OUT SOURCE-ING (DAVID MAYS INTERVIEW)
My friend Bernice introduced me to MediaBistro.com and right away, I noticed they had an interview with The Source's founder David Mays. Predictably, he doesn't back down on his position regarding the Eminem debacle that has all but destroyed the credibility of the magazine, but seriously, what could anyone have expected Mays to say? "Yeah, we fucked up pretty bad on that one, oops"?
There are definitely some questionable statements, none greater than this line: "Eminem, I don't even know the guy. I have no personal issue with the guy." First of all, you put him on your cover. Second of all, you published a poster where Benzino is holding Em's head in his hand. That seems pretty fucking personal. Moreover, while you (Mays) may not have an issue with Eminem directly, Benzino certainly did and since he was the co-publisher, it's disingenous to say that "I have no personal issue" since you used your magazine to aid and abet someone else's personal issue.
On the flipside, for reasons I am still trying to understand, reporter Sarah Horne never asks Mays about Benzino's role, which seems like an obvious point of entry for a place like Media Bistro. After all, doesn't it seem like a conflict of interest to have a musical artist own a half-share in a music magazine? I don't know if this was Horne's neglect or an editorial decision not to include such a question/response but it seems like an incredible oversight on someone's part.
I don't mean to bag on Horne, but her opening statement raised my eyebrows as well: "The first time many people heard of The Source was a few months ago when the magazine made headlines for the battle with Eminem and his record label." I don't doubt there was a segment of the population that was not acquainted with The Source prior to the Eminem controversy but last I checked, the magazine still had the largest circulation of any urban music oriented magazine, including more than XXL and Vibe. Plus it's been around for 15+ years. Just beause Upper West Siders may not have heard of The Source doesn't mean that an entire generation of people didn't grow up on that magazine. Would Horne have ever written about Spin with that same presumption?
This all said, I agree with one comment that is made by Mays:
- "There have been a number of articles lately about how hip-hop's main audience now is young white guys?stories about so-called "rap-surveillance" and the mainstreaming of hip-hop. What do you think of this?
I think those statistics on white audiences are misleading, and I have a problem with those stories. Hip-hop has been dominantly purchased by white males since the mid-'80s. White kids got into hip-hop like I did in 1979, when "Rappers' Delight" came out by the Sugar Hill Gang. I was a 5th grade kid in D.C., hearing the song on the radio, and I was running around the playground rapping the lyrics. I can remember that. And then you had Run-DMC when they collaborated with Aerosmith for "Walk this Way" in 1985. The point is that the white audience and consumer base has driven the growth of hip-hop for 20 years now, so it's no new finding to go out and start talking about this now. I am not sure why the media has tended to do that recently.
The majority of people today who write about hip-hop haven't been writing about it, don't understand it. They have to portray themselves as knowledgeable about it, as experts. That's one of my criticisms of the mainstream media: You can't assign people who have never dealt with hip-hop to write about it. The media has historically misreported on hip-hop and put a lot of stereotypes and misinformation out there to the masses."
JUST BECAUSE
So take that MFers!
(credit: Just One Bite)
(credit: Pickin' Boogers)
(credit: Black Table)
(credit: Mo Ca$h)
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