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Da Wrongside of Atlantic Records

© Steve Juon

Although they may not be as well known in the popular media as their lucrative labelmates Junior M.A.F.I.A. and Lil Kim, the crew called Artifacts has been earning underground respect for the past five years for not only their lyrical savvy but their graffiti art -- a rare combination of skills across a broad hip-hop spectrum. Some hip-hoppers seems to be good at graf, some at rhymes, but rarely are both represented as well at the same time as the 'Facts represent them for hip-hop. They quietly keep the real hip-hop arts alive while others pursue trendy clothes and the "luchini" lifestyle that so much of hip-hop music seems to be obsessed with. It was a shock to me when I received e-mail from member Tame One's mom (who I had previously had contact with) stating that the Artifacts didn't have a page on the Atlantic Records website. Sure enough, I checked, and lo and behold -- not a trace, even after they released a brand new full length album two weeks ago, surely reason enough to justify a page on their behalf if for no other reason than promotional purposes.

Perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised that the more commercially lucrative artists all had pages, and the quiet underground success of the Artifacts had gone unnoticed. After all, the Artifacts have never been a bold splash across the canvas; they're a sort of word of mouth group -- people who heard them rhyme with Nubian Cracker on "Do You Wanna Hear It" were few and far between, and their "Wrongside of Da Tracks" video off their debut LP received little MTV rotation. Those who knew they were dope though kept hope alive by consitantly making them hot on radio mix shows across the country, building them a strong underground following which Atlantic has paid little or no attention to at all. Three singles were released off the debut, all of which received praiseful reviews in leading hip-hop magazines, but still the Artifacts seemed poorly promoted if not COMPLETELY unpromoted by Big Beat and it's Atlantic parent.

So, I decided to strike back -- with the help of Tame One's mom, I established a webpage for the group at http://pobox.com/~hip-hop/music/artifact... -- a series of pages I hope to eventually have registered as www.thatsthem.com (their original group name and also the title of their new LP). It's probably not the most sophisticated artist homepage ever seen, but it's being updated daily with soundclips, lyrics, bios written by members Tame and MC El, and hopefully soon graphics of their graffiti art. If the label can't give them the due they deserve, it's time somebody did. Make sure you drop in on their SonicNet chat next week at 8 PM EST/7 Central and tell them what you think of the new album and the web page their mom has endorsed as the only official Artifacts homepage. After two albums, five singles, years of dues, and consistantly dope hip-hop skills, they've earned their props and you shouldn't be afraid to check them out.

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