Wednesday, August 3rd, 2005

Jim Farber on The Source

Supply your own caption.

Observers feel the magazine’s spiraling problems mirror a central struggle within hip hop itself. “The roots of the music are very ‘street’,” says Minya Oh, alias Miss Info, Hot 97’s hip-hop gossip. “But that has to get along with its newer role, which is very big business.”

Many industry insiders feel the biggest blow to the magazine’s credibility stems from its two-year war against Eminem, whom the magazine has cast as a racist, out to whitewash an African-American art form. (The Source’s own founder, David Mays, is white.)

“By battling Eminem, they end up battling the whole family he’s down with – 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Lloyd Banks – the biggest people in the game,” explains Nelson George, a long-time observer of popular music and the author of “Hip-Hop America.” “How can you sustain and not cover those guys?”

“Regular readers really don’t care about the whole back story of the magazine’s problems,” says Oh. “But they do want to know what Eminem is doing on his vacation or what 50 Cent has to say about Vivica Fox.”

To get that information, readers are increasingly flipping over to The Source’s rival, XXL. That upstart mag began eight years ago (The Source kicked off back in 1988). In 2003, the younger mag’s circulation was little more than half that of its role model. Since then, its circulation has increased by more than 10% to an audited figure of 273,257, the overwhelming majority of them moving on newsstands.

“XXL is now the biggest to us,” says a source at Def Jam Records.

posted by Jeff Chang @ 6:51 am | 3 Comments

3 Responses to “Jim Farber on The Source”

EAT MY SHORTS says:

August 6, 2005 at 2:39 am

Oh well, lets hate on The Source for exposing Eminem as a racist. Did you all read Saigon and Ced Muhaamed interview? Real Shit. When Lauryn Hill supposedly said White people shouldnt buy her records, tha shit blew the fuck up, was on Howard Stern and shit, now, there are tapes where Eminem is saying all types of shit, dropping the n bomb, calling black people crickets and saying he hates black women, but that shit is swept under the carpet. Hmm, I wonder if Jimmy Iovine has masterminded a cover up. Source aint perfect, but they were right about Eminem.
Anonymous says:

August 9, 2005 at 1:45 pm

whether or not the Source was right about Eminem, they have zero credibility, so it doesn’t matter what they say. Put a fork in the Source. It’s been done.

Who works over there now, anyway?

Who will write for them?

Exactly.
Brother OMi says:

August 24, 2005 at 4:36 am

the Source is still an issue? dag.. they fell off about 10 years ago. their writing has been sub par ever since..

but as a freelance writer (pretty much a writing whore) i would write for them

Feed Me!

Revolutions

DJ Nu-Mark :: Take Me With You
DJ Nu-Mark remixes the diaspora…party ensues!
El General + Various Artists :: Mish B3eed : Khalas Mixtape V. 1
The crew at Enough Gaddafi bring the most important mixtape of 2011–the street songs that launched the Tunisian & Egyptian Revolutions…
J. Period + Black Thought + John Legend :: Wake Up! Radio mixtape
Remixing the classic LP w/towering contributions from Rakim, Q-Tip + Mayda Del Valle
Lyrics Born :: As U Were
Bright production + winning rhymes in LB’s most accessible set ever
Model Minority :: The Model Minority Report
The SoCal Asian American rap scene that produced FM keeps surprising…
Mogwai :: Hardcore Won't Die But You Will
Dare we call it majestic?
Taura Love Presents :: Picki People Volume One
From LA via Paris with T-Love, the global post-Dilla generation goes for theirs…

Word

Cormac McCarthy :: Blood Meridian
Read this now before Hollywood f*#ks it up.
Dave Tompkins :: How To Wreck A Nice Beach
Book of the decade, nuff said.
Joe Flood :: The Fires
The definitive account of why the Bronx burned
Mark Fischer :: Capitalist Realism
K-Punk’s philosophical manifesto reads like his blog, snappy and compelling. Just replace pop music with post-post-Marxism. Pair with Josh Clover’s 1989 for the full hundred.
Nell Irvin Painter :: The History of White People
Well worth a Glenn Beck rant…and everyone’s scholarly attention
Robin D.G. Kelley :: Thelonious Monk : The Life And Times Of An American Original
Monk as he was meant to be written
Tim Wise :: Colorblind
Wise’s call for a color-conscious agenda in an era of “post-racial” politics is timely
Victor Lavalle :: Big Machine
Victor Lavalle does it again!