The Source ..Hip Hops largest Magazine

The Source

The Source is a U.S., monthly full-color magazine covering hip-hop music, politics, and culture.

The Source was started originally by David Mays and Jon Shecter while they both attended Harvard University. The two were once radio DJs and hosted Street Beat on the college radio station. Mays and Shecter, both white men, were influenced by hip-hop and wanted to give praise by devoting coverage to the rising music genre. The Source originally started as a concert newsletter. Its popularity became known when The Source scored a interview with LL Cool J. The Source was growing from one small newsletter to a mainstream magazine.

The two decided to hire their college friends James Benard (as Senior Editor) and Ed Young (as Associate Publisher), who both immediately became equal shareholders in the ownership of the magazine. At the time, Mays handled duties as the Publisher for the magazine, and Shecter was the Editor In Chief. The Source was moved from Boston to New York (594 Broadway, Soho) in 1990. Their move was to expand the magazine in a mainstream market.

As the first magazine dedicated to hip hop culture, the publication soon spawned its own downtown Manhattan creative cabal known as the "Justice League" which included Matty C, Reef, Bonz Malone, Adario Strange, Chris Wilder (aka C-Wild), Jon Shecter (J The Sultan), Bobbito Garcia, and DJ Stretch Armstrong, all either writers, editors, or friends of the magazine. From this group of hip hop intelligentsia came much of the original inspiration and engergy of the magazine's early New York days. As the magazine grew into a larger more business-oriented enterprise, this group of individuals would move on to other areas of entertainment and creative endeavors.

In 1994, after a major dispute between the publisher and the editorial staff, the entire in-house editorial staff was replaced. Buy-out settlements were reached with shareholders Jon Shecter and James Bernard. Ed Young stayed on for several more years, and later cashed in his shares as well, leaving the ownership of the magazine solely in the hands of Dave Mays, until later co-ownership deals were negotiated. During this transition, original writers Bonz Malone, Adario Strange, and Ronin Ro were brought on to run the magazine. Strange would eventually become the new Editor In Chief, bringing in Selwyn Hinds as Music Editor.

Bringing the magazine back to popularity and greater financial success, many of the writers who had once vowed never to write for the magazine again began showing up in pages of the publication, acknowledging its transition. After several years Adario Strange left the magazine as editor, but continued to pen a monthly column. Soon after, Selwyn Hinds was named the new Editor In Chief. After a couple of years, Hinds' tenure was cut short in a dispute with Raymond Scott -- aka Benzino -- who was then a close friend of the Publisher Dave Mays.

This dispute led to Hinds' unceremonious depature from the magazine in a conference room showdown which reportedly left the editor in tears. Music Editor Carlito Rodriguez was then named as the fourth Editor In Chief of The Source magazine. It was not long after this that Scott announced a deal that had made him an official shareholder of the magazine's assets.

In the mid-1990s, The Source became the most reputable name in hip-hop journalism. The magazine included many notable features, including Unsigned Hype (a monthly profile of an up-and-coming rapper or group; DMX, Eminem, Notorious B.I.G., Common, and 50 Cent are among the many who have been featured) and the Record Report (reviews of the latest albums). Its ratings are judged by "mics", the equivalent to a star rating. An album that is rated at 4 1/2 or 5 "mics" is considered by The Source to be a superior hip hop album.

The magazine also featured cover stories on the crack/cocaine epidemic, police brutality, and New York's investigation of high-profile rappers. The magazine has over 8 million subscribers worldwide, and remains one of the most popular hip-hop magazine in the world


The Source Enterprises

As The Source expanded, the magazine then became involved in television programs such as The Source: All-Access, The Source: Sound Lab and its annual award show. The Source Awards are given to rappers and some R & B acts for their contributions to hip-hop. The "Lifetime Achievement" Award is the highest award given to a rapper who has contribute their time to succeeding in the hip-hop music industry. The Source also releases a compilation album of hip-hop/rap hits. The Source has expanded overseas with a French version of the rap magazine, alongside a Source Latino and The Source Israel magazine franchises. The company has invested in mobile phones and ringtones in which subscribers are offered their favorite choice of hip-hop ringtones. The Source also invested in its own urban clothing apparel company.

Benzino and his role at The Source

The magazine is now run by Dave Mays and Benzino, a member of the Boston rap group The Almighty RSO. Benzino and his role at The Source is the subject of much controversy. The rapper was a member of The Almighty RSO when he first meet Dave Mays while at Harvard. He needed support from Mays to get his group some credibility. In a short time, Mays became the RSO's manager. While Mays was gaining support from advertisers willing to invest in The Source, Benzino somehow manage to broker a label deal at Tommy Boy to distribute his group. The Almighty RSO was known for their controversial song "One In The Chamber". In 1994, Benzino pressured Mays to slip a four page article about the group into the magazine against the will of the editors. The article forced a major walk-out among staff members.

The magazine had indeed inserted favorable coverage to Benzino and his numerous ventures (including the reformed Almighty RSO, now known as the Made Men). Even at The Source Awards, Benzino, a relatively unknown, performed at the show to the surprise of a stunned audience. When Benzino was arrested in Florida after taping The Source Awards, Mays rallied for a investigation of the Miami Police for their treatment of the rapper and threatened a boycott against Miami.


The Source vs. Eminem

In late 2002, Benzino began a feud with multi-platinum rapper Eminem. Benzino claimed that Eminem was a product of the media machine that sought to discredit black and Latino artists' contributions to hip hop. He released a diss track called "Pull Ya Skirt Up", in which he says, among other things, that Eminem would only be remembered as a battle rapper, such as Canibus, if he weren't white. The track also alleged that the rapper would never have gained his level of popularity without being featured in The Source's Unsigned Hype column. The Source published several articles discrediting Eminem. Eminem responded back in a series of diss songs (namely "The Sauce" and "Nail In The Coffin") that attacked Benzino's street credibility and ethnicity. He also mocked Benzino for trying to make his son Lil' Ray Ray into a rap star. These records were widely seen as highly damaging to Benzino and The Source's credibility. Undaunted, Benzino went back and recorded several more tracks, including "Die Another Day" (in which he likens himself to a hip hop version of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X and calls for Eminem's death) and "Lose Yourself" (which plays off the chorus of Eminem's hit song of the same name). These tracks were widely ignored.

The Source then went another route to take down Eminem. It went as far to dig up an old tape in which a young Eminem was rapping racial slurs against Blacks and women. The magazine devoted its entire coverage to the discovery of the tapes, and also the negative impact that Eminem has had on the hip-hop industry. For his part, Eminem did not deny making the tapes; he claimed that he made them after a bitter break up with a black girlfriend (a situation upon which he elaborates on "Yellow Brick Road" off his Encore album). He apologized for making the tapes but also exhorted the public to consider the origin of the allegations. Eminem had sued The Source for defamation and copyright infringement. The federal courts allowed an injunction to distribute a minimal amount of lyrics of the alleged tape.

The Source ignored the injunction and went forth to publish the entire lyrics on its website and in its magazine. By ignoring the injunction, The Source was found in contempt of court and were forced to pay Eminem and his label, Shady Records a considerable sum in compensation. In 2005, lawyers for Eminem were preparing for trial over copyright infringement but aburptly withdrew stating that the rapper issue with The Source was done and there's nothing from the magazine. Benzino still hasn't officially squashed the beef with Eminem. Mays and Benzino both countered the withdrawal of the lawsuit calling it a "cowardly" move. They both claimed they can finally expose the truth about Eminem and planned to eventually release the "racist tapes" in a future magazine. Nevertheless, The Source was satisfied with the results, and felt that the move was considered a win for both parties.

The Beef Controversy

Image Entertainment made a DVD chronicle called Beef, one part of which provided detailed information on The Source Magazine's misdeeds. The documentary featured nearly 30 minutes of interviews from Eminem, 50 Cent as well as Benzino and Dave Mays, and detailed the situation that led to the negative public perception of Benzino and The Source. The segment featured scenes lambasting Benzino, painting him in a negative light. The debacles at The Source have been discussed, criticized and speculated about for years. It was all going to come to a head with the release of the Beef 2 DVD, which The Source had threatened to block from being seen. Other deals on the table with The Source had to comply with the magazine's decisions to remove the near 30 minutes of footage exposing them. Even better in the contact it claimed that "nobody is ready to die for that shit." Image Entertainment and The Source agreed to have the footage removed from the final cut of the documentary. This fueled rumors of The Source's involvement in distorting the truth. Image Entertainment also distributes The Source Hip-Hop Hits.


Benzino's Resignation

Benzino still continues to feud with Eminem and many others associated to him. Internet bloggers had rallied a petition for the removal of Benzino and Dave Mays. Under pressure, Benzino decided to step down from his post at The Source. In 2005, Benzino formally announced that he's resigning as chief operations officer and co-owner of The Source. Benzino cited that his battle with Eminem and the magazine's publishers were hurting the revenue of The Source. Within a few mere days Benzino announced that he returned to The Source as co-owner and currently works with The Source. Industry insiders believed that The Source staged a fake event in order to encourage advertisers to invest in the controversial magazine. The rapper refuted his claims about saving The Source, and instead blamed Interscope's chairman Jimmy Iovine. Benzino believe that Iovine was pressuring to fire rap mogul L.A. Reid if he didn't have Def Jam advertising removed from The Source. The reason why Benzino stepped down was to save Reid's position as president of Island Def Jam, or so he claimed. Last year, Benzino had been on radio denouncing Def Jam's founder Russell Simmons for not participating in his smear campaign to expose Eminem as a racist. He had used racial comments about Simmons in the past forcing Def Jam to pull a vast majority of their ads from The Source. As of today, Interscope, Def Jam, Tommy Boy, Virgin, Motown and Universal have pulled advertising from The Source. It is noted that Benzino was signed to each of these labels before the massive decrease in general advertising.

The magazine has experienced their recent lawsuit from former editor-in-chief, Kim Osorio, the fifth Editor In Chief who took over from Carlito Rodriguez. Osorio alongside Michelle Joyce, a former marketing executive, both filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the magazine over gender discrimination and sexual harassment. Osorio claimed that Benzino and his friends from Boston would get special treatment while the female staffers were to abide by the rules. Also numerous complaints about harassments to female staffers were turned down by Benzino and Mays.

More controversy seems to follow the magazine as two of The Source's top music executives from Boston were accused of a nightclub shooting in New York. Leroy Peebles and Alvin Chiles both were accused of the shooting that landing three people in the hospital.

After the departure of Osorio, staff editor Joshua "Fahyim" Ratcliffe was named as the sixth Editor In Chief of The Source. After a stint lasting only months, Ratcliffe left the magazine. Ratcliffe stated that a conflict of interest between the rating of highly acclaimed 2005 album The Minstrel Show from rap group Little Brother was being changed after threats made upon him from Benzino. Ratcliffe believes that Benzino's jealousy of the group deserving a "Five Mic" rating (the highest the magazine gives) was too much at The Source, and Ratcliffe resigned after being forced to change the rating of the album. Lil' Kim who released The Naked Truth received the five mic rating instead. Although critics speculated that Lil' Kim's manager was Dave Mays, this is the first time that a female rapper ever received the highest rating in the magazine. The Little Brother album received a four-and-a-half mic rating instead of a five.


The Future of The Source Magazine

Currently the future of The Source is uncertain. The magazine is losing subscribers due to not delivering magazines on time and is facing numerous lawsuits totaling over a million dollars. Rival magazine XXL is now the best-selling hip-hop magazine, and The Source is losing major advertising from the battle with Eminem.

In 2005, The Source Magazine began a wave of lawsuits. There was 100 million dollar lawsuit filed against BET on behalf of the publication. The publication's awards show was to be featured on BET this year, until recently when the network severed ties with the magazine. Also a dispute with Hot 97 staff personality Funkmaster Flex has lead to another lawsuit against him and the radio station. Controversial statements were made by the deejay towards a recent article in which it targets Hot 97 over alleged unethical radio practices.

In addition, The Source is still facing a lawsuits of their own. There is a lawsuit that targets the owners' travel expenses for the 2003 Source Awards. The Smoking Gun claimed The Source owes over 1.2 million dollars in unclaimed jewelry and unpaid airline tickets for both Benzino and Mays families. Also lawsuits from former employees of the magazine also plague The Source. Benzino and Mays were filming a video in the Dominican Republic, and while they were away The Source staff had another walk-out. The protest came from paychecks not clearing and Benzino and Dave Mays were nowhere in sight. The Source avoided paying freelance writers for the stories they wrote in the magazine.

Rumors around the rap websites state that The Source is close to bankruptcy. The financial stress from losing advertisers, losing subscribers, and lawsuits may force the company into involuntary bankruptcy and a possibility that the magazine will go out of business. The effect of The Source Magazine's departure will greatly affect the fans due to the 15 years of impact the magazine had on the hip-hop community.