The Artifacts were a throwback hip hop duo from Newark, NJ. Their music reflected and emphasized three of the four elements of true hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, and their specialty, graffiti writing or “bombing”; both Tame One and El Da Sensei are proficient at all three. With unique styles that play off each other well, Tame and El’s graff-rap was well received by underground audiences and continued in the Jersey rap tradition of Redman and Lords of the Underground. The crew scored an underground classic with their debut single in 1994, “Wrong Side of The Tracks,” serving notice to their graffiti bombing missions and their Jersey heritage. The debut album, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, followed soon afterward. Tight, funky production provided the duo’s B-boy stance the chance to take shape. Although it contained more of the same, the 1996 follow-up album, The Art of Facts, was not nearly as successful critically, getting lost amid the burgeoning kingpin gangster attitude of Jay-Z and Nas. The Artifacts were hard-nosed backpack hip hoppers in the halcyon days of hip hop’s golden age revisited, before hip hop’s mainstream explosion and the elevating gangster hardcore style that led to the violent deaths of 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G. The duo split in 1997 and now release singles as solo artists.

Other artists known as Artifacts:
1. Artifacts, an alt-rock band
2. Artifacts, a hardcore punk band

1. Artifacts are london-based alt-rock noisemakers, who bring together a concoction of electronic layers, wall-of-sound guitars and heartfelt crescendos to create soaring-yet-introspective laments. With time on their side and "a plethora of fragile moments" to win hearts and minds, the five-piece have been marked as a band to "surprise and grow" as they spread across London and the south east. "They really are an exciting new find. Punctuated with dramatic, noisy guitar lines, haunting vocals and melodies; they deliver a plethora of fragile moments followed by sound scapes of pure ecstasy." - Artrocker. "Noisy guitars embellished with synths struck like percussion" - Clash

2. Artifacts (formerly known as Take A Right On Tulsa), a Hardcore band from the Pasadena/Houston Area, Artifacts is hitting the local Houston Hardcore music scene with a bang. Infusing traditional hardcore music with ambient and melodic sounds to create quite an unique blend music. The Line up includes: Vocals: Tyler Hill, Guitar:Miguel Villatoro, Guitar: Pablo Hernandez, Bass: Jorge Salinas, Drums: Justin Campbell. Artifacts has also shared the stage with Upon A Burning Body, Winds Of Plague, Stick To Your Guns, Sleeping Giant, Oceano, Circle Of Contempt, MyChildren MyBride, The Red Chord, Chelsea Grin, Those Who Lie Beneath, Suffokate, Molotov Solution, I Declare War, Dr.Acula, Monsters, and Broadway. With their ever aspiring band and steadily increasing fan base, Artifacts is sure to gain acknowledgment and respect among the Hardcore music scene and soar to new heights. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.