Rising from the grave...

The Source Re-launch
written by Doesn't Matt R

There was a time in hip-hop when you were stuck out of the loop if you didn’t read The Source. This was before XXL launched. This was before Rolling Stone was putting Diddy on the cover. Vibe was around, but their trim size was too big. You had to read that thing like the newspaper on a crowded subway car. Who didn’t crack open every issue to see what new album came just shy of 5 Mics? Who didn’t have the covers taped up to their wall? It didn’t matter if you were East Coast, West Side, or somewhere in between. And the ads inside were some of the most graphic, hard R-rated masterpieces. Whoever designed those early Dirty South albums, with all the fire, guns, and half-naked girls gets my props for eternity. I’ll never forget the Up and Coming Artist issue with the fold out cover. Big Pun, DMX, Drag-On, Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz! Classic man. And their 50 greatest albums of all time was the syllabus of my hip-hop education.

Then the magazine started hitting some speed bumps. Sexual harassment suits. Shady ownership. Wack records being put out. Beef with the artists they were covering. XXL taking over as the “bible of hip hop.” Well, all of that is in the past my friends. The Source is under new ownership and are planning a huge re-launch. They even got Spike Lee to shoot four separate covers for the 20th anniversary. I guess somebody finally took Stringer Bell’s advice and realized that this is a business, not some shit on the corner, and should be run like one. The new owner L. Londell McMillan, who I think is the lawyer that handled Michael Jackson’s Neverland foreclosure, wants to bring the magazine to a new level. Travel, business, and arts sections. Something like a hip-hop version of Blender.

I personally haven’t purchased a music magazine in about 5 years. I’m sure most of you have copped something more recently. But I’ll probably check this out. The 20th anniversary issue is on sale this week, but they’re still looking for a new editor-in-chief and are redesigning the format, so don’t be discouraged just yet if it looks the same for a while.