The Source is an American music magazine and website specializing in hip-hop and entertainment. Founded in August 1988 by Harvard University students David Mays and Jonathan Shecter, it began as a black-and-white, one-page newspaper promoting their college radio show. Within months, it evolved into a professionally designed, full-color magazine. Dubbed "the bible of hip-hop," primarily focused on hip-hop music and culture while also covering politics and fashion. Its music reviews held great significance in the hip-hop community, with the "five mics" rating considered a prestigious honor and a significant achievement. The ratings often sparked heated debates among both artists and fans.
At its height in the late 1990s, The Source was the highest-selling magazine on the newsstands in the United States. It launched its own compilation album series and an award show. The 1995 Source Awards were noted for their effect on the hip-hop landscape, particularly in escalating tension between the East and West Coast hip-hop communities, which ultimately resulted in the murders of The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur.
Several controversies embroiled The Source throughout its history, often leading to editor walkouts. The most publicized of these, its feud with Eminem, was among the factors that contributed to its decline. Financial struggles worsened as the launch of its website in the early 2000s resulted in significant losses, forcing David Mays to sell part of the magazine. These challenges ultimately led to the magazine's bankruptcy and shareholders firing Mays in 2006.
In 2008, the magazine was purchased by the publisher L. Londell McMillan, who successfully brought back major advertisers. However, in the 2010s, as advertising revenue declined and online publications became more dominant, McMillan was forced to downsize the team and reduce the magazine's publication frequency.
History 1988–1991: Early years and relocation to New York The Source was founded in August 1988, by two Harvard University students, David Mays and Jonathan Shecter. The two had the show Street Beat on the college radio station WHRB, initially using The Source to promote it. According to Mays, the name of the magazine comes from the song "Ya Slippin'" by Boogie Down Productions. The first issue was a one-page newsletter, distributed for free. It was printed on Mays's personal Macintosh computer and funded with $200 of their own money. The mailing list of the radio show's listeners initially served as the magazine's readership. Two other Harvard students, H. Edward Young and James Bernard, soon joined the team; Young helped Mays with the business side of the magazine, while Bernard and Shecter worked on its content. With a $10,000 loan from a friend, they purchased better hardware and rented an office in Somerville, Massachusetts, which allowed them to publish 10,000 copies every two months. During its first year, the magazine adopted full-color covers, and then transitioned into a professionally designed 64-page monthly magazine during the second year.
After Mays and Shecter graduated in June 1990, the magazine moved from Boston, Massachusetts to New York City. To financially support the move, the team asked for advance payments for ads from several record labels, raising $70,000. Their editorial team, called the Mind Squad, was also growing; by 1991, it included Reginald Dennis, Chris Wilder, Matteo "Matty C" Capoluongo, Rob "Reef" Tewlow, Bobbito Garcia, dream hampton, and Kierna Mayo, along with other contributors. Matty C was responsible for the "Unsigned Hype" section, which showcased up-and-coming rappers, and helped launch the careers of numerous artists, including Notorious B.I.G., DMX, Common, Mobb Deep, DJ Shadow, and Eminem. James Bernard became the magazine's coeditor-in-chief, and Chris Wilder was its senior editor. Reginald Dennis, who joined the magazine as an intern, became its music editor, responsible for the "Record Report" album review section. The Source album ratings, presented on a scale from one to five microphones ("mics"), often led to hot debates, both inside the Mind Squad and outside of the magazine. Pitchfork Dean Van Nguyen wrote: "The Source mic-based rating system became the most trusted scale of quality in rap." The magazine's highest rating—five mics, signifying "a hip-hop classic"—became highly sought after. "That half-mic to five-mic system really meant something to hip-hop artists. People wanted to start fights with Source writers over reviews—and some writers got terrorized", said Greg Tate.
Since its early days, the magazine branched out from hip-hop music into topics like fashion, graffiti, and politics, highlighting various issues affecting the Black community. Adopting the tagline "the magazine of hip-hop music, culture & politics", The Source published stories on protests against police brutality, misogyny and violence against women. In 1991, the magazine hosted a summit for rappers affiliated with the Five-Percent Nation. Next year, James Bernard flew to Los Angeles during the riots and spent several days interviewing locals, publishing an article that stood apart from the coverage by the mainstream media.
By 1991, The Source had a circulation of 40,000 and reached nearly a million dollars in revenue. David Mays said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that he wanted The Source to be "Rolling Stone of the next generation". Chuck D of Public Enemy praised The Source, calling it "the bible of the hip-hop industry"; the phrase was shortened to "the bible of hip-hop" and used by the magazine throughout its history. The magazine, which was previously sold via subscriptions and in record stores, now had newsstand distribution across the United States. It was also available in Canada, England, Australia, Italy, and the Netherlands. Mays, Shecter, and Bernard discussed selling the magazine to the producer Quincy Jones, the entrepreneur Russell Simmons, and the media conglomerate Time Warner. The negotiations were unsuccessful because the team thought Time Warner's offer was too low. Two years later, Jones launched a competing magazine, Vibe.
1992–1995: The Mind Squad leaving, the Source Awards The Source continued growing in the following years, reaching a circulation of 100,000 copies in 1994. On April 25 of that year, the magazine launched its first Source Awards show. Prior to the creation of the standalone event, the magazine awarded artists in a special segment of the music show Yo! MTV Raps. The award show was created by David Mays, with him and the rest of the staff believing that other awards, such as the Grammy Awards, underappreciated hip-hop. Tickets for the show sold out in minutes; however, TV networks refused to broadcast it.
The magazine was now the target of criticism and attacks. "Angry over negative coverage or reviews, sometimes even angry over positive coverage, rappers and their handlers issued threats that sometimes became physical attacks," wrote Jeff Chang. David Mays, who had not been involved in the magazine's editorial side since 1989, now frequently relayed to them the complaints he received from rappers, managers, and their labels about certain reviews; the editors ignored him. Rapper KRS-One threatened to boycott the Source Awards, believing that the magazine's staff did not have the authority to judge hip-hop artists. Public Enemy, whose leader previously praised The Source, now released a music video for the song "I Stand Accused," where they destroy the offices of The Sauce magazine. Cypress Hill has burned copies of the magazine during their concerts. West Coast hip-hop artists believed their scene was underrepresented by The Source, which led to the creation of West Coast-focused Rap Pages.
Another point of contention, brought up by KRS-One and other critics of the magazine, was a conflict of interest. During the early days in Boston, David Mays befriended the local rapper Raymond "Ray Dog" Scott, who later chose the stage name Benzino. Along with several other rappers, Benzino formed the Almighty RSO. According to James Bernard, Mays was the group's manager, who helped them get signed to RCA Records. At the time, Mays denied being the group's manager but confirmed that he presented their demo tapes to various record labels. The rest of Mind Squad refused to review the group's upcoming EP Revenge of da Badd Boyz. They accused the group of intimidating the magazine's editors, with Bernard claiming Benzino threatened to "[put them] in bodybags" if the EP received less than 4 mics. Mays asked Bernard for "fair and objective coverage of RSO". In a later interview, Mays said that he believes that "the [magazine's] success was going through [some of the editors'] heads" and that the attitude shift caused them to lose the genuine passion and appreciation for the music and culture. After Bernard refused to cover the Almighty RSO, Mays chose to do it himself.
In September 1994, when the November issue of The Source was already prepared for printing, Mays secretly added a feature article about the Almighty RSO. The article, titled "Boston Bigshots," was written by Mays himself and Bönz Malone. Described by The New York Times as laudatory, the article did not disclose any connections between its authors and the group. It is not mentioned in the magazine's table of contents, as the pages used by it were prepared for advertisements. No other members of the Mind Squad knew about the article's existence. When Bernard found out about it, he called the rest of the staff for an emergency meeting, where they decided that Mays needed to resign. After Bernard and Shecter confronted him the next day, he called Benzino, who in turn called Shecter to threaten him. Upon presenting a recording of the call to the police, Shecter received advice to resolve the conflict without arresting Benzino. On the next day, when the Almighty RSO had a press day at RCA, James Bernard and Reginald Dennis went there to hand Benzino a summons. When he realized they were there to "embarrass" him, four members of RSO started a fight with Bernard and Dennis. Benzino claims the group threw the journalists through a glass door, losing the deal with RCA as the result. After returning to The Source offices, Bernard sent his resignation letter via fax machine to 750 music industry executives. In the five-page letter, Bernard denounced Mays and called for his resignation. When they saw that public condemnation of Mays had no effect, they attempted to force him to sell his share of the magazine. However, they needed the support of the fourth owner, H. Edward Young. When he refused to cooperate, Bernard, Shecter, Dennis, and six other editors left the magazine. Despite the setback, the magazine published its next, December 1994 issue on time, with the help of temporary writers. Bernard and Shecter received stock certificates, which Mays later bought back. In 1997, Bernard and Dennis launched XXL magazine, which would be The Source main competitor throughout the early 2000s.
Following the editors' walkout, Benzino gradually became more involved with the magazine. In 1995, he became a business partner of Mays, with Los Angeles Times describing his role as a "charismatic consultant". Mays did not officially acknowledge his involvement until 2002. Critics of The Source believed Benzino received preferential treatment in the magazine and later used it during his feuds. "[Benzino] increasingly became [the magazine's] public face, particularly when he provoked bitter feuds," wrote Paul Gorman in his book Totally Wired.