"React" 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 June 2, 1998 by

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 ...

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

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 television producer. Born in Queens, a borough of New York City, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996. In 1999–2000, ...

in his first official appearance on a song. Produced by Bud'da, ''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 ...

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 statio ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

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, record producer and DJ. He was the DJ of the influential hip hop group Run-DMC. During the 1980s, Run-DMC becam ...

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 that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

directed by Canadian filmmaker

Director X Julien Christian Lutz (born October 31, 1975), known professionally as Director X, is a Canadian music video director. Having trained under Hype Williams, Lutz has been credited for directing over a hundred music videos spanning various genres si ...

; and it premiered on "

Rap City ''Rap City'', also known as ''Rap City: Tha Basement'' from 1999 to 2005, 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 ...

" aired on

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

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 (formerly the Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre; also Apollo Theatre or 125th Street Apollo Theatre) is a multi-use Theater (structure), theater at 253 125th Street (Manhattan), West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of U ...

. 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 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 ...

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 artist ...

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, he came to prominence upon discover ...

Noreaga Victor James Santiago Jr. (born September 6, 1977), better known by his stage names N.O.R.E. (an acronym for Nigga On the Run Eating) and Noreaga, is an American rapper, singer and podcaster. Santiago first rose to prominence as one half of th ...

) B-Side: #"React" ( TV track)- 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 and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...

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 a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popularize hip hop by produci ...

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