Video: Benzink tells story of when Jay-Z and Dame went up to the Source to press him about a cover but ran cause he had shooters on deck

[nieman]

The Source was a really good magazine for a very long time. They were the hiphop main source for new artists, established artists, interviews, reviews and even good articles just about the Black community. They also promoted a very wide spectrum of hip hop, from the most commercial to the most underground. They are the reason we still use a mic rating system for hiphop albums.

They held it down during the 90 along with Vibe, but Vibe leaned more to RnB.

The beef with Eminem was dumb and did fukk up their reputation a little, along with the Lil Kim 5 mic review and the Made Men 4.5 mic review.

XXL was a decent fill in but they was never really as good as The Source at its peak.

The biggest problem with The Source is really they failed to transition to digital media. I know they had a website but it wasn’t good and other better sites passed it up.

All Facts - not to mention the Political caricatures for the last page for the cover artist and The Boondocks strip, and Star & Buckwild all were in The Source.

Honestly, even if they got the hang of digital media...which still wouldn't have been as effective, they definitely fail in the video driven era. The one thing I loved about their articles is that they were focused on a specific narrative, and the interview with said artist all pinpointed that. If it was an upcoming album, the article was about the recording process, the rollout, the state of mind of the artist, and anything else circulating around it. It never went off on a tangent. If it was turmoil, it was how did it get this bad. If it was a breakup, why and can it be resolved. They also describe the scenery, the body language and tone of interviewee, and if necessary, the run around the interviewee gave them. They made sure to point out they had to speak to 7 people to have a sit down, just to convey the status of said person. They were great journalists, and probably

 

[Dilltastic VolWon(derful)]

I can’t wait to hear Dame speak on this, Benzino in general and even his daughter

 

[Big Boss]

 

[DontEemTry]

I can’t wait to hear Dame speak on this, Benzino in general and even his daughter

You already know Dame gonna come out and talk about how he was about to punch Benzino in his shyt (coz my knuckle game is nice!) but Jay was scared so they had to bounce

 

[Woodrow]

As much as this dude babbles. I dont think i know how he got into media publication. Was he a journalist?

That seems to be a more interesting story than this shyt.

he strong-armed a 5 mic album for made men. the album was trash. the staff boycotted and bounced. dave mays re-staffed, and benzino strong-armed his way into the mag to provide muscle and "help" mays run things. eventually mays made him a partner.

 

[ADevilYouKhow]

Print media had started to die and xxl had more money behind it from what I remember




As far the story goes wouldn’t surprise me

 

[Woodrow]

Print media had started to die and xxl had more money behind it from what I remember




As far the story goes wouldn’t surprise me

i wouldnt say more money. at least not initially (tho they def had support). the source ended up losing money because all their most credible writers left, and mays embarked on a series of shytty decisions that turned the magazine into a joke. prioritizing benzino --someone with no credibility as a writer/journalist/tastemaker -- over established journalists in an era before brands had figured out how to market via social, was a horrible decision.

you lose your whole staff over a made men album??? hell no.

meanwhile xxl had established writers, connections, and put out a great product. they started taking fans and ad dollars and the source became benzino and mays writing hit pieces on eminem + showing clear favoritism for anyone who would give them the time of day, and resentment for anyone who wouldn't join their anti-eminem crusade.

the fukked up part is the mag eventually got back on track (imo) towards the end. some of those writers were working really hard to put out a great, unbiased prodcut. but by then it didn't matter.

 

[DontEemTry]

I wanna go back to the heydays of The Source and XXL. Lowkey that's literally the last time hiphop had some semblance of a reading culture and your ability on the mic actually mattered.

I wonder if the death of the hiphop magazine coincides with the acceptance of non-emcees into hiphop.

 

[nieman]

i wouldnt say more money. at least not initially (tho they def had support). the source ended up losing money because all their most credible writers left, and mays embarked on a series of shytty decisions that turned the magazine into a joke. prioritizing benzino --someone with no credibility as a writer/journalist/tastemaker -- over established journalists in an era before brands had figured out how to market via social, was a horrible decision.

you lose your whole staff over a made men album??? hell no.

meanwhile xxl had established writers, connections, and put out a great product. they started taking fans and ad dollars and the source became benzino and mays writing hit pieces on eminem + showing clear favoritism for anyone who would give them the time of day, and resentment for anyone who wouldn't join their anti-eminem crusade.

the fukked up part is the mag eventually got back on track (imo) towards the end. some of those writers were working really hard to put out a great, unbiased prodcut. but by then it didn't matter.

But The Source was still quality well after that. Made Men review was like 98-99. They didn't start going off the rails until like '03-04. That's still another 50+ issues.

 

[get these nets]

I wanna go back to the heydays of The Source and XXL. Lowkey that's literally the last time hiphop had some semblance of a reading culture and your ability on the mic actually mattered.

I wonder if the death of the hiphop magazine coincides with the acceptance of non-emcees into hiphop.

Early to mid run Source, early Rap Pages, and XXL during early Elliot Wilson run were good and entertaining reads. Still have my print mag archive,

Because those mags were run by ad dollars, they got compromised.
Interscope basically turned XXL into a company fanzine after a while.
Non emcees eventually got accepted because their labels paid respected artists to cosign them.

 

[pawdalaw]

I'm a slap da shyt out of B when I see him!

Spoiler: Trust me

Dude was officual as they come, especially in his back yard. Nikkas grow old and get corny. But back in those days, nikkas would kill or do anything to get a contract or just to be able to stand next to the man with one.

Plus his pops was legit.

*Win or lose Styles always tells the story the same. Nikka be laughing about the Ls he take. The Trick story is funny too.

*Em killed Ray on that song, shyts ridiculous. Funny how he tried to get into good graces a couple years back.

 

[re'up]

Those magazines were a big part of my childhood, in the late 90's. Can remember reading them as far back as 6th grade.

The lacking of reading or any critical thought for rap fans/young rap fans, (people in general) is pretty detrimental to people's overall intelligence. I learned from rap and reading about rap.