The Source Nov. '94 - Thug Life Vol.1 Review

[M Dogg™]

I have the 250th issue from like 2001 and they had a spread of all the 5 Mic albums where those were all mentioned but if those were re-rated that explains everything lol

I got that one too... 2001 was a great year for the Source. Then they had the War issues with Suge, Nas and others on the cover. I got the one with Nas. Really took all steam off Super Ugly if you read that first.

[M Dogg™]

All the 5 mic albums since the review.

* Peoples Instinctive Travels & the Paths of Rhythm - A Tribe Called Quest - meh... not really a classic compared to Low End Theory
* Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em -- Eric B. & Rakim - meh, their previous albums are classics, In The Ghetto is a classic track though
* AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted -- Ice Cube
* Grip It! On That Other Level -- Geto Boys
* One for All -- Brand Nubian
* De La Soul Is Dead -- De La Soul - experimental, but not a classic album in the sense of having every song be great
* The Low End Theory -- A Tribe Called Quest
* Run-D.M.C. -- Run-D.M.C.
* Radio -- LL Cool J
* Licensed to Ill -- Beastie Boys
* Raising Hell -- Run-D.M.C.
* Criminal Minded -- Boogie Down Productions
* Paid in Full -- Eric B. & Rakim
* By All Means Necessary -- Boogie Down Productions
* It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back -- Public Enemy
* Long Live the Kane -- Big Daddy Kane
* Critical Beatdown -- Ultramagnetic MCs
* Straight Out the Jungle -- Jungle Brothers
* Strictly Business -- EPMD
* The Great Adventures of Slick Rick -- Slick Rick
* Straight Outta Compton -- N.W.A.
* No One Can Do It Better -- The D.O.C.
* Breaking Atoms -- Main Source
* Death Certificate -- Ice Cube
* The Diary -- Scarface
* Doggystyle -- Snoop Doggy Dogg
* The Chronic -- Dr. Dre
* Illmatic -- Nas
* Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) -- Wu-Tang Clan
* The Infamous -- Mobb Deep
* Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... -- Raekwon
* Me Against the World -- 2Pac
* Ready to Die -- The Notorious B.I.G.
* Reasonable Doubt -- Jay-Z
* All Eyez on Me -- 2Pac
* Life After Death -- The Notorious B.I.G.
* The Score -- The Fugees
* Aquemini -- Outkast
* 2001 -- Dr. Dre
* The Blueprint -- Jay-Z
* Stillmatic -- Nas
* The Fix -- Scarface
* The Naked Truth -- Lil' Kim - This one confused me... it still confuses me.
* Trill OG -- Bun B
* My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy -- Kanye West
No College Dropout, No Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, No Be?



Compared to the XXL ratings.

* The Chronic by Dr. Dre
* Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) by Wu-Tang Clan
* Illmatic by Nas
* The Diary by Scarface
* The Infamous by Mobb Deep
* All Eyez on Me by 2Pac
* Reasonable Doubt by Jay-Z
* The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory by 2Pac
* Life After Death by The Notorious B.I.G.
* The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill
* 2001 by Dr. Dre
* The Marshall Mathers LP by Eminem
* The Blueprint by Jay-Z
* Get Rich or Die Tryin' by 50 Cent
* The Lost Tapes by Nas
* The College Dropout by Kanye West
* Be by Common
* Late Registration by Kanye West
* Hell Hath No Fury by Clipse
* My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West
* Life Is Good by Nas
* good kid, m.A.A.d city by Kendrick Lamar

I think XXL needs to do an issue and give XXL's to the classics before them, because I actually like their list better when it comes to hip-hop after the Chronic. Source has some suspect albums on that list.

[Mietek23]

Yeah, Source was hating on the West at that time - Quik recieved like 3.5 for "Safe + Sound" so compare that to Lil' Kim's 5 mics for anything she ever did and tell me they weren't hating or having a biased opinions.. shit was ridiculous.

[Blood$]

to be fair Lil Kim's album dropped a decade later from Quik's when it was an all new staff at The Source and they even admit to bumping her up because they pitied her getting locked up at the time

[Jimmy H.]

to be fair Lil Kim's album dropped a decade later from Quik's when it was an all new staff at The Source and they even admit to bumping her up because they pitied her getting locked up at the time

But to me, that is more than a little idiotic. I can have more respect for a magazine that holds classic albums to very high standards but calling a good or even very good album an "instant classic" kills credibility across the board.

[Blood$]

well any hip-hop head or even casual hip-hop listener knows damn well Lil Kim has no classic album not even the Junior Mafia debut lol

[M Dogg™]

to be fair Lil Kim's album dropped a decade later from Quik's when it was an all new staff at The Source and they even admit to bumping her up because they pitied her getting locked up at the time

But to me, that is more than a little idiotic. I can have more respect for a magazine that holds classic albums to very high standards but calling a good or even very good album an "instant classic" kills credibility across the board.

I gotta agree with Jimmy H. 5 mics means more when you deny the Chronic, but it goes to hell once you give it to an above average album.

[Hack Wilson - real]

Originally, Chronic got 4.5 because the reviewer didn't like Lil' Ghetto Boys, Doggystyle got 4, Me Against the World got 4 and All Eyez On Me wasn't reviewed. The editor at the time did an article on how he wanted to give the Chronic 5 mics, but he also had a no 5 mic rule after the Source gave 5 mics to like 5 albums in their first year. He wanted it to mean something, so when the person reviewing gave it 4.5, he accepted. Another reviewer gave Illmatic 5 mics, and he didn't want to, but because the guy was so insistent and he had no real argument on the album's flaw, he let it be and that sparked the smaller albums with no fillers movement as to how you get 5 mics, which no one really could achieve but many attempted it. He also wished he gave Ready to Die 5 mics, and he wasn't part of the Source when they re-reviewed albums and gave 5 mics to classics they missed. I always wondered if they'd take away some 5 mics, like Lil' Kim.

all eyez on me was reviewed by Chairman Mao (A Source reviewer)


i specifically remember him saying the album would not be memorable and that it had a "sea of played out samples" lol

[DeeezNuuuts83]

all eyez on me was reviewed by Chairman Mao (A Source reviewer)


i specifically remember him saying the album would not be memorable and that it had a "sea of played out samples" lol

VIBE also reviewed it pretty harshly, and all that they ended up liking were the Dre-produced tracks.

I have the article somewhere, but Time Magazine didn't like it much either, but they didn't dislike it either, if that makes sense... plus they at least justified their opinions, though it was clear that they were hoping for a real sequel to Me Against the World.  But at least we understand Time Magazine, as they're not a publication that solely revolves around hip-hop.

[AxleF]

At that time The Source was considered the bible of rap magazines.  But with the rise of the West came publications such as Rap Pages, Rap Sheets, Murder Dog, etc.  Ultimately The Source ended up becoming irrelevant.

Here's an old Xzibit review from 2002

[TraceOneInfinite]

Anybody with old issues of the Source I am interested in buying them up.   I used to have a ton of these mags but lost them in my various moves from place to place during my orthodox Islam phase.

PM me or let me know in this thread if you have any to sell. 

By the way, these fuckin racists at XXL and the Source can't give any of Em's albums classic status?

I don't have any big problem with how they rated Pac's album.  I mean, compared to other Pac albums it deserved the rating it got, but when you compare it to albums like Tha Youngstaz... well... that's when it gets fucked up.  But like all things in the Source in those days even if I didn't agree with it, the articles were well-written and thought-provoking.

So that Biggie joint was supposed to be on there?   How come it didn't make the final album?

[Blood$]

By the way, these fuckin racists at XXL and the Source can't give any of Em's albums classic status?

both magazines have always been 100% cracker owned

[DeeezNuuuts83]

So that Biggie joint was supposed to be on there?   How come it didn't make the final album?

Probably Interscope's decision, and maybe they didn't want to invest as much money into the project as originally planned.  It did go through a number of revisions, as it was supposed to be more of a Thug Life compilation (with the whole thing being called Thug Life Volume I) and not so much those guys together as Thug Life the rap group the way it came out (with the album being called Volume I).

[Hack Wilson - real]

murder dog showed a lot of love to the midwest

[TraceOneInfinite]

murder dog showed a lot of love to the midwest

yeah.. those were the days.  I used to just hang out at Barnes and Noble and it was like being a kid in a toy store, Source, XXL, Rap Pages, Murder Dog, Blaze... this was when I first got my  license in 98'