F
I or a state best known for landfills
and long stretches of road, New
Jersey somehow managed to con-
ceive some of the most notable names
in hip-hop and skateboarding.
Newark lays claim to producing
the Artifacts, pioneers of the
underground. In '94, their debut
album, Between A Rock And A
Hard Place, broke all boundaries
by delivering honest, accessible
lyrics. Three years later, the crew
from Brick City brings the boom
with their newest, That's Them.
So, imagine my delight when
they agreed to drive around
Newark to smoke blunts and do
this interview.
WEl Da Sensai: Strictly surviving. Tourin',
That have you been up to?
doing whatever we can to pay the bills. I don't know
what everyone thought we was doin' as far as sittin'
on our asses, but we wasn't doin' that. We was
steady on the road. If we wasn't in the studio, we fig-
ured that was the least we could do: bring the music
to othe people. There are mad heads out there that
haven't seen us or even heard of us yet. There's mad
spots out there that are untouched that we still tryin'
to go to. We hit some shit, though. Canada, all across
the states. But when we went to Cali, that was
some shit. All these cats that we met from before
were out there, but it was mad different this time.
There was no East Coast/West Coast bullshit talk,
was
no beefin' at all. They was just like, "How y'all feel
about it?" Shit, ain't nothin' to feel. Niggas just
rock. That's all that matters, gettin' the party live.
What did you hit in Cali?
El Da Sensai: Yo, we hit everywhere. We was just
drivin' maniacs. The highways are mad big in Cali. If
you ain't got a car out there, you're hit. There is no
gettin' around. Let me ask you a question. How do
you feel about hip-hop and how fucked up it is?
What do you think needs to be done?
People need to stop frontin' and talkin' about
bullshit they don't know anything about. Don't
talk about money if you can't super-size your
Coke. Talk about how you really see the world
and get off the rah-rah.
get off the ran
El Da Sensai: See, everybody needs to go back
to their corners, back to the drawing board, and
rethink that shit again. Everybody now is on this
money trip, all they care about is the money.
They don't understand that this game is a big no-
win situation. We all still gettin' pimped, no matter
what. If you do the radio shit or if you don't. If you
don't do it, they gonna try to extort you, try and
make you do shit you don't wanna do. When
you're up there doin' that shit, you gotta keep up
there doin' it. As soon as you stop doin' it, the
label's gonna be on your ass sayin', "What? That's
what made you. You can't stop now."
How do you feel about the violence that's
going down in hip-hop?
El Da Sensai: It's always been there, and it's always
gonna be there. Now it's just at a totally different
level. Before shit happened at shows, if there was
beef, you knew about it, but it was dealt with. It
didn't go no further than words.
ARTIFACTS WHAT THE ARE YOU A
RAFLINE
ALL CITY WORLDWIDE
Sol blurs2
Now it's like muthafuckas gonna pack a joint so they
can talk shit. No man needs strength like that.
Somebody talks shit, and he got his piece on him,
just like that-another victim.
But violence is everywhere.
El Da Sensai: True. Even if it wasn't rap, it'd still be
there. You can't stop it. Every cat on my corner got
a gun. They ain't got no story, no job, no record deal,
but they got a gun. Shit is hectic all the same. Man, if
I had a bodyguard, no question it would be Darth
Vader or Boba Fett. They'd blast anyone.
How do you feel about the media playing it up
like rap is the reason for all the drama?
El Da Sensai: It's like an ex-con, when they get out
of jail, they just waitin' for him to fuck up again.
Same thing goes for rap. The media is just waitin' for
it to slip up again so they can say, "Look! It's the
devil's music!" Or whatever. See, we in a different
era in rap music than where we came from. We need
more of that old fun shit. Cats are on some whole
other bullshit that I just don't understand.
Muthafuckas are on some, "Hear me or die" shit.
DJ Kaos: Like my shit, or I'm comin' after that ass
with my crew, all day!
Tame One: Word is bond! I got 25 muthafuckas
ready to roll you out!
DJ Kaos: Yo, you better have my tape in your
car, in your house, in your walkman. If you
don't, I don't wanna talk.
What direction is shit gonna go in? Is it gonna
switch up? Do you think things'll change?
El Da Sensai: Well, people wanna have their little
summits and seminars and talks and panels, but that
ain't solved nothin'. Until the record companies
change, ain't nothin' gonna change. There are so
many heads screamin', "Stop the bullshit!" But
ain't nobody listening. It's like what they tell us at the
label: "We don't care about the art, we care about
what people buy."
Tame One: It's always been that way, and it'll
always be that way. It's just a continuing cycle. It'll
flare up, then it'll stop, come to a halt. Then niggas
will start wildin', and it'll start all over again. There
ain't no hope for it. Rap gets better than it gets
worse. Ain't nothin' anyone can do to stop it. It's out
of the people's hands.
El Da Sensai: There are certain artists who are
tryin' to change shit, but they don't even last. So, it
makes you feel like there ain't enough people who
are really down with the program who really want to
change shit. And that's sad. It's like everybody's act-
ing like they content right now. They ain't complain-
in', they ain't sayin' nothin', but we know. We know
ain't everybody happy, but nothin' can be done
unless people speak up, unless they stop buyin' the
bullshit. People need to start the rap revolution. Acts
like KRS-One, The Roots, and Organized Konfusion
are tryin' to change it, but it's up to the people, the
ones buyin' it, to make it happen.
You're also known as graffiti artists. Are any
of your pieces still up around town?
El Da Sensai: Bust. They got Newark on lock.
Shit is serious. I can't even remember the last
time I threw up with a can, strictly marker.
DJ: Cali we got live, though.
El Da Sensai: Yeah, Cali was some shit. Out
here you can't do nothin'. You just be standin
on the street, and the 5-0 be jockin'. They want
an arrest no matter what. Shit is scary, makes
me think the comin' is comin'. In Cali we was
buggin', though. We did some 4080 shit. They
had us underneath this bridge, highway shit all
undercover, with lookouts and all that, but
wasn't nobody lookin' out. Everybody was)
lookin' at us. We didn't know who no one was
They were throwin' rocks, and we were like,
"Who dat?" We was in the dark, pitch black,
tryin' to paint. This kid was takin' flicks while
we were tryin' to paint. Poof! Big ass light from
his flash. We were on top of a big ass dirt hill,
and dude just kept bustin' the flash. You could
probably see that shit from miles away. Tame
was ready to kill this kid. He said, "Man, you
take another flick without telling me, and we
gonna be brawling out here!" Shit was nuts. We
got up all over out there, no problems. We went
everywhere, gang territory and all that, and
everyone was on some love shit.
Any last words to the fans across the land?
EL Da Sensai: Y'all the reason we're still
around. We wouldn't bother with this shit,
making records or doing shows, if it wasn't for
y'all. It's a blessing to have people enjoy some-
thing you make from the heart, and we thank
everyone, everywhere, that's down with the
Artifacts. -Chris Nieratko
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