You are prah’lee thinking to yourself, “What is on this dude’s mind this time?” “Why does he keep attacking these pillars of the African–American community? First he assails the great virgin mother, OPRAH WINFREY, then he puts ESSENCE magazine inside the crosshairs.” You ask yourself out loud, “Who is he going after today?”
Today’s enemies are the cultural hustlers that publish the SOURCE magazine.
This publication was so important when I first remember seeing it in the early 1990’s. There was a realness contained inside of the pages so much so that it inspired me to start writing. I had even developed my own monthly newsletter(never published, but damn good). The SOURCE was no BLACK BEAT(what a name for a mag as a spinoff to TIGER BEAT) or RIGHT ON! Back then the magazine didn’t pander to commercialism the way it does now along with XXL and the plethora of crap rap magazines sitting on newsstands. The SOURCE would document underground artists and little known lyrical masters. It featured geeky beat making producers and even brought attention to the types of equipment that were critical in creating rap music.
The magazine was founded by two Harvard University undergrads that loved and appreciated Hip-Hop music. As an aside both dudes were white, but that doesn’t matter to me when you consider the contributions of so many other melanin challenged real Hip-Hop people like Rick Rubin, the Beastie Boys, Deborah Harry and Will Smith. The fact that these dudes published a magazine that had a cover with Malcolm X on it was proof enough for me that it was something special I was reading. Had I known fifteen years ago that the SOURCE magazine would lose its way and be blinded by the bling and bullshit of corporate America I would never have picked up my first copy.
The SOURCE magazine used to be the voice of reason that prided an artist’s lyrical skills and his beat looping ability over his bank account. More importantly, the SOURCE magazine was a progressive voice in an ocean of conformity. I can’t point to one specific watershed moment when this all changed and the SOURCE transformed into a tool for the corporate masters but I am pretty sure that it was during the time that BadBoy records came into prominence. I acutely remember that at this point I needed a lot more money if I wanted to live a Hip-Hop lifestyle. I had to replace my Polo rugbys with Versace and Moschino print shirts(and heaven forbid, NO polka dots). I had to change my footwear from Air Jordans to alligators. All these things allowed me to fit in with the REDZONE/TUNNEL Hip-Hop crowd that chased the rap artists as if they were the Beatles. It was an irreverent and irresponsible time and rap music reflected that attitude to the fullest as we smoked blunts and sipped expensive alcohol and had sex with no emotion or attachment. Where was the voice of reason to tell us that B.I.G. was only a prophet for profit? Who would ‘keep it real’ with us by uncovering that the song Gin & Juice was actually conceived by executives at Tanqueray? The SOURCE magazine was already bought and sold at that point so our hopes for a saviour in the media were dashed against the wall.
Here in America the prison industrial complex is big business and unlike the waning job market this enterprise is booming like never before. African Americans only comprise roughly 15% of the U.S. population but make up more than 35% of Americas’ incarcerated numbers(with women seeing a tremendous rise in their numbers over the last ten years). It would be foolish of me to blame this phenomenon only on Hip-Hop music and the media that promotes it but I have to say that there are no images that are presented to today’s youth of Black men other than entertainers, athletes and criminals. Many personalities have adopted all three characteristics synonymously.
Take for example one of the current publishers of the SOURCE. RAYMOND
‘BENZINO’ SCOTT, an almost fifty-year old ex-gangbanger has been arrested several times in recent years to drum up sales for the floundering magazine. Benzino will do anything from fighting with police to attacking other rappers through the magazine and on recordings in the hopes of returning the SOURCE magazine to prominence. Benzino has even resorted to taking the lowest road available by slandering his ex-staffers. Accusing former editor KIM OSORIO of having sexual dalliances with many of the magazine’s cover story subjects. I don’t doubt this to be true, but this is the same person who, conflict of interest be damned, forced the SOURCE to give the MADE MEN, his rap groups’ album, a 5 microphone rating.
In an attempt to stem the tide of Black youth going to prison and in the American spirit of kicking a man when he is down I ask all of my friends in the web-cipher to BOYCOTT the SOURCE magazine.