On a recent episode of Drink Champs, Sticky Fingaz and Fredro Starr broke down the eerie origin of “Last Dayz,” their haunting 1995 single that still echoes through hip-hop nearly 30 years later.
Produced by Fredro himself, the beat wasn’t just made — it was lived in. According to Sticky, the instrumental looped for three weeks straight inside their home studio. “We didn’t stop it. We let that motherf***er run,” he said. “It became the vibe of the crib. Like the paint on the wall. Like air.”
That kind of immersion changed how the song was written. The verses weren’t crafted in a single session — they were absorbed. “We didn’t write that song. We lived it,” Sticky said. “That s*** came out in real time.”
Fredro recalled how deep they got into the zone. “I got here,” he said, gesturing to the headspace the beat took them to. The track’s minimal, hypnotic loop helped them tap into a darkness that defined not only the album All We Got Iz Us, but a moment in New York rap — one filled with tension, paranoia, and transition.
“Last Dayz” wasn’t a commercial smash, but it became a cult classic. It captured the sound of the streets with no filter — all urgency, no compromise. Years later, it was famously used as the instrumental backdrop for Eminem’s climactic battle scenes in 8 Mile, introducing the track to a new generation and confirming its status as a hip-hop time capsule.
In a world where beats are often background, “Last Dayz” was the whole atmosphere. And Onyx didn’t just record over it — they let it possess them.
