Customer Reviews

Between a Rock & A Hard Place

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the first album from this jersey duo that came out in 1994. The album isnt as good as their second album "thats them" but theres very little that is. The one thing that is present in both cases is tight flows, smart lyrics and head nodding, hard as hell beats. This time round they are provided by Buckwild (from the diggin'in the crates crew) and T-Ray (from the soul assassin crew), with Redman providing his friends with a nice beat also. The singles that were released from this joint were off the chain "c'mon with the git down" which is still an absolute heater after all these years. As is "dynamite soul" and the masterpiece ode to graf,(the 1st joint to do so),"wrong side of the tracks". The rest of this album is so strong that really any track on this could've been singles. Go cop this a.s.a.p. as it really is a diamond of an album.

Artifacts' 1994 debut introduced a hip hop duo to the rap world that fought against the grain of the quickly commercializing rap game. El da Sensei and Tame One are two New Jersey natives and former graffiti artists, and they celebrate the original spirit of hip hop. Their tracks are all impeccably produced, dense with instrumentation and rich horns, but the beats and bass stay hard and thumping; no one would ever mistake this for a pop record and they're proud of it. The producers include Redman and two very underrated east coast beatcrafts, T-Ray and Shawn J Period. As rappers, they stay true to themselves and their genre too. They deliver clever battle rhymes and braggadocio, telling some stories and always representing their home state. This album showcases some of the nicest production and rhyming of 1994, Artifacts was a unique hip hop product and is really underrated. I feel that they were often overlooked because at this time they might have been overshadowed by some other fairly similar artists, but any fan of the early-90s east coast sound will love "Between a Rock and a Hard Place."

After the short instrumental intro, the album begins with "C'Mon Wit da Git Down," which might be my favorite song on the album. The loopy bassline and scattered horn blasts create a funky and laidback vibe, I love the hook and the lyrics are clever. The similarly great "Wrong Side of da Tracks" is probably their best known song. Over catchy sax-heavy production, El and Tame One rap about their lives as graffiti artists. "Heavy Ammunition" is appealing boom bap, with more horns and a well-sampled hook. "Attack of New Jeruzalem" is an NJ anthem, upbeat and funky with heavy horn instrumentation, the rhymes are dope and it's a nice track. "Notty Headed N." is solid but not the most memorable track because it's similar to a lot of "Between a Rock and a Hard Place," although the verses are very good. I really like "Whayback," a shout out to hip hop's founding fathers that is very interesting musically. "Flexi With da Tech(nique)" is slow and bass heavy, with typically great raps from Tame One and El da Sensei. Redman produced the nice "Cummin' Thru Ya F...' Block," which has a funk groove that wouldn't sound out of place on a Def Squad production. "Lower da Boom" is a likable weed ode. The breezy "What Goes On?" is a highlight, nice vibes and slick rhymes. I really like the heavy bass and pumping horns in "Dynamite Soul," a feel good song. Another Redman production, "Whassup Now Muthaf...?," follows. The album closes with a very nice remix to "C'Mon Wit da Git Down," including an excellent guest appearance from Busta Rhymes.

Artifacts would go on to deliver one more album, 1997's That's Them, before breaking up and drifting into solo careers. Even if you didn't catch the Artifacts wave the first time around, this album is really one worth adding to the collection for east coast fans. It's got the kind of beats to play loud from the car and the kind of lyrics to make you smile while just chilling. I highly recommend "Between a Rock and a Hard Place."

Well another solid hip hop album from start to end. Here is another one where it is hard as hell to pick something that I dont like on here. I have to say this is one album that I can still play today in 2007 and it sounds good. These two rappers from New Jersey sound good as they go back and forth. It is sad that they broke up and only had 2 albums out. They are doing there thing on the Independant scene and makeing good stuff. I am biased and have to say that I like El Da Sensei more than Tame One but dont get it wrong Tame One is still nice. This is 2 guys that I would like to see get back toghether and make another album for the sake of real hip hop fans.

Wow! has it been four years since this album overtook my life? there wasn't a day that would diminish at which some point I had not heard a least one track from BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE.

Few pieces of work have had an affect on me such as this. the mere aspect of their raw down-to-earth lyrics and beats that would take you to euphoria.

This album is worth any price that Amazon choses to sell it for. (of course it shouldn't be rediculous)

East Coast Does it again!!! This is a underground Classic Pure Great Lyrics over a lot of Nitetime Beats Pure sound, you have to get this if you love underground!!!!

Artifacts 94 debut is a well complete album. Produced in part by redman and DITC, it offers pretty tight beats along side raw lyrics that make you go DAMN! this stuff is hot! This album is totally slept on and is a great discovery for any hip hop fan... i strongly recommend it as a must have. In my opinion its better than the 97 Thats Them but some disagree due to production...In short, buy this album if you have any common sense!

Their's not to much to say exept its different, not the same old sh*t

what can i say. if your if you consider yourself anything in hiphop than this album better be in your collection. this album has seen more playing time in my cd player than all my other albums combined. well maybe thats not all together true but it has logged in many hours of listening pleasure. the beats are dope. the lyrics and ryhmes are tight. and you actually get a fell of what the pictue is that the artifacts are trying to convey to you. buy this one

Where do I begin,other than saying if you don't have this album in your collection,you are sleeping on a True classic, in every sense of the word(along with "Nas:Illmatic,"Mobb Deep:Murda Musik,Big Pun:Capital Punishment,ext....)and cop it now!Artifacts are Tame One,(my all-time favorite emcee,aside from Sean Price of Heltah Skeltah)and El da Sensei,who are both from New Jeruzalum(New Jersey),as they put it on track no. 5.The production on the album is done by both Redman,and Buckwild,who did all the D.I.T.C and BootCamp joints.That in in itself says it all.The rhymes sound tight,and well spit by both artists.My favorite joint on the album would have to be "Wrong side of the Tracks".If you are familiar with Tame One and El da Sensei,both who went on to have successful underground solo careers,they are both true vets in the rap game. Tame One is a certified b-boy and graph artist ,(Check out his graph work on the inside of "When Rappers Attack",it's ill),as well as amazing lyrisist.El da Sensei seems to flow smoothly enough for Tame One to build off of him on the mic,and vice-versa.If you like this album,check out there second ,and unfortunetely,last album,"That's Them",asnd also there solo projects:"Tame One:OG Bobby Johnson(put out on Eastern Conference Records,and produced almost entirely by DJ Mighty Mi,himself.),El da Sensei:The Unusual(put out on Fat Beats Records,and features a guest appearance from Sean Price(Heltah Skeltah),among others.Anyway,as always,COP IT NOW!IT'S HEAT!

These guys MC El & Tame One from New Jersey were known as The Artifacts back in '94. Now I never heard of these guy up until about 2 months ago, so that means I still have more research to do in hip hop. What I like about this album is that these guys came with straight lyrical skills on their behalf. One track I keep playing repeatedly is "C'mon With The C'mon, Get Down With The Get Down". I just believe the beat on that song is so nice as both lyricists makes it an easy going sound. "Wrong Side Of The Tracks" is a dope sounding song too.

Production wise is excellent on this here. T-Ray supplies most of the beats on here. Buckwild does a few, and Redman does only one. And what I like about these beats is that they each have sort of a blend to create the atmosphere of the album so it gives it a relaxing but hard sounding album like many not so well known albums back in '94.

As for problems, I can only think of a few minor ones. I'm pretty sure they loved Redman so much, but I thought the sample to "Notty Headed Nigguz" just didn't fit in my opinion. Also there is a bonus track (#14) "C'mon With The C'mon, Get Down With The Get Down (Remix)" that was produced by Buckwild that features Busta Rhymes. Although the song doesn't make an impact as the origonal production wise, and the way Busta says the hooks makes him sound off beat a little bit. Other than that, this album makes a great collection in your library. I just happened to discover artists from NJ that were never too popular around '93-'94 era (like Lords Of The Underground, etc.) and came across this group. Give it a listen, and you'll enjoy it.

Lyrics: A
Production: A
Guest Appearances: A-
Musical Vibes: A
Overall: A

Other Notable Tracks: Whayback, Commin' Through Your F'in Block, What Goes On?, Dynamite Soul, Whassup Now Muthafu**a