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| Tame One (left) and El Da Sensei (right) |
Eric B. and Rakim, Mobb Deep, Pete and C.L, Showbiz & A.G, Gang Starr, Outkast & EPMD - all names you think of when you discuss the best duo in hip-hop and rightly so, all of the aforementioned artists have produced indisputable classics. However, there is one duo which is constantly overlooked - [the] Artifacts. Despite producing two of the greatest hip-hop songs/singles of all time, Wrong Side of da Tracks (the graffiti anthem) and C’mon Wit Da Git Down, the group has largely been forgotten since the two members, El Da Sensei and Tame One, parted ways in ‘97 (they‘ve recently reunited, however). Before they split, they released 2 albums, Between a Rock and a Hard Place & That’s Them. The remainder of this post will deal with ‘Between a Rock...’, why? because it’s the one album I own, that’s why.
Artifacts represent the very essence of hip-hop, their raps contain dense internal rhyme schemes which in turn are full of references to bombing, MCing, b-boying and getting lifted. Of course, they also shit talk but if you love hip-hop you should love that shit. Breaking away from their usual formula, they crafted a love letter to the golden age of hip-hop with ’Whayback’ which holds more relevance today than it did back in the mid-90’s due to the increase in wack wannabeemceez. To compliment the hard rhymes were equally hard [hitting] grimy boom bap beats which came courtesy of T-Ray (who produced all but 2 songs), Redman and Buckwild.
Jon Edit: This is definitely one of the most underrated rap duos of all-time. I was gonna do a post on them myself, but Marc beat me to it. Their beats are crazy hype and their lyrics are even better. This is about as pure as hip-hop gets, definitely two classic albums. They unfortunately are a now defunct group, with both having rather lucrative solo careers. There have been rumors of a reunion album, but has been speculation so far. Check out the duo after the jump, with an included download of their second album, That's Them. So that makes this an official megapost...post. Enjoy.
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Jon Edit: This is definitely one of the most underrated rap duos of all-time. I was gonna do a post on them myself, but Marc beat me to it. Their beats are crazy hype and their lyrics are even better. This is about as pure as hip-hop gets, definitely two classic albums. They unfortunately are a now defunct group, with both having rather lucrative solo careers. There have been rumors of a reunion album, but has been speculation so far. Check out the duo after the jump, with an included download of their second album, That's Them. So that makes this an official megapost...post. Enjoy.
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