You guys are going to love this...The Source speaks out

[Twentytwofifty]

TO THE SOURCE FAM:
As the only independent voice for hip-hop, THE SOURCE has a responsibility to remain somewhat of a passive observer and cover events from an objective standpoint. But certain situations require us to speak out and take a more active role. And the ongoing battle between Eminem and Benzino has taken to task issues that we feel affect each and every member of the hip-hop community—and therefore must be addressed.

First of all, the songs aimed at Benzino recently released by Eminem, which attack THE SOURCE’s credibility in the process, are propaganda designed to deflect attention from the real issues. Raymond Scott, aka Benzino, has indeed been a business partner and close friend to THE SOURCE co-founder Dave Mays for a long time, and throughout the years, Dave has supported his music. But don’t get it twisted; Benzino and THE SOURCE are not interchangeable. THE SOURCE has always made it a point to keep Benzino’s music career and the magazine business from interfering with each other. The editorial staff, including the controversial 5-mic committee, has, and always will, operate independently of any outside influences.

THE SOURCE was started out of passion for hip-hop and love for the hip-hop community. Being accepted as the “bible” of hip-hop by over seven million fans monthly is something we take very seriously. Our credibility with the hip-hop audience is the cornerstone of what makes our brand so powerful. THE SOURCE is the only voice that has, for 15 years, accurately chronicled the growth of hip-hop culture.

So when Eminem claims that he’s received unfair treatment in THE SOURCE because of a conflict of interest, where is his qualification? Marshall Mathers was first discovered in THE SOURCE’s Unsigned Hype Column and was given credibility by The SOURCE, throughout his career, through covers, SOURCE Awards, etc. Most recently, in the August ‘02 issue, he was given a highly respected 4-mic rating for his latest album and he even graced the cover of the May ’02 issue.
But unfortunately, even though he seemed to be down with us in the beginning, it appears that Eminem may be becoming a part of a dangerous, corruptive cycle that promotes the blatant theft of a culture from the community that created it. Willingly or not, he is being used as a tool by the corporate machine to steal hip-hop and make it their own. Not since Jazz and Rock’n Roll has a culture influenced so-many people, so quickly, worldwide, the way hip-hop has done, that the powers-that-be felt threatened enough to take it from us.

Hip-hop is the voice of a generation who struggled to make something out of nothing. But now that mainstream media has become extremely comfortable with hip-hop, it’s clear that they’ve begun changing it to fit their standards. Eminem’s blonde-haired, blue-eyed persona has been unanimously accepted, and as a result, he’s become the machine’s poster-boy to influence an audience completely enamored in a once forbidden, predominantly Black and Latino culture.

Just like generations past, when Jazz and Rock’n Roll were lost, it seems that hip-hop culture is being snatched right out from under us. The way things are going, ten years from now, when the mainstream media looks back and explores the topic of hip-hop, it’s quite possible that the important accomplishments of some of our culture’s strongest artists, from Kool Herc and Afrika Bambattaa, to KRS-One to Tupac, will be ignored in favor of familiar faces like Eminem.

As the only truly unrestricted voice for the hip-hop community, THE SOURCE is the one medium that can accurately document and protect our culture’s growth and achievements. With that power comes the responsibility to expose any person or company who affects our culture negatively. In light of the recent chain of events, hip-hop must heed the wake up call. We can’t just sit back while our culture is raped and pillaged. Hip-hop is all we have. We must remain steadfast in our beliefs and ideals.

As hip-hop continues to strengthen itself as the voice for a generation of young people of all racial, socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds, it is only becoming more powerful. It can’t be denied, but as it is embraced by the corporate world and mainstream society, we must not allow outside forces to destroy or take hip-hop away.

The music industry is feeding a lot of people right now—THE SOURCE included, and everybody gotta eat. But what price do we put on our culture? It’s not an easy question to answer. Stay tuned to the February issue of THE SOURCE as we offer testimony from people like media assassin, Harry Allen, who are unafraid to address hip-hop’s current state of emergency…

— GOTTI
Online Editor-In-Chief

[Twentytwofifty]

What a bunch of bullshit.  It's sad to say, but the end of The Source is coming.

[Don Seer]

Fuck The Sauce!  

u aint need no mags when u got wcc...

u get everyones opinion on something, unpaid for and unbias'd (ish)

[CharlieBrown]

What a bunch of bullshit.  

[_That_Cracka_J]

Yep...bullshit

[Vigilante]

Being accepted as the “bible” of hip-hop by over seven million fans monthly is something we take very seriously.
— GOTTI
Online Editor-In-Chief

wat fucking bullshit....XXL and murderdog are much better...and does anyone have the pic of Marshall Mathers and Unsigned Hype, damn that would be funny

[The Big Bad Ass]

Fuck The Sauce!  

u aint need no mags when u got wcc...

u get everyones opinion on something, unpaid for and unbias'd (ish)

Thats a really, really good point. I haven't bought more than 1 or 2 source's in the last 2 years, and it's mainly cause of this site.

[Don Seer]

pay me that money u woulda spent on the source then...   j/p

[E. J. Rizo]

Fuck The Sauce!  

u aint need no mags when u got wcc...

u get everyones opinion on something, unpaid for and unbias'd (ish)

word.....

[Kaidy]

To be honest it's quite sickening that a (once) respected publication is trying to feed this crap to the hip hop community. Are they trying to start some kind of race war? Eminem has done great things for hip hop and he's one of only a few artists out right now who seems to be furthering the genre rather than letting it go stagnant (puff, nelly, even jigga).

The mark who wrote this probably had Ray's gun pointed at his head while writing. I know it's bullshit and should be ignored, but c'mon, this is pretty serious shit to be saying.

By the way, I wonder if they're so concerned about all the white people who buy their bullshit magazine? Or is that okay? Wouldn't want the devil to find out about the holy culture would we?

[S.G.V.]

i know hip hop was founded by blacks but i never knew it was black music...thats like sayin rock is white music...music has no colors...the source is out of line...and considering their co-founder is as white as eminem if not whiter how is he allowing them to write such bullshit?...damn thats a trip....fuck the source really...theyre too east coast for my taste any damn way...i aint no eminem supporter...but i cant stand when people try to categorize music by color

[Murrow]

Man...I will never buy another issue of this corrupted mag.

[AxleF]

Two words.. no.. three..

Murder Dogg
Rime

Axle

[Trauma-san]

Here we go with the Race Card again.  if something happens, blame it on "The powers that be" I cann't BELIEVE THESE assholes have that much gull to say something like that.  LOOK AT EMINEM! He's hiphop! He's not friekin' Pat Boone showing up to take over R&B.  He's just like any other black artist, he has the same feelings, beliefs, lifestyle, upbringing.  


It's the same shit they said about Elvis.  Look at elvis, everybody says he stole rock.  No he didn't.  He just did it better than anybody else, lol.  He had just as much soul as any black guy, danced, had rhythm, could sing, and because he's white, for years people have said he stole Rock, called him a racist, all this unfair shit. The same thing is going to happen with Eminem, now, people gotta make a big deal about someones color, when they're the same ones bitching not to make a big deal about someone's color.  WTF?  Ignorance, man, straight Ignorance.  

[Trauma-san]

To be honest it's quite sickening that a (once) respected publication is trying to feed this crap to the hip hop community. Are they trying to start some kind of race war? Eminem has done great things for hip hop and he's one of only a few artists out right now who seems to be furthering the genre rather than letting it go stagnant (puff, nelly, even jigga).

The mark who wrote this probably had Ray's gun pointed at his head while writing. I know it's bullshit and should be ignored, but c'mon, this is pretty serious shit to be saying.

By the way, I wonder if they're so concerned about all the white people who buy their bullshit magazine? Or is that okay? Wouldn't want the devil to find out about the holy culture would we?

Common knowledge says that 75% of rap is bought by white people.  So... they jus screwed themselves, probably.