Friday, April 15th, 2005

BlackElectorate.com on Sharpton’s Townhall Last Weekend

An extensive commentary from BlackElectorate.com that touches on many of the issues that have been swirling this past week:

Errol Louis, of the New York Daily News, stepped forward and asked Benzino to clarify his standing with The Source. Benzino stated that he had decided to resign because of the issues his beef with Eminem was causing for his magazine, and because Interscope’s Jimmy Iovine had allegedly threatened to use his influence to get Island Def Jam executive L.A. Reid fired from his position if Reid did not pull all of Island Def Jam’s advertising from The Source. After making this allegation, Benzino said that he had planned to resign, rather than let another Black executive get fired, but his staff and several community leaders convinced him to stay with The Source so that he could better further the cause.

posted by @ 7:11 am | 3 Comments

Wednesday, April 13th, 2005

Random Thoughts On The Thing

While avoiding deadlines…

A lot of folks–many of whom have been personally burnt by The Source in a myriad of ways, or as Danyel has said, hold old scars from old wars–maintain a deathwish for the magazine. The reality is that, despite its near- or at-bankruptcy status, its internal chaos (in which getting a book to the printer has got to be a masterful feat in and of itself), and its arduous tumultuous destaffing/restaffing cycles, the magazine cannot go away.

Not WILL not. CAN not.

Why? Because its circulation base is probably among the most valuable in publishing.

There’s a few things about it that make it so valuable.

1) There are as many as half a million folks picking it up in any given month (maybe less in more recent years, but still). And the pass-through rate–the rate at which folks give the magazine to someone else to read–is through the roof.

2) The magazine–like other hip-hop joints–tend to do stupid newsstand sales, much more than Rolling Stone or GQ. That kind of audience loyalty can’t be faked through accounting or miscounting (as we’ve seen the past year with the newspaper rigging scandals).

3) That audience is “urban” and young–the most fickle of audiences. Anyone that can capture this group is holy grail for publishers. Advertisers will kill to be seen as hip.

4) And, that audience just happens to be at the core of billions in global entertainment commodities. What someone wears in The Source or any other hip-hop magazine reverberates from the street to the malls to the backwoods of many foreign countries.

So the likelihood of anyone in publishing just letting that circ base fall apart and disappear is very very very low. It is very valuable to someone out there, even if the brand name appears to be diminishing daily. The circ base is probably the only thing that’s kept them in the game this long.

When the other shoe drops, which may be sooner than we think, expect what I just laid out to you to be a big part of the story.

posted by @ 10:33 am | 6 Comments

Wednesday, April 13th, 2005

Davey D on Benzino, Mays, and Sex In The Industry

Here’s Davey D’s latest:

Somethings to Ponder: Sleeping w/ Artists and Lap Dances
By Davey D

By now most of us have heard about the drama over at The Source Magazine, with co-founder Benzino resigning and then un-resigning. That in itself has caused folks from coast to coast to talk. Initially Benzino noted that his ongoing beefs with ‘the machine’ (Jimmy Iovine of Interscope records) and Eminem have taken away some focus from Hip Hop’s Bible.

We can discuss the pros and cons and issues surrounding that in another column. However, the thing that caught my attention was the serious allegations of sexual harassment being levied at the Source by two female employees. One of them is former editor and Chief Kim Osorio.

A couple of years back she made history as being the first female to head up a major Hip Hop publication. Her arrival on the scene inspired a lot of folks especially women who felt and hope that she would move the magazine in a direction that would bring critical perspectives and unheard female voices to the forefront.

For many this did not happen to the degree that they had hoped. Kim spoke about this during last weekends Feminism and Hip Hop conference in Chicago. She sat on the industry panel and expressed regret that she didn’t try harder and to a degree got caught up. She was also brutally honest about her limitations at the magazine and that she often found herself having to put desired articles on the back burner or completely scrap them. Her biggest challenge was balancing what she ideally wanted and what she felt some of her readers wanted with the ‘Business” (i.e. what was brought and paid for or favors and relationships that had accrued).

Well, to make a long story short, Osorio upon filing her lawsuit and charges with the EEOC, suddenly found her own character called into question when publisher Dave Mays fired back and accused Osorio of sleeping with several high profile artists while in her position.

That charge immediately got folks talking with many stating that if this was true then homegirl was totally unethical and foul. ‘That’s why I don’t read the Source no more” said one prominent writer (who will go unnamed) during an internet Instant Message IM conversation. He seemed to think that Kim was sleeping with folks and then going around and giving them high album ratings.

I thought about that for a minute and told my boy he was 1- not being realistic and 2-was applying a double standard. On the unrealistic part, I pointed out that we are in a business and profession called the music industry and folks are going to hook up from time to time. That’s only natural and when dating and hollering at folks you are more than likely gonna pull from the circles you travel.

Actors date other actors, politicians hook up with others who are in the political world and music people date music people. We don’t trip that Angela Jolie hooks up with her fellow actors or Julia Roberts hooked up with her camera man or Wesley Snipes got down with Hallie… Why are we tripping when music biz people hook up with music biz people?

Don’t give me a song and dance about who can do what and for whom… In the entertainment field all relationships can be used for one’s benefit if flipped right. Where we draw the line about ethics has always been murky-from day one. Me buying someone a drink that later shows me some sort of love can be construed as unethical.

Me going out to a meet and greet where they ply us with good food and good liquor can be seen as unethical. And yes me dating someone in the industry who later down the road is in a position of power or influence can be seen as unethical. It all depends on how you wanna look at it, cause the music biz is like any other business, its not what you know it’s who you know, and all relationships at some point in time get exploited for personal and professional gain.

With that being said let’s go back to dating and hooking up within the industry. We’re in a business where it causes havoc on most relationships where your other half doesn’t fully understand because she’s not in the biz. Long nights, constant club hopping, concerts, off the wall hours, and constant travel, can really only be understood by someone who lives in the same world.

Over the years I dated females who worked at labels, fellow journalists, some who worked at other radio stations and on two occasions other deejays. I can cite numerous examples where others have had similar scenarios. What I described is not usual. And too be honest for the most part, the fit has often been good, cause my partners at the time ‘got it’. They understood the business and we didn’t have any of the drama that Guru rapped about in his classic song ‘Lovesick’.

The other thing I pointed out was that in the case involving Osorio it’s been made painfully clear to the public at large that nothing is going down in the magazine unless the publishers (Mays and Benzino) approve. Hence let’s say that Osorio or any other female slept with a rapper does that mean her ‘biased’ or tainted opinion could be showcased within the magazine’s pages without Benzino or Mays giving it the green light. I think not.

We can take this a step further, how should we read this if an artist with a banging body like Trina walks in and she gets hollered at by Benzino or Mays? Is she is in a catch 22? After all if she gives in to the advances she said to be a ‘ho trying to sleep her way to the top’. He she don’t give in, can we honestly say her 3 mic rating could’ve been a 4, but cats don’t take rejection well. Do we charge Mays or Benzino or any other cat that approaches with being unethical for merely approaching?  Lastly can they ever approach and holler at an artist if you’re a journalist or radio person? I tell you this, if I see an artist like Trina on a beach with a bikini editor or no editor, if I think I have a chance I’m gonna holler. Why shouldn’t I?

Back in the days when I dated someone who was working at a label or promoting records, it didn’t mean I was on the air the next day playing their artists. Sure I might take a second look or a second listen etc, but at the end of the day you don’t jeopardize your job and there were always people above you who could chin check any impropriety.

At the end of the day all of us our adults and we get to see, date and sleep with whoever we want. If folks find others attractive, they are gonna talk, and they may eventually hook up. It happens in all professions. Let’s not let the folks who work in a business where we sell sex all damn day suddenly get high and mighty and bent out of shape when someone engages in the activity we promote 24/7. One should not be judging too harshly unless you don’t having your own hole card pulled.

With that being said, let’s look at the double standard. If an editor sleeps with an artist which in turn implies the inability to be objective and do their job, how is that any different then the dozens of music conferences I attended where the record labels straight up take us to strip clubs, pay for lap dances and on a few occasions when conventions were held in Vegas, cats were taken to brothels like the Mustang Ranch.

If you were higher up the food chain and held a key position like music or program director or mix show coordinator you might find yourself at the Playboy Mansion, the VIP Room of the Hustler’s club or you might find yourself on a special flyaway to one of Uncle Luke of the 2Live Crew’s famous sex parties.  If you’re really special you might find yourself in a fancy hotel suite where you get a late night visit from finest felines the city you are in has to offer.

Of course all this is done in the name of entertainment.  It’s explained off by many within the industry as us going out for a few drinks and dinner and then more. But the bottom line is this-what I described is standard in the music industry. If it’s unethical for an editor like Osorio to sleep with an artist then it’s just as unethical for any of us who play or write about music to be hanging out at industry functions having record labels pay for lap dances and other ‘sexual’ fun.

Ask anyone who is worth their salt. Ask any mix show deejay etc if he ain’t ever been to a conference and some major label promoter has not taken him and his crew out for some adult entertainment. At the end of the night when all is said and done and the ‘cum stains’ have dried (I don’t mean to be crude-but lets keep it real), what do you think is expected from that label cat?

Ding Ding Ding –You got it right- He wants his record played. He paid for your sorry overweight, no real game having ass to have a lap dance in the hottest strip club in Miami, Atlanta, Puerto Rico or Vegas in exchange for you to bang the new Foxy Brown, 50 Cent, Redman or Lil Kim record. And since were on the subject of keeping it real, let’s be honest and point out that not all lap dances and nights out at the brothel are being paid for by men in the industry.

I have quite few female friends who had to pull out a big wad of crisp 5s and 10s so that popular deejay can get his lap dance. What’s even crazier is that nowadays as more and more female deejays are coming onto the scene, they too wind up having to tag along with their male counterparts to these same strip joints just so they can network and be on the scene and in proximity of some of these key individuals both on the radio and record side of the business. For those who never smelled the coffee, in the music industry, adult entertainment at night is the equivalent to businessmen going to that expense country clubs to play golf on the weekend.

Now back in the days, journalist who wrote for magazines were rarely invited to these decadent industry gathering, but over the past few years that’s changed. Quite a few no-game having writers have gotten a few lap dances…

I mention all this to ask, do you not think their judgment is slightly impaired by such activities. If anything I think there’s more damage done than an editor like Kim Osorio who is dating a rapper. One is a relationship the other is an under the cover exchange for specific favors. In exchange for Record label X paying that J-Lo look alike to give you a 30 minute lap dance where you get to lick her body parts, we would like you to play that new J-Lo record during your next mix show or give her some love in your next magazine column.

I hardly doubt the Editor and Chief of a major magazine like The Source was calling up a popular artists like Method Man and saying , Dude come over and hit it and I will put you on the cover. When you consider that cover stories are big business in the publishing world, somebody at that place is gonna be asking for their loot before anyone is on the cover whether he hit it or not is irrelevant in the way business gets done on that level of the game.

Remember we are in an industry that celebrates sex, drugs all in the name of rock-n-roll and today rap… People hook up from time to time cats need to get over it. But the ultimate bottom line to all this is who Kim or anyone else sleeps with has nothing to do with sexual harassment and the serious issues around it…

posted by @ 10:09 am | 12 Comments

Wednesday, April 13th, 2005

SOHH.com on The Source

Here’s a different take on The Source from the Media Chin-Check blog at SOHH.com:

Benzino is Right…

…no one cares about this controversy with The Source except ‘those kids on the internet.’ And another group- industry insiders, who (as Danyel Smith admits) are biased in their opinion…

What do my friends think of Benzino bringing his friends to the mag in token roles? That’s called ‘looking out for your peoples’ on my block.

posted by @ 7:28 am | 1 Comment

Tuesday, April 12th, 2005

Danyel Smith on The Source

From the woman who wrote in 1999, “‘Hip-hop writers are often accused of being ‘too close’ to the music, to the artists and to the scene. Hell yes, we’re close to it. We love this shit…Where else to be but close to the truth?”

6 years later, Danyel’s blog entry on The Source is really about what hip-hop journalism has become:

I’ve watched with a certain amount of sick glee every time The Source has stumbled for the last ten years. I have felt stomach-punched and nauseous most every time they’ve had a success. Over the last year or so, as The Source has been slowly imploding, I have noted it in my soul’s Human Tragedy column, and also in my column titled, Hip Hop Hooray. Old wars, old wounds, die hard.

posted by @ 2:30 pm | 0 Comments

Tuesday, April 12th, 2005

Benzino On The Lawsuit

From today’s AllHipHop.com:

AllHipHop.com: Can you just talk honestly about this lawsuit filed?

Benzino: Oh definitely, yes, the lawsuit was like—usually when people get fired sometimes, especially this magazine there’s been walkouts and again, journalist people, they’re a real crazy bunch of people.

AllHipHop.com: [Laughs]

Benzino: But um, basically Kim Osorio, we had let go, we had terminated a man for her to get that job. So now that we terminated her for a man, she’s screaming sexual discrimination. What we’re gonna do is counter sue her because that’s totally false because especially when we have record of—we have proof of her having many sexual relations with a lot of the artists that she was actually interviewing a lot. And we will counter sue her for defamation of character and then after that, we’ll just let the courts decide it.

AllHipHop.com: Wait, what does her relations have to do with this lawsuit?

Benzino: I’m saying, I’m saying like we will counter sue her for defamation of character because her holding that position of Editor and Chief and having sexual relations and definitely her conduct as how she treated this magazine when she was here, that’s definitely gonna have something to do with her lawsuit…

AllHipHop.com: Are you trying to say that both of these women’s claims are illegitimate?

Benzino: The other woman didn’t even do nothing around here. She faked that she was having breast cancer so that we wouldn’t fire her. These people were getting big salaries. They can’t get these big salaries no where else. They were doing a weak job. It’s our magazine and we fired them. I have the right too.

AllHipHop.com: And why would they lie about, like why would they—

Benzino: Clover, you’re gonna have to find that out. It doesn’t—but you know what, it doesn’t matter. Does it matter? Whose company is it?

AllHipHop.com: Mmhm.

Benzino: Do you own AllHipHop?

AllHipHop.com: Nope.

Benzino: If you got fired would it really matter what you say about who’s this or whatever—or like if they fired you today, would it matter?

AllHipHop.com: Would what matter?

Benzino: Would it matter like what your opinion is. Like how many people do you know who are gonna be happy when they get fired.

AllHipHop.com: [Laughs] everybody.

Benzino: Okay, then so then you just answered your own question then.

AllHipHop.com: Well I don’t know why—

Benzino: It’s okay, just keep it moving. I don’t mind that, Clover. Zino and The Source ain’t going nowhere. We’re gonna stomp out the competition. It is what it is.

posted by @ 9:09 am | 2 Comments

Tuesday, April 12th, 2005

Adisa Banjoko on Jimmy Iovine and The Source

Check here:

” A few weeks ago I got a call from The Source to do a joint on Iovine.

I agreed. I realized that they had not called me for a piece in my last joint on E-40 in 1998….but whatever.

Anyway, what happened over the next 7-10 days was insane…”

posted by @ 8:13 am | 0 Comments

Tuesday, April 12th, 2005

Miranda Jane on The Source

Former Source staffer and hip-hop activist Miranda Jane talks about the mag’s 99 problems:

They built it by walking across our collective backs. When I was at the source, Women ran shit literally and figuratively. We led the editorial meetings, we held down the fort, we provided the research, development, fact-checking, writing, planning and scheduling it took to print the most popular rap magazine on the planet. But we also provided the ass…

posted by @ 6:56 am | 1 Comment

Monday, April 11th, 2005

Chaos At The Source: Benzino Returns, Kim Osorio Files A Sexual Harassment Lawsuit & More

Scroll to bottom for updates…

It’s been another one of those weekends for The Source and people around it.

On Friday, Benzino announced he was stepping down from The Source. It’s Monday. Guess who’s bizzack? The press release is reprinted in full below.

In the meantime, former Editor-In-Chief Kim Osorio appeared at the University of Chicago’s Hip-Hop and Feminism conference on Saturday. Kim stunned the crowd by starting off by saying, “I want to admit to having made a lot of mistakes.” She went on to say that, in retrospect, sections such as “Dime Piece” and the swimsuit issue may have been ill-considered. “The way we treated women was as objects–turn around, take off your pants, put this on,” she said. She added that she was even asked at one point by another magazine to do a fashion spread. She declined.

In a very revealing moment, she said that she had to pick which battles she wanted to fight. One which she chose not to pursue had to do with a story about rappers and rape in hip-hop. The story was timed to coincide with the Kobe Bryant trial. But, she says, “I was told (by higher-ups), ‘You can’t do that story’. That was a reality check.”

Kim has chosen now to take on a new battle. Allhiphop.com is reporting today that she and former vice president Michelle Joyce have filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against their former magazine of employment. Among the claims the lawsuit alleges are that a former managing editor was forced to hide out in her office in fear of male harassers.

The lawsuit comes against the backdrop of a massive exodus of staffers over the past several months.

In a press release detailed by MTV.com and Allhiphop.com, Joyce said, “I chose to take a stand for women of the Hip Hop generation and for all women who quietly endure such treatment for fear of retaliation and for those women who have suffered in silence and quietly surrendered.”

Sexual harassment at the magazine has been a poorly-kept secret, one that may have played a key role in previous staff upheaval over its fifteen-plus year history, according to former employees of the magazine. But this is the first time such allegations have been made public.

In response, Mays attacked Osorio personally, stating, “Neither of those women ever filed any complaints during many years of working at The Source. It raises alot of quesitons when these types of charges are made subsequent to valid and legitimate terminations of their employment.”

He added, “Also it is a fact that Ms. Osorio had sexual relations with a number of high profile rap artists during her employment as Editor-In-Chief.”

He also went after Joyce, saying, “We also suspect that Joyce falsified health claims in an effort to attack The Source when she learned that she was going to be terminated. We look forward to our day in court on this matter.”

In the meantime, Benzino says his short-lived resignation was reversed because of an emergency meeting of community leaders who insisted that he return, including the Reverend Al Sharpton and executives from Black Enterprise–who own a portion of the magazine, and whom Benzino openly lashed out against on Friday.

Apparently, he chose to leave after Def Jam president LA Reid was forced to pull his advertising from the magazine at the insistence of his boss, Interscope head Jimmy Iovine. Benzino says, “When I heard that LA Reid was going to lose his job, I thought it was the right thing for me to do, to step down, because I don’t want any executive to lose their job over the beef between myself and Eminem”.

Benzino also went on to add that he was giving up making diss records.

The full text of the press release:

Def Jam Records Shocker Cause of Benzino’s Resignation Decision on Friday, April 8, 2005

Chairman LA Reid Pulls Def Jam Advertising From The Source After His Job Is Threatened By Interscope’s Jimmy Iovine

Partners and Black leaders Appeal To Benzino To Continue His Fight For Artist’s Rights and Empowerment in Hip-hop Industry

Benzino To Stay At The Source, Vows Not To Make Anymore Diss Songs… In Partnership With Reverend Al Sharpton’s Movement For Non-Violence In Hip-hop

April 11, 2005- New York, NY- On Friday, April 8, Ray Benzino announced that he was stepping down from his position at The Source Magazine, as Co-Founder and Chief Brand Executive. At press time, however, many community leaders called an emergency meeting and told him he must not leave The Source.

Reverend Al Sharpton, executives from Black Enterprise, David Mays, and others insisted he retain his position for the good of the cause. Benzino says, “When I heard that LA Reid was going to lose his job, I thought it was the right thing for me to do, to step down, because I don’t want any executive to lose their job over the beef between myself and Eminem”

The ongoing Eminem lawsuit played a big role in Benzino’s initial decision to leave The Source. Benzino continues, “For the last couple of years I was speaking up for Hip-hop and going against one label’s manipulation of Hip-hop music and its culture.

The Source Magazine will no longer print any beef with Eminem. Benzino also adds that he will no do anymore diss records against Eminem or any other artist. Benzino adds, “The Source needs to be preserved for future generations of Hip-hoppers. I’ve learned a lot these past few years. The major vehicles of Hip-hop (radio, TV, etc) are aligning themselves for the money. I understand that but we need to look beyond profit and install the balance so everyone has a chance to eat and benefit from one of the most important economic opportunities- Hip-hop.”

Benzino will not step down from The Source Magazine. He will continue to work closely with partner, David Mays and with Black Enterprise (Earl Graves and his son Butch) and others to make The Source bigger and better. Zino concludes, “We’ve started The Source Life Project, The Source Youth Foundation, The Source Latino, a Source clothing line, and our own mobile ring tones. We will also continue with The Source Awards and The Source All Access. Most important of all is the music side, fat tapes, ZNO Records and The Source Hip-hop hits.”

The Source Magazine, the leading voice for the Hip-Hop community for the past 17 years addresses these problems in the May issue which is on newsstands now. It asks the question, “Is Hip-Hop The New WWF?”

The Source goes on to provide in-depth reporting and analysis on the state of Hip-Hop in light of the recent 50 Cent/The Game beef and subsequently staged “truce.” The May issue also features an exclusive interview with an insider within The Game’s Black Wall Street camp who reveals shocking news on the confrontation at Hot 97 and the truth about Game and G-Unit.

In recent weeks, the New York Daily News, Reverend Al Sharpton and others have turned the discussion of responsibility for violence in Hip-Hop from a focus on the artists back into the corporate headquarters of the music industry’s largest record and radio companies. This follows over two and a half years of reporting by The Source on forces working to destroy Hip-Hop, including corruption, racism and monopolization within the music industry.

Updates 4/11:
+ MTV News Coverage
+ Press Release From Kim Osorio and Michelle Joyce’s Lawyer, via Prohiphop.

Update 4/12:
+ Allhiphop.com Interview with Benzino, Part 1.
+ Allhiphop.com Interview with Benzino, Part 2.
+ Murder Dog Interview with Benzino (Note: This is in the current issue but was conducted long before the events of the past weekend.)
+ EEOC Documents From Kim Osorio and Michelle Joyce, via SOHH.com.

posted by @ 10:49 am | 2 Comments

Friday, April 8th, 2005

Benzino Quits The Source

I didn’t believe this when Davey D told me. But here it is.

From the official press release:

April 8, 2005, New York, NY- Ray Benzino, Co-founder and Chief Brand Executive of The Source will step down today from his position. He says, “I want to step down from the magazine and sell my stock effective immediately.”

Benzino continues, “This is a big step for me. I’ve been consumed too much with the whole conflict thing… the Eminem suit and I am sick of it. I don’t want to take away from what The Source has built up but I got issues with The Source and magazines like that. Everyone is too politically correct. They’re not thinking about the little guy who can’t afford to pay for high priced ads.  It’s like a monopoly.”

“Our other partner, Black Enterprises, is another reason why I’ve decided to leave. I don’t like how they perceive me. There are too many things that I don’t agree with so I am moving on.”

Benzino concludes, “I plan on creating another magazine that has my voice which represents the little guy. It’s because of the manipulation of Soundscan and radio that Hip-Hop is losing its edge. I want to come out with a magazine that will reflect that. I want to start from the ground up and speak for the artists.”

posted by @ 11:02 pm | 0 Comments



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