To many listeners, the fact that mid-'90s cartoon rappers Onyx are back at all begs a simple question: Why? With lines like "Onyx is shoot-outs with your moms inside," you'd be hard-pressed to admit it's for the rhymes, unless you were a really huge fan the first time around. And although the beats (courtesy of Self, DaVinci, D.R. Period, and others) are serviceable in a bombastic, "grimy-crimey" kind of way, they also wouldn't sound out of place on any of ESPN's Jock Jams compilation albums. The standout clunkers are pretty painful to hear, especially "Slam Harder," with its unfortunate Welcome Back Kotter riff, and the vaguely smoothed out "Gangsta," which is yet another entry into the "me and my b!#@h" sweepstakes. The Havoc-produced "Hold Up" and Self's "Hood Beef" help the Queens rappers redeem themselves slightly, but overall the trio come off as M.O.P. without the requisite street credibility or the music for preteens to torture their parents. --Rebecca Levine