Media Chin-Check

This is not good for the hip-hop dxers online. I do not think they are going to take this well, but oh well it's good pub-lic-ity. It The Source and XXL print out good quality hip-hop issues and quit all the pit-patting with the rappers, there would be no need for criticism.
PEACE

Wonderful display of critical thinking Hashim. The Source are quite the enigma since they resorted to publicizing the same 4th rate music that they had reviled for so many of their early years. there would not have been a Source Mag. if they were as they are then. The Source is no longer the source for professional opinion anymore going by all the scandals that they have brewed up to boost sales. Their conduct as journalists is apalling which has in turn effaced their work ethic.

We stopped buying the Source when they seemed to devote an extraordinary amount of time to the Biggest Joke Entertainment aspects of Hip Hop, you know, those Acid Rap ads that were akin to Satanic Rap like Esham(no offense) and a few others. Oh Yeah, and Master P and most of No Limit used to be in the back of the magazine alongside those Acid/Satanic Rap acts back in the day too.

Now that Chopped and Screwed material is fashionable it seems like some of those ads were like forewarnings of why not to laugh at everything that seems ostensibly funny. Those ads were still humorous nonetheless. If we understand correctly, those ads with the overdose of gold, dollars, diamonds, platinum, pimps, slutty-looking chicks and Rottweilers and Pit-Bulls (ha, ha, ha, ha) were the brain-child of Hype Williams who is responsible for the aura of Belly.

Belly was alright, but The Source Magazine WAS the source for what was up when they ran their A** Out pieces about the dude that was as on a tour through the seedy underworld spawned of the aftermath of Crack having hit the streets as the "affordable" form of readily smokable cocaine. Go figure. To this day it is quite a phenomena that is an unexplainable epidemic based on how avid on-lookers of the Hip Hop movement like if not love to look good all decked out in fresh gear.

That was when The Source was on point. Even though Reginald C. Dennis went so far as to say that he would have altered some mic ratings if he could go back and do so, we feel that the bit of money that Hip Hop was lucky to get back then made the artists up their integrity. Despite lackluster production, the bulk of emcees had come to appreciate the Source as well in terms of how indiviual emcees and emcee groups viewed each other, especially on collaborations. Remember that Heavy D and the Boyz Peaceful Journey jawnt? Yeah that's what's up. That collabo song "Don't Curse"!!! Uh huh, yeah.

The Source MAY have been responsible for the decline in the morale of Hip Hop because there were those people who did not notice the internal problems of the business coming through in the increased amount of greasy slime-ball artists and groups getting higher ratings. It is always cool to interview even the most garbage group to get a hint of the method behind their madness. The Source went beyond that though, they began to succor artists with ill intent to damage the morale of the masses by giving them higher ratings against the ethical integrity upon which the magazine was founded.

Subscribers and casual purchasers of the magazine based upon word of mouth, were in the beginning almost practically spoon-fed and alerted to the albums that were to contain excellent to good production and high moral fiber. Yet the switch led a few dependents down the path to those Joke Groups in the back of the magazine that eased their way to the initial pages and then to covers. What The? Yeah that was how a lot of people felt in 1996 and afterwards if not earlier.

We and a few others tried desperately to hang on to what was one of the most brutally honest Hip Hop magazines we had come to know based upon the magazine's once glorious, integrity-bound past. All good things come to an end it seems. Only externally anyway. The Source was like a mentor that gained trust over a few years and then one day out of the blue, it was like "Try this" in referrance to music that justified crack peddling *cough cough* Master P* cough cough.

Master P was garbage before Tupac passed away, but all of a sudden people needed a pseudo-Pac and we guess Master P must have been it. Go figure. Same thing with DMX. people were still frustrated by the absence of Tupac's presence and so they were eager to nominate a "thug supreme", a title that was not even likely to garner any attention at all before Tupac popularized the term and expression.

The Source then attacked Eminem amongst all the unnecessary hoopla that the Source was steeped in. That situation was an adequate example of the right action from the wrong reason. Hey. It was or is what it is. Eminem PROBABLY would never have reached the status that he has reached had he not garnered credibility even amongst a few die-hard enthusiasts.

Eminem sounds JUST LIKE Master Ace down to some of his rhyme cadences. Hey, its like Casual said, dudes bite his style now they sound better, despite the fact they get props, but he'll know. Go figure. Well, even the sources have destinations that designate the source from the destination. The Source was fun while it lasted.

Peace be unto you all. We all need some Peace. PEACE.

yaknow, you are right, there are too many trends going on. I call this the bandwagon effect, the (fake) fans will like one rapper while they are hot and then when they are not hot anymore, they jump off and disdain the artist like the fake fans did to Ja Rule and went to 50.
PEACE

Fuck the Source, they had their time and should consider themselves lucky for even having that.
Been-Zero is a bitch to the fullest. Nigga wants to sell records but cant move nothing, its fucking hillarious.
Dave Mays is pussy.
So many people left the Source because they didn't want to do things Dave Mays' way, which is Benzino's way, and ended up being even more successful elsewhere.
It's not only that, there are so many things, like how u cant pay fees for putting on an award show after actually being a the number one hiphop magazine for years? I'm glad those broke fucks are struggling, fuck the source.

its a shame what the source has become. can't report numbers, lose my subscription(havent received a issue since august 2004), berating angie martinez, having kim o file a lawsuit, givin benzi-NO a cover with 5 page article, benzino is trash and damn sure dont deserve a cover. funny how they rate albums but wont rate benzi-NO album cuz he works there, if you put out a lp u should get a mic just like any other artist. dont be scared cuz he a boss. everybody knows he is garbage. give him his 2 mics and call it a day. slip dat one in the pages.

The Source has become nothing more than a liablilty in the business of investing. Dave Mays is a sweet cherry pussy that pedofilers dream to buss. Dave should grow some grapefruits and stop taking crap form Ray Brokezino, all Zino has did was held Mays back. It's time to cut the big loss and gain you freedom.

well i guess every one is late on the source ever since going back to like 1993 i noticed that every issue they had an ad on almighty RSO or made men i've always said why are they promoting these guys if they never had a hit song, i always knew something was fishy until Benzino came out of the closet as the "owner of the Source" that's when i said "no wonder", benzino took all the credibility out of the source way back then not now it was just snowballing in front of our eyes all these years and people never noticed i mean made men 4.5 mics? please it's just like eminem said now 4.5 means you're just as good as dre, scarface, nas biggie and benzino. pure trash if you have noticed their once bulky magazine is now starting to look like a comic book pretty soon it will be the one page letter it once was as they say back to basics.

TO:Lulu Cohen
From: Mac
EIC HHDX, BOUNCE Europe

That article by Biko was cheap I gave him an interview that broached all he talks about in the article (and offer solutions) that quote to be used shows that the piece is bunk- Mac HHDX

I sent that 2way to Lulu Cohen, PR rep for The Source, after reading the piece...end game. Biko emailed me regarding an interview regarding the Internet and it's effects on Hip Hop. We did the interview over AOL IM...I thought it was a good interview and in depth and talked about the issues and how the internet has spread the word of Hip Hop culture worldwide...but unfortunately he used half of a quote that he KNOWS that I answered the question to the 25% that don't have access to the internet...

Much love to the Source...they were the first...hopefully they aren't becoming the worse.

I close with my usual quote:
_________________
Albert "Mac" McCluster III
Editor In Chief HipHopDX
US Editor BOUNCE Europe
www.bouncemag.de www.bounce.fr
3BMP/VIP INTL
Hip Hop is prosecution evidence/The out of court settlement/Ad space for liquor/Sick without benefits (hungh!)...Hip Hop will simply amaze you/Craze you, pay you/Do whatever you say do/But black, it can't save you -MOS DEF

The Source has lost it's credibility slowly but surely. After the Eminem smear campaign it was evident that these were not journalists but a bitter never was MC (Benzino) and his pacified partner (Mays) who had no choice but to go along with the program. It's Dave's own fault for letting this dude worm his way in and letting all his thug ass friends into their business, now Benzino is like herpes, Dave will never be rid of him. Benzino's need to be an artist and use the main hip hop publication to try to further his floundering career proved to be the Source's iceberg. They haven't had a website in over a year and people get their subscriptions issues 3-6 months late or not at all. Why kind of nigga shit is that? How do you run a business like that and expect to stay around? I used to buy every issue, now I read it at Barnes and Noble, BUY XXL and keep it movin.

Maybe in your rush to point out the small typos in the brilliant article by Rob "biko" Baker you accidentally spelled his last name wrong (Rob “Biko” Barker). I would point out how you conveniently neglected to tackle any of the array of other issues the article brought up but that would be nitpicking. Congrats on posting a blog that only your buddies read! You are truly irrelevant and do nothing except make The Source look better. They are still the only magazine that represents the full realm of hip-hop. But I’m sure that you can get your fix from XXL. Oh, by the way, The Source continues to outsell them also. But it’s not about numbers right. Wake the fuck up you dummies.

i had a WACK experience with the source a couple years ago while i was writing for HipHopDX. i was doing a story about antoine clark of feds coming on board there...some people at the Source, their behavior is preposterous, as is the case with most businesses, print or web, when they think they are the shit and they are not. besides they were not the first hip hop publication. it was the IGT (International Graffiti Times) published by Phase 2 and some others.

Rob "biko" Baker reporting in:

#1 sorry about the typos.

#2 The first 1500 words of the story are about the way in which the mainstream media handles hip-hop. Please don't glance over the main thesis of the story.

Whether you guys want to admit it or not, The Hip-hop Generation is under attack. Police brutality is up, our people are either going to jail at alarming rates or they are killing each other. The mainstream media feeds us the stereotypes that help foster a lot of that bullshit.

So at least give The Source credit for publishing a story that reflects what's really going on in the hood. A lot of mufuckas is so caught up in the hype they actually miss the brilliant pieces that are found in that mag each month. (Case in point the recent gods and earths story or the piece on the Game and 50 beef and by the way I am not on staff)

#3 The story was originally supposed to be about the Internet. But the nytimes ran another hit piece about hip-hop culture days before the book went to press and I was asked to reframe the story. I will publish that article at a later date, most likely on the web, and will gladly give it to sohh.

#4 Mac's quote.
As he said it was an interview over IM. (I believe Mac was on a sidekick or blackberry) I have been writing for various hip-hop publications for almost 5 years and this was my first IM interview. So if there was confusion, it was because of technology not me trying to smash hhdx.com

But I believe the transcript below adds to the thesis of that paragraph. Hip-hop sites like hiphopdx.com don't frequently publish hard hitting stories for two reasons: (is that the right use) first, the game on the net is about quantity not about indepth analysis, second many of the people who run hip-hop sites are not from a journalistic background and either lack the critical analysis or are too busy worried about ad dollars to do the follow up.

Transcript
"who is your target audience for hiphopdx and do you think that being located in euro gives you guys a different perspective
HIPHOPEDITOR: well...first, I'm not in Europe...I returned to the US in 2000 to establish our offices for BOUNCE in Chicago and to develop our contacts with labels and artists...I'm in the midwest right outside of detroit now...as far as HHDX our target is demographically 15-45....but basically we are reaching out to the little kid bobbin his head to that new "Bleek"...that young Backpacker looking for the new Z-Trip and that hard core thug looking for that drop from Tony Yayo...we look to fill the gap in which "Hip POP" created...I do believe that because HipHopDX has a more international sense about itself...we are based in Canada with offices in LA and Toledo (what a combo)...we really don't take ourselves that seriously like some "other" sites and periodicals.

#5 My last and most important point. I CHALLENGE EVERY LAST JOURNALIST IN THE GAME TO STOP BEING SCARRY AND WRITE ABOUT SHIT THAT REALLY IMPACTS OUR LIVES.

Why has there been so little talk about the war in Iraq on hip-hop sites? ( Could it be the beautiful Army of One flash pop ups?)

Why is there such little talk about the Black and Brown issue in SoCal?

Why is there such little talk about importance of the growing Millions More Movement?

Why is there such little talk about the increasing incidents of police brutality in inner city neighborhoods across the country?

Why are y'all not talking about these sell out ass rappers that are feeding our kids this bullshit?

Whether you like it or not, The Source is the one place you will still find hard hitting journalism.

But really,

WE ALL NEED TO STEP UP AND DO OUR DUTY TO OUR PEOPLE. OTHERWISE WE ARE JUST ACTING LIKE INDUSTRY INSIDERS LOOKING FOR A CHECK.

Because if y'all didn't know "There is a war going on outside no man is safe from."

amandla

biko

Thanks for the comments everyone.

"Whether you like it or not, The Source is the one place you will still find hard hitting journalism."

I've made that point here before. However, I added that the issues happening at The Source overshadow the good work some of their writers are doing, especially on the hard news side.

The Source has become the Fox News Channel of the hip-hop magazine world. Hated, one-sided, antagonistic, and utter-wise, a crass magazine where Benzino gets a "free" advertising of his multi-wood selling albums.

Everybody who posts in this blog (with exception to biko) has stated what is wrong with the Source. The Source used to our "Time", our "Newsweek", our "USA Today". Now it has become our "National Enquier".

The Source has become what it never should of been. A magazine that criticizes accomplishes, rhetoric that we hear a thousand times from our elders, and a magazine that is hypocritical on its beliefs.

A rapper who owns a hip-hop magazine is conflict of interest. But yet, they do a story about MTV release a Jay-Z/Linkin Park mash-up album and criticize them. C'mon, man.

We don't hate the Source, we hate them 2 men who run it. A self-proclaimed gangsta and a Harvard grad. They talk about how the majors are brainwashing these kids and f***in' over their artist and how controversy sells. But, in the same token, they are printing articles about those same issues.

If the Source wants us to look at their magazine and not who owns it, well they need to talk about the white rapper who outsold a lot of black rappers, and not who owns him.

They need to take care of their business before meddling into someone elses. They either need to refund the lost subscriptions, or get takin' to court.

And Biko needs to understand that we can't take of the outside until we clean up on the inside. Iraq is a perfect example. We can't talk about issues going on outside of our communities without taking care of the inside of our communities first. That's like going over to someone elses house and cleaning up their room and our room is still dirty.

The Source is supposed be about the music. If I wanna read articles about the upliftment and struggles of black communities, I have Essence, Ebony, Black Enterprises, etc. I admit the Source sometimes have good articles, but they don't outweigh the slander, the tabloids, and their inner b-s that the magazines has going on.

The Source, in general, needs an extreme overhaul, if they want to be considered a "good" magazine again. Instead of hating and pulling wool over our eyes like they came major labels are doing, they should be keeping it hip-hop and not political.

The Source "mishandled" my subscription.

Gay-zno and dave mays spoilt the source when they went after eminem.I just got tired of reading a magazine which is full of hypocrites.They say all kinds of shit about em and fiddy and turn around and put them on their front cover to talk shit about them and boost their sales.Fuckers!!!