the Onyx video. I had to learn for the video. I didn't know why. I was like 'What the—?' I asked them to put me in the box. Like an actual enalty box.

The video can be found on the 2008's DVD ''Onyx: 15 Years Of Videos, History And Violence''.

Controversy

The beef between

and

started on Def Jam's "Survival Of The Illest" concert at the legendary world-famous

Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater is a music hall at 253 West 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (Seventh Avenue) and Frederick Douglass Boulevard (Eighth Avenue) in the Harlem neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is a not ...

. The concert was held on July 18, 1998. During performing the song "React" rapper Scarred 4 Life (also known as Clay Da Raider) performed 50 Cent's verse. Later, 50 would diss

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 ...

on a number of mixtapes, including 50's underground hit "How To Rob". Then he would fight with Fredro at the rehearsal for the 2003 VIBE Awards. In a 2008 interview for

AllHipHop AllHipHop is a hip hop news website founded by Greg Watkins and Chuck Creekmur in 1998. History The website was founded in 1998 by Greg Watkins and Chuck Creekmur. In 1997, Watkins registered the allhiphop.com domain to promote the artists on ...

Fredro Starr made a comment about 50 Cent:

"...50 is a smart businessman and at the end of the day we gave him respect. We put him on records when we was at the top of the game. He didn't even have a car. We gave him respect on the strength of Jam Master Jay. What did we get in return? Someone talking slick on mixtapes? Swinging on n****s?"

Releases

12" vinyl single track listing

A-Side: #"React" (Radio Edit) - 4:25 (Featuring

, Bonifucco, Still Livin, X1 ncredited #"Broke Willies" (Radio Edit) - 4:08 (Featuring X1 ncredited #"Shut 'Em Down" (Remix)- 4:07 (Featuring

Big Pun Christopher Lee Rios (November 10, 1971 – February 7, 2000), better known by his stage name Big Pun (short for Big Punisher), was an American rapper. Emerging from the underground hip hop scene in the Bronx borough of New York City in the ea ...

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 d ...

) B-Side: #"React" (

TV track A TV track is usually a song or a sequence used as accompaniment during a scene or visual sequence on television (i.e., commercials or television show). If a song has vocals, part of the vocals may be removed for voice-over or dialogue, while the ...

)- 4:26 #"Broke Willies" (TV Track) - 4:09 #"Shut 'Em Down" (Remix) (TV Track) - 4:07

CD promo single track listing

#"React" (Radio Edit)- 4:26 (Featuring

, Bonifucco, Still Livin, X1 ncredited #"Broke Willies" (Radio Edit)- 4:11 (Featuring X1 ncredited #"Shut 'Em Down (Remix)" (Radio Edit)- 4:02 (Featuring

) ;Notes * The single version of "Broke Willies" is very different in music from the album version.

Samples

*"Eastside Connection" by Frisco Disco ;Notes *

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, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...

is the first rap artist who used the same sample in his 1985 song " You'll Rock" (Remix) produced by

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popula ...

Personnel

* Onyx - performer, vocals, co-producer ("Broke Willies") * Fredro Starr - performer, vocals * Sticky Fingaz - performer, vocals * Sonny Seeza - performer, vocals * Bud'da - producer ("React") * Keith Horne - producer ("Broke Willies") * Don Elliot - engineer ("Broke Willies") * Self - producer ("Shut 'Em Down (Remix)") * Ken "DURO" Ifill - engineer, mixing * DJ LS One - engineer, mixing, scratches * Patrick Viala - remixing ("Shut 'Em Down (Remix)") * Tony Black - mixing, remixing ("Shut 'Em Down (Remix)") * Tom Coyne - mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

References

External links

React at DiscogsReact at RapGenius
{{50 Cent singles 1998 singles JMJ Records singles 50 Cent songs Onyx (group) songs Songs written by 50 Cent Music videos directed by Director X Posse cuts