Sticky Fingaz and his group Onyx changed hip hop forever when they released “Slam,” one of the first legit heavy metal-rap collaborations, off their debut album 1993’s Bacdafucup. Sure, Run-DMC and Aerosmith had walked this way, and Ice-T had introduced Body Count, but Onyx was taking hip hop in a hardcore direction it had never gone before. While others were chanting “throw your hands in the air,” Onyx was demanding the crowd “Throw Ya Gunz.” And their crowd wasn’t your average backpacker either. Onyx attracted a rougher, tougher audience, filled with headbangers, moshers, slam dancers and rowdy behavior closer to what you’d think of a punk show. The 1995 followup, All We Got Iz Us, didn’t fare we well at the time, but has since become a classic, with “Last Dayz” and the title track featured on many soundtracks, including prominent play in 8 Mile.

Of course, sci-fi fans know Sticky Fingaz when he played Blade on the TV version of the movie franchise. He also has been seen many times on The Shield as reoccurring character Kern Little, and has appeared in films like In Too Deep, Dead Presidents, Clockers, House of the Dead 2, Ride or Die, and many others. And as he confesses in his interview here, he’s a huge comic book fans and lover of all things X-Men and Marvel (no DC here, people!). And check his killer freestyle, recorded over a slinky Lord G beat at The Engine Room in Hollywood.

Since heading to Hollywood, Sticky has gone solo, though he still records and tours as Onyx with cousin Fredro Starr, issuing the 2001 album Black Trash: The Autobiography of Kirk Jones, a concept album that followed the fictionalized life of career criminal Kirk Jones (his real name). He made a scene-stealing appearance on Eminem’s “Remember Me?” alongside Freestyle 101 vet RBX on The Marshall Mathers LP, and has rapped alongside Raekwon, Redman, Snoop Dogg Canibus, Mobb Deep, Dead Prez and others. In 2003, he released his second album Decade ...But Wait It Gets Worse, and has another one on the way. There’s also a new Onyx album in the works, but recently released The Cold Case Files rarities compilation should tide fans over until then.

Freestyle 101 goes up at 9 a.m. PST (that’s noon over on the east) every Tuesday. Next week we kick off New Artist Month with Custom Made, followed by Cash Addictz, Fashawn, Ikka-Bod of M.O.P.’s Hevi Medal, Damani of Dub Union and more. Make sure to dig our behind the scenes photos, visit us on MySpace and rant in our Forums. And if you dig Sticky Fingaz, go watch other hardcore east coast MCs like Prodigy of Mobb Deep, Sheek Louch of The Lox, Skillz, Papoose, T.H.U.G. Angelz (Hell-Razah and Shabazz the Diciple), Immortal Technique, Lil' Fame of M.O.P., and more.