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Sticky Fingaz

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Sticky Fingaz
Jones in 2007
Jones in 2007
Background information
Birth nameKirk Jones
Also known as
  • Trop
  • Sticky
Born (1973-11-03) November 3, 1973 (age 50)
Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
OriginQueens, New York City, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Rapper
  • record producer
  • director
  • film editor
  • writer
  • actor
Years active1991–present
Labels
Member ofOnyx
Websitestickyfingaz.co

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 Jay of Run-D.M.C., who signed Onyx on his label JMJ Records provided that Sticky would be in the group. His lazy eye, raspy voice, and boundless energy brought attention to the group, and he became the frontman. Onyx went on to release three top-selling albums before Sticky Fingaz began his solo career.

Sticky Fingaz starred in more than 80 films and television shows. In 1993, he made his acting debut in Forest Whitaker's award-winning HBO drama Strapped. His feature film credits include Spike Lee's Clockers, In Too Deep, Lockdown, Doing Hard Time and Breaking Point, but is best known for his role as "Tyrone" in Next Friday. He made his television debut in New York Undercover and Nash Bridges, but is best known for his role as Blade in the television series Blade. In 2022, he had a recurring role in the Showtime comedy series, Flatbush Misdemeanors.

Sticky Fingaz wrote, produced, directed, and starred in two feature films done entirely in the genre of "hip hopera" through his production company Major Independents: A Day in the Life and Caught On Tape. Both films were released by Lionsgate Home Entertainment. In 2019, Fingaz released a movie It's About T.I.M.E., which features the format in which it was released – "Digital Album Movie", created by the rapper.

On August 12, 2020, Sticky Fingaz was unanimously voted to be President of the newly formed Hunger Aid Foundation. In July 2021, Sticky Fingaz opened K. Jones & Company, a holding company that develops strategy and brand building in the culture.

Early life

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Jones was born in Kings County Hospital Center on November 3, 1973. He grew up in the Flatbush, Brooklyn neighborhood. When he was a child, he wanted to be a DJ.[1]

In an interview with DJ Vlad, Jones revealed that he had been a member of the "Lo-Lifes," a local Brooklyn street gang that mainly engaged in petty retail theft of Polo clothing (rather than in drug dealing or violent turf wars). This was the reason for his nickname "Sticky Fingaz" ("sticky fingers" is an idiomatic term meaning an inclination to steal).[2]

When his mother moved the family to Bloomfield, New Jersey, she enrolled Jones in Manhattan's High School of Art and Design, hoping he would focus on his talents, in particular his gift for drawing. In 1990, at age 16, Jones moved out of his mother's house to South Jamaica, Queens to live with his cousin Fredro Starr, who worked in Queens as a barber.[3]

Music career

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Onyx

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Fredro Starr, Big DS and Suave (also known as Sonny Seeza) met Jam Master Jay in a traffic jam at The Jones Beach GreekFest Festival on July 13, 1991.[4][5] Jay give them about two months to get a demo, but Suave and Big DS didn't make it to the studio because they were stranded in Connecticut.[6] So Jeff Harris, the manager of Onyx, asked Fredro to come to the studio with his cousin, Kirk Jones, who at the time was doing a solo career under the name Trop and working in the barbershop. Fredro and Sticky Fingaz made two records, "Stik 'N' Muve" and "Exercise".[7]

In 1993, Onyx released their debut album entitled Bacdafucup. It proved to be a commercial success and eventually went multi-platinum, largely due to the well known single "Slam". Then Onyx released on JMJ Records another two albums: All We Got Iz Us and Shut 'Em Down. JMJ Records as well as Onyx was officially removed from Def Jam on "Black Thursday" – January 21, 1999 – because the label PolyGram, who in 1994 purchased 50% of Sony's Def Jam, was sold to Seagram on December 10, 1998.[8]

Only four years earlier, Onyx were "saving Def Jam", as Sticky Fingaz put it, but now they were hoping the label would save them. Their third—and what would become their final—album on Def Jam, "Shut 'Em Down", barely went gold.[9]

Solo career

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Jones released his debut solo album in 2001 which was titled Black Trash: The Autobiography of Kirk Jones, a concept album that followed the (fictionalized) life of Kirk Jones in a hip-hopera storytelling fashion starting from his release from prison and ultimately ending with his death. The album was a critical success, being noted as very creative with substantial content, though it didn't gain much commercial recognition despite featuring well-known artists such as Eminem, Raekwon, Rah Digga, Dave Hollister, Redman and Canibus.

In 2003, he released his second album, Decade "...but wait it gets worse", which was less well received by critics and gained even less mainstream acknowledgement, featuring on this album were performances from Fredro Starr & Omar Epps.

In 2019, Fingaz released his third album, It's About T.I.M.E. The album was released as a "digital album movie" and is accompanied by musical film, which tells about the life of an American rapper Sticky Fingaz, starting from his birth to the entry into Onyx. The album is available only on Sticky's own website.[10][11]

Acting career

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Jones was a regular on the short-lived UPN series Platinum as Grady Rhames. He also played the part of Pvt. Maurice "Smoke" Williams in the FX television series Over There, which depicts life as an American soldier in Iraq. He played Tyrone in Next Friday. Jones also played a recurring role as Kern Little, a gang leader and hiphop musician/producer on the FX series The Shield. He has also appeared in the direct-to-video and Sci-Fi Channel release House of the Dead 2.

Starting in 2006, Jones was cast as the half-human/half-vampire Blade in Blade: The Series, a continuation of the Blade film series starring Wesley Snipes, with the show airing on Spike TV. The series was cancelled on September 29, 2006, through a press release from Spike. He has completed his work on a movie titled Karma, Confessions and Holi where he plays the character Rich Smooth. Jones was a major character in the remake of the movie Flight of the Phoenix. In the video game Def Jam: Fight for NY he supplied his own voice and is one of the main antagonists throughout the story. He also has an appearance in the sequel, Def Jam: Icon, under the name Wink. Fingaz wrote, co-produced, co-directed and starred in the movie A Day in the Life.[citation needed]

Fingaz released a movie It's About T.I.M.E. through his production company Major Independents on February 14, 2019. Sticky Fingaz not only wrote the script for this film, but also presented himself as a director, cinematographer and producer of the film, and also he played a role in it. A feature of this film is the format in which it was released – "Digital Album Movie", created by the rapper.

Jones had a recurring role in Season 2 of Showtime's Flatbush Misdemeanors where he played Anthony, the brother of Hassan Johnson's character, Drew. Jones and Johnson previously worked together on Clockers.

Discography

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Main articles: Sticky Fingaz discography and Onyx discography
Studio albums
Mixtapes
  • Stickyfingaz.com (2009)
  • God of the Underground (2010)
Soundtracks

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1993 Strapped Suspect in Lineup TV movie
1995 Clockers Scientific
Dead Presidents Martin
1998 Ride Brotha X
Le New Yorker Harlem Homeboy
1999 In Too Deep Ozzie
Black and White Himself
Game Day Wille
Love Goggles Jason
2000 Next Friday Tyrone
Boricua's Bond Tyler
The Price of Air D
Lockdown Broadway
The Playaz Court T-Bone
2001 Lift Quik
MacArthur Park E-Max
2002 L.A.X. Leon
Reality Check Brock
2003 Malibooty! Raymond Video
Ride or Die Demise Video
Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood Cedric Video
Hot Parts Toby Video
2004 Doing Hard Time Eddie Mathematic Video
Flight of the Phoenix Jeremy
True Vinyl Power Z
Gas Craig
2005 House of the Dead 2 Sergeant Dalton TV movie
2008 Nite Tales: The Movie Dice
2009 Dough Boys Deuce
Karma, Confessions and Holi Rich Smooth
A Day in the Life Stick
Steppin: The Movie Cedric
Breaking Point Richard Allen
2010 Once Fallen Leshaun
Love Chronicles: Secrets Revealed Kevin Video
Hard Breakers Shay
2011 Fanaddict Alex
2012 Changing the Game Craig Jenkins
Speed Demons Kenny
2013 Caught On Tape Mark
Vampire Riderz T.J.
Brooklyn Knight Knight
2014 Motel Lizard
The Dead Sea Sergeant Brooks
2015 The Road Movie Himself Short
2017 The Fearless One Tre
2019 Fanatic Sosa TV movie
Paradise City Chief Frank Murdoch
It's About T.I.M.E. Himself Short
2022 One Bad Habit Leonard Williams
Brooklyn Knight Knight
2023 Halfway House Xavier
2024 Darkness of Man Yates

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1993 Soul Train Himself Episode: "Onyx/Jody Watley/Erick Sermon"
1995 New York Undercover Khalil Episode: "You Get No Respect"
1997 Good News Tony Episode: "A Joyful Noise"
413 Hope St. Max Episode: "Lost Boys and Gothic Girls"
New York Undercover Assassin Episode: "No Place Like Hell"
1999 Nash Bridges Mario Baptiste Episode: "Get Bananas"
The Parkers Dwayne Episode: "It's a Family Affair"
2000 18 Wheels of Justice Shooter Episode: "Two Eyes for an Eye"
2002 The Twilight Zone Ricky Episode: "Harsh Mistress"
Just Cause Lucas Episode: "Fading Star"
2002–06 The Shield Kern Little Recurring Cast: Season 1-3 & 5
2003 Platinum Grady Rhames Main Cast
2005 Over There Pvt. Maurice 'Smoke' Williams Main Cast
CSI: Miami Scott Owens Episode: "10–7"
2006 Blade: The Series Eric Brooks / Blade Main Cast
2007 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Detective Harry Williams Episode: "Flipped"
Tell Me You Love Me Terrance Episode: "Episode #1.8"
2008 The Real World: Hollywood Himself Recurring Cast
2009 The Beast Caesar Episode: "Pilot"
Burn Notice Felix Cole Episode: "Hot Spot"
Raising the Bar Mr. Cantwell Episode: "Happy Ending"
2010 NCIS: Los Angeles Rashad 'Slide' Hollander Episode: "Blood Brothers"
Rizzoli & Isles Himself Episode: "When the Gun Goes Bang, Bang, Bang"
2011 CSI: Miami Leo Kendry Episode: "Countermeasures"
2012 NYC 22 Monsta White Episode: "Firebomb"
2015 Blue Bloods Clinton 'Ice' Wallace Episode: "New Rules" & "The Art of War"
2016 The Night Of Rikers Inmate Episode: "A Dark Crate" & "The Art of War"
The Grind TV 1.0 Sticky Episode: "Theft"
Loosely Exactly Nicole Little Stroke Episode: "Brother Visits"
2016-17 Empire Brikk Episode: "A Furnace for Your Foe" & "Sound & Fury"
2017 Grown Folks Fatsy Bulger Episode: "Snitches Get Stitches"
2019 Broken Ground Marcus Episode: "The Big Payback"
2022 Flatbush Misdemeanors Anthony Recurring Cast: Season 2

Video games

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Year Title Role Notes
1995 Rap Jam: Volume One Himself [12]
2004 Def Jam: Fight for NY Himself (voice)
2005 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Detective Harry Williams (voice)
2006 Def Jam Fight for NY: The Takeover Himself
2007 Def Jam: Icon Wink (voice)

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Nominated work Category Result
1994 American Music Awards of 1994 "Bacdafucup" Rap/Hip-Hop New Artist Nominated
1994 1994 Soul Train Music Awards "Bacdafucup" Best Rap Album Won
2020 ASCAP Pop Music Awards[13] Travis Scott — "Sicko Mode" (as writer) The most performed songs of 2019 Won
2020 ASCAP Pop Music Awards Travis Scott — "Sicko Mode" (as writer) The top streamed songs of 2019 Won

References

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  1. ^ Coleman, Brian (March 12, 2009). Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies (by Brian Coleman) – page 291. ISBN 9780307494429. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  2. ^ "Onyx on Sticky Fingaz Joining the Group, Jam Master Jay Signing Them (Part 2)". Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2018 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ "Hip Hop Connection Magazine No. 79 [September, 1995] – BALD IN THE UZA (by June Joseph)". onyxdomain.com. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  4. ^ "Sonny Seeza Explains Why You Don't See Him With ONYX That Much Anymore". Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2018 – via YouTube.
  5. ^ "Fredro Starr talks Onyx, Jam Master J & Signing to Def Jam Records". Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2018 – via YouTube.
  6. ^ Coleman, Brian (March 12, 2009). Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies (by Brian Coleman) – page 305. ISBN 9780307494429. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  7. ^ Rausch, Andrew J. (April 2011). I Am Hip-Hop – Conversations on the Music and Culture (by Andrew J. Rausch) (April 1, 2011) – page 179. ISBN 9780810877924. Retrieved October 24, 2018 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ Def Jam, Inc., Russell Simmons, Rick Rubin, and the Extraordinary Story of the World's Most Inf (by Stacy Gueraseva) – page 272. Random House Publishing. March 30, 2011. ISBN 9780307520395. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
  9. ^ Def Jam, Inc., Russell Simmons, Rick Rubin, and the Extraordinary Story of the World's Most Inf (by Stacy Gueraseva) – page 282. Random House Publishing. March 30, 2011. ISBN 9780307520395. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  10. ^ "Sticky Fingaz - Digital Album Movie Download". stickyfingaz.com. Archived from the original on April 6, 2019. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
  11. ^ "Sticky Fingaz Digital Album Movie Download". musicalfury.com. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
  12. ^ "Rap Jam – Volume One (USA) (En, Fr, Es)". retrogames.cc. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  13. ^ "2020 ASCAP Pop Music Awards (June 17, 2020)". ascap.com. Archived from the original on June 19, 2020. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
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