The intro is called "Art Of Scratch" which is filled with scratches and slices of lyrics over a dope beat. It's very similar to the into on their first album. It's true hip hop... Make a new song from all of your older ones!

The first real song is "Art Of Facts" which has a cool, jazzy rim-shot beat along with a cool keyboard melody. The chorus is also used from slices of their songs scratched to perfection by DJ Kaos. Tame One and El Da Sensai have skills! They remind you from the first rhyme! This was their first single and it's not too catchy. It has a nice, get high quality to it. It's smooth but the lyrics are definitely hardcore..."31 Bumrush" is a cool song with a quick beat and catchy chorus: "Ashes to ashes and dust to dust, from the back of the bus, the 31 bumrush. Crews we breeze through, if you don't know, you need to, tell the soundman, don't touch nothing but the e-q" This is a cool song.

"To Ya Chest" is the next song where El does the chorus. They claim that they bring "lyrics to ya chest, 1-2". I like it better when Tame One does the chorus instead of El. Don't get me wrong, El has a good style and his rhymes are tight. I just like Tame's voice better.

"Where Yo Skillz At?" is a dope song which uses a Diesel Don loop from "Izum Man". This is a cool song which gives props to a cool underground Newark Ner Jersey artist, Diesel Don.

"Collaboration Of Mics" features Lord Jamar and Lord Finesse. The beat is slower and uses plenty of scratches which adds a cool atmosphere to the song. The beat is somewhat "pankake fat" like on Brand Nubian's "Everything Is Everything" and has a haunting quality.  Though I like Sadat X better that Jamar, everyone does a dope job of rhyming on this jam.

"The Ultimate" is the most popular song with a very bouncy and catchy chorus.Right before the song, they use a snippit that they taped from Hot 97's battle of the beats with Angie Martinez talking to two women from Newark who want to vote for theArtifacts. DOPE! You know the chorus: "You know the time when we rock the spot. Artifacts, New Jeru, catch rep and get the props. You know the time when we rock the sh*t. Tame one and Emcee El, we be the uiltimate". This is a classic hip-hop jam... though it's not "Wrong Side Of The Tracks", it's still dope.

The next song, "It's Gettin' Hot" is produced by Da Beatminerz. It's pretty cool, not the coolest though. El does the chorus which sounds somewhat off-beat. It would be better if Tame did it because of his voice and flow. El talks the chorus: "It's getting hot emcees, you know the steez. The rap game is getting hot. Consumers on their knees."

"This Is Da Way" has a hard beat and uses a Run-Dmc scratch. This is a cool song but it doesn't stay with you like the other ones. It can be overlooked if you don't truly pay attention to it. There's not catchy sung, rhymed chorus. It's beats, rhymes, scratches, and slices of classic hip-hop lyrics from classic hip-hop jams.

The best song on the album is called "The Interview" where Tame One & El go back and forth rhyming after another over a smooth-ass quick beat. This is the tightest song on the album. The beat reminds me of De La Soul's "Breakadawn" while the back-&-forth rhyme flow reminds me of "That's How It Is" by Redman and K-Solo. This song just makes ya' feel so damn' good!

The next song big-ups their hometown of Newark and is called "Break It Down". Like the previous song, it uses a slice from another jam, Newark's native Redman. His song called "Rockafella" had the lyric: "When I break it down from Newark, it takes an ill town!" That lyric is beuatifully scratched for the chorus over a bouncy beat. DOPE! This is another dope ass song!

"Skwad Training" is the blunt smoking song for the album. It has Tame teaching a class of Boom Skwad how to roll a blunt tight. It's a cool song if you love weed.. Not the strongest on the album, somewhat like filler but very tolerable.

"Ingredients To Time Travel" is a song for the high which uses more Redman slices and scratches. It's real cool song with a bunch of different samples. It's not very catchy and I heard that they released it as a single... It is dope but I could see better singles on this lp.

"Return To Da Wrongside" is their sequel to "Wrong Side Of The Tracks" which comes no where near as close to the original. It's cool because it's the only song on the album about tagging and graffitti.

"Who's This" is like a farwell jam with El doing the chours again... I still think Tame One is more effective in this area. Still, this is a cool song.Nothing really wrong with it. It has a good beat, tight rhymes, hardcore lyrics.

"The Ultimate" (Showbiz Remix) finishes the album off with a pounding and noisy conclusion. Some of the lyrics are changed but the chorus is the same.It's not as bouncy and tight as the orginal but it's still cool.

Overall, the album is tight. There's nothing really wrong with it. Tight rhymes, good beats, good scratching, dope samples, hardcore lyrics, decent guests. The only problem is that it doesn't live up to the dopeness of their first album. While most of the songs on their first album were pounding bass-fueld funked out james (i.e. "Notty Headed Nigguhz") most of the songs on this album are a little more laid-back and jazzy though there are plenty of dope scratches and hip-hop loving lyrics and beats. The scratches are an essential part of the dopeness. I love hearing good scratches and samples over a hip-hop beat in a hip-hop album... It's part of the hip-hop foundation! There's not one wack beat on the album. Most of the songs are about taking out emcees, the rap biz, graphitti, music in general, and who they are. None of the lyrics are too far out there that they lose touch. They give props to true hip-hop & they are original due to the fact that everyone wants to be a glamour rapper wearing Versace and crap.Artifacts bring one thing back to the hip-hop game... SKILLS! The album flows nice though some songs may sound the same on the first couple of listens. It is a well made album though it won't be as popular as they should be... perhaps, that's a good thing... Hardcore wise, they say what they feel but now, they seem a little more mellow on the crazy tip. On the first album they had "Heavy Ammunition" and were ready to buck you down but now, there is a lyric where they say "Not the one to glorify guns". Still, they aren't afraid to express their true identies of hip-hop/graphitti loving Newark natives who love smoking weed and getting down in their Boom Skwad. They have dope rhyming skills and it's a shame that they are not together anymore. Of course, this album was lost in the commercial hip-hop records but the true hip-hop loving heads (especially the ones from New Jersey) will always love Artifacts... When ever we see them, we'll know that's them...
Beats: 9/10,
Lyrics: 9/10,
Album Flow: 9/10,
Production: 9/10,
Originality/Creativity: 9/10,
Hardcore Rating: 9/10.
[ Overall Rating: 9/10 ]