Onyx — Slam

JUL 01 1993 · 12:00

Onyx — Slam (1993) Director: Parris Mayhew Era: Golden Age Hip-Hop / Rap-Rock Crossover (1993) - Peak of hardcore East Coast rap's mainstream breakthrough, coinciding with grunge's MTV dominance and hip-hop's aggressive push into pop radio rotation. Tier 1 canonical artifact. 'Slam' by Onyx is one of the most culturally documented hip-hop music videos of 1993, verified by MTV, BET, The Source, NPR, Complex, XXL, Spin, and Ego Trip as a landmark release. Its director is confirmed, its production context is extensively sourced, and its quantitative metrics (265 scene changes, 0.82s ASL, high motion score) perfectly encode the physical aggression of the slamdance aesthetic it pioneered. Essential for any archive of early-1990s hip-hop visual culture. Context: Released May 11, 1993, 'Slam' arrived at a precise cultural inflection point: grunge had normalized moshing on MTV, and hip-hop was aggressively pushing into mainstream pop radio rotation. Onyx consciously modeled the concept on Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' video, transposing the mosh-pit energy into a Black, Queens NYC context. The video aired on both MTV and BET during the 1993 NBA Playoffs, which adopted the track for arena use. This cross-platform saturation — hip-hop, rock, sports — made 'Slam' a rare cultural unifier. The Source credited it with introducing slamdancing to hip-hop; NPR later documented it as a pivotal moment in rap's mainstream ascension. It reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and achieved RIAA Platinum certification, helping drive the debut album Bacdafucup to platinum status. Director notes: Mayhew was selected to direct 'Slam' specifically because of his prior experience filming slam-dancing for the Cro-Mags, rather than for conventional directorial credentials. He developed the treatment after a meeting with Lyor Cohen at Def Jam. The video was shot in multiple locations including outdoor street environments featuring low-riders and a warehouse performance space with a live moshing crowd. Per Mayhew's own account to Songfacts, the video became the longest-running #1 in MTV history, holding the top spot on Yo! MTV Raps for approximately six months, then on MTV's Most Wanted for an additional five months. As of May 28, 1993, the video had been in active MTV rotation for three weeks and was #9 most played. The video was later included on the 2008 DVD Onyx: 15 Years Of Videos, History And Violence and the compilation DVD And Ya Don't Stop: Hip Hop's Greatest Videos, Vol. 1. Mayhew also directed the Bionyx Remix video for Onyx/Biohazard in May 1993, produced by Drew Stone's Stone Films NYC, filmed at The Academy, NYC.