The Artifacts was an East Coast hip hop group consisting of El Da Sensei, Tame One and DJ Kaos. They hail from Newark,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

and made underground music that paid homage to the four elements of hip hop. The Artifacts' most popular single "Wrong Side of Da Tracks" paid special homage to

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

, as they were graffiti writers themselves. Other of artifacts' popular hits include "Easter", "C'Mon wit da Git Down" and "The Ultimate (You Know The Time)".

History

Also known as "The Brick City Kids", the Artifacts released their first album, ''Between a Rock and a Hard Place'' on October 25, 1994. Well received by underground hip hop audiences, it featured b-boy and graffiti themes. The album's beats were produced by

Buckwild Buckwild may refer to: * Buckwild (music producer), American hip hop producer * Buckwild (TV series), an American reality television series * Buck Wild, a 2013 comedy horror film * Buck Wild (song) "Buck Wild" is a 1989 single released by the Wa ...

(from the

DITC The Diggin' in the Crates Crew, commonly known as D.I.T.C., is an American hip hop collective formed in 1992 in New York City. The collective's name derives from the act of seeking out records to sample for production. The collective is compo ...

crew) and T-Ray (from the Soul Assassins crew). The Artifacts' second album, ''That's Them'' was released on April 15, 1997. It featured similar material, but it did not receive as much recognition as their debut effort. The Artifacts split soon after the release of this second album. Tame One and El Da Sensei have both continued to release music as solo artists. In 2003, Tame One joined the Weathermen, an underground rap group including Cage Kennylz, Camu Tao,

Aesop Rock Ian Matthias Bavitz (born June 5, 1976), better known by his stage name Aesop Rock, is an American rapper and producer from Long Island, New York. He was at the forefront of the new wave of underground and alternative hip hop acts that emer ...

, and

El-P Jaime Meline (born March 2, 1975), better known by the stage name El-P (shortened from his previous stage name El Producto), is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Starting his career as a member of Company Flow, he has been a ...

. Soon after joining the Weathermen, Tame One and Cage released the album ''

Waterworld ''Waterworld'' is a 1995 American post-apocalyptic action film directed by Kevin Reynolds and co-written by Peter Rader and David Twohy. It was based on Rader's original 1986 screenplay and stars Kevin Costner, who also produced it with Ch ...

'' under the name Leak Bros. In 2009, Tame One collaborated with another member of the Definitive Jux label, releasing the album Parallel Uni-Verses with

Del the Funky Homosapien Teren Delvon Jones (born August 12, 1972), better known by his stage name Del the Funky Homosapien (sometimes stylized as Del tha Funkee Homosapien) or Sir DZL, is an American rapper. Music career 1988–1997: Early life and beginnings Born in O ...

. El Da Sensei has released a number of solo albums and collaborated with the Polish rap group The Returners in 2008, as well as East Coast-based group, The Immortals Project in 2009.

Reunion

In August 2009 at the

Rock Steady Crew Rock Steady Crew is an American breaking and hip hop group which has become a franchise name for multiple groups in other locations. The group's 1983 international hit song "(Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew" (from the group's first studio album ...

Anniversary Weekend in Newark, New Jersey, Artifacts briefly reunited during a performance by El Da Sensei. According to Tame One, the duo had not reconciled their differences but when he heard the horn riff which introduces "Wrong Side of da Tracks", he felt like performing it. On August 2 of the next year at The Rock Steady Crew 33rd Anniversary Celebration in Newark, both El Da Sensei and Tame One along with DJ Kaos performed officially as The Artifacts. They performed several songs from their respective catalogs as well as Artifacts material at this show. They are in the process of collaborating on a new Artifacts album and Tame One confirmed in an interview on March 22, 2013 that Artifacts are reunited. Signing with Redefinition Records, the first new Artifacts material in over 10 years was debuted on Redefinition Records' official

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming s ...

. In 2022, the Artifacts released their final studio album, No Expiration Date, with Buckwild. It was the last album to be released in Tame One's lifetime, as he would pass away on November 5th the same year.

Discography

References

External links

Myspace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Artifacts (Group) East Coast hip hop groups Musical groups from New Jersey Rappers from Newark, New Jersey Musical groups established in 1994 1994 establishments in New Jersey Big Beat Records (American record label) artists Hip hop duos American musical duos