Words By Jason Hortillas

Can you find a better example of a Hip-Hop anthem on graffiti than the Artifacts 1994 debut single, “Wrong Side of the Tracks?” The New Jersey duo of Tame One and El the Sensei complimented each other with their swapping vocals. Their verses heavily laid down with coat after coat of graf references with a cop evading swagger. Visually, there are camera wipes imitating a spray can painting the screen and stop motion graphics of a “burner” being pieced together that create goose bumps to any aerosol artist. Read the rest of this entry »

Words By Jason Hortillas

Hate for the opposite sex is not foreign in Hip-Hop. What is however is that
in depth relationship talk. You know, that deep rooted, malicious type shit.
1990′s “looking At The Front Door” by Main Source epitomized this for me. This wasn’t a
chick at the club tale. Neither was it some “chicken head ho eating heroes”
character assassination. This was venting.

“We fight every night now that’s not kosher,
I reminisce with bliss of when we was closer.”

To the untrained listener this is sappy. But Main Source front man Large
Professor accomplished an impossible task-capturing frustration in about
three minutes. “Looking” couldn’t be too lyrical- it required Large Pro to get to the point. One liners like, “You treat me like I’m a burnt piece of bacon” exemplified such, adding to the list of cliché quotations to the Hip-Hop lexicon. Read the rest of this entry »