"AND THE NEXT 5-MIC ALBUM GOES TO..."

    

     THE SOURCE MAGAZINE, FROM IT'S INCEPTION, WAS ALWAYS THAT TRUSTY "SOURCE", SO TO SPEAK, WHEN IT CAME TO ALL THINGS HIP HOP.  FROM FASHION, TO OF COURSE, MUSIC, DIEHARD READERS COULD ALWAYS RELY ON THE CONTENTS OF THE SOURCE, UNTIL THE BENZINO SCANDAL PUSHED THE MAGAZINE TO THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION.  THROUGH THE STORM, I'VE BEEN FAITHFUL WITH MY DEVOTION TO THIS MAGAZINE, KNOWN AS "THE HIP HOP BIBLE".  IN TYPICAL FASHION, I WOULD GENERALLY GRAVITATE TOWARDS THE REVIEW SECTION, WHERE THE COVETED "5-MIC" RATING EXISTED FOR A FORTUNATE FEW, AT LEAST FOR THE FIRST 10 YEARS OR SO (THE SOURCE MAGAZINE CAME INTO BEING 1988 AS A NEWSLETTER).  HERE ARE THE ALBUMS THAT WERE RATED WITH 5-MICS ORIGINALLY:

People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm -- A Tribe Called Quest
Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em -- Eric B. & Rakim
AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted -- Ice Cube
One for All -- Brand Nubian
De La Soul Is Dead -- De La Soul
The Low End Theory -- A Tribe Called Quest
Illmatic -- Nas
Life After Death -- The Notorious B.I.G.
Aquemini -- Outkast
The Blueprint -- Jay-Z
Stillmatic -- Nas
The Fix -- Scarface
The Naked Truth -- Lil' Kim

     THE ONLY TRUE DISAGREEMENT I HAVE WITH THE LIST IS LIL' KIM'S "THE NAKED TRUTH" ALBUM.  NOT SAYING THAT THE ALBUM WASN'T GOOD, BECAUSE IT HAD MOMENTS OF BRILLIANCE, BUT TO COMPARE "THE NAKED TRUTH" WITH "ILLMATIC" IS ASININE, IN MY OPINION.  NOT IN THE SAME LEAGUE, NO COMPETITION.  ON TO THE NEXT ONE...

     FOR THE AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2010 ISSUE OF THE SOURCE MAGAZINE (ISSUE #240), THERE WERE A MULTITUDE OF 5-MIC CONTENDERS.  DRAKE, EMINEM, MY BIASED FAVORITE THE ROOTS, OUTKAST UNDERDOG BIG BOI, RICK ROSS, FAT JOE, AND UGK REPRESENTATIVE BUN B ALL VIED FOR THE 5-MIC TITLE.  EACH ARTIST DELIVERED STRONG ALBUMS IN 2010, SOME MORE LISTENED TO THAN OTHERS.  DRAKE WAS THE ARTIST THAT CREATED THE MOST BUZZ WITH HIS DEBUT ALBUM DROPPING, "THANK ME LATER".  EMINEM RE-EMERGED AS A PREEMINENT EMCEE WITH "RECOVERY".  THE LEGENDARY ROOTS CREW SHOWCASED ANOTHER GEM IN THEIR ILLUSTRIOUS CAREER WITH "HOW I GOT OVER".  BIG BOI SHOWED THE MASSES THAT HIS VOICE SHOULD DEFINITELY BE HEARD WITH "SIR LUCIOUS LEFT FOOT:  THE SON OF CHICO DUSTY", AN ALBUM WORTHY OF ACCOLADES WITHIN THE VAUNTED OUTKAST DISCOGRAPHY.  EVEN RICK ROSS CAME CORRECT WITH ONE OF THE YEAR'S STRONGEST HIP HOP OFFERINGS WITH "TEFLON DON".  TRUTHFULLY, I THOUGHT THAT THE SOURCE MAY GRANT THE 5-MIC TITLE TO "RICKY ROZAY" BECAUSE OF THE BUZZ CREATED BY HIS HOOD SMASH "B.M.F. (BLOWING MONEY FAST)".  FAT JOE RELEASED AN ALBUM WITH LITTLE FANFARE, WHICH IS UNFORTUNATE, BECAUSE HIS ALBUM, "THE DARKSIDE, VOLUME 1" WAS A VERY SOLID JOINT WITH LITTLE TO NO FANFARE.  LAST, BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST, YOU HAVE BUN B, FROM THE LEGENDARY TEXAS GROUP UGK, STILL CARRYING THE UGK TORCH AFTER THE PASSING OF RHYME PARTNER PIMP C. 

     "TRILL OG", RELEASED ON AUGUST 3RD OF THIS YEAR, IS THE THIRD SOLO OFFERING FROM BUN B, A FAN FAVORITE AND UNDERDOG ALL AT THE SAME MOMENT.  MOST INDIVIDUALS OUTSIDE OF THE DIRTY SOUTH REGION KNOW BUN B FOR HIS SCENE-STEALING VERSE IN "BIG PIMPIN'" WITH JAY-Z, AND HAS DESERVED RESPECT AND PROPS SINCE UGK HIT THE SCENE IN 1987.  MAYBE BECAUSE OF YEARS OF DUTIFULLY REPRESENTING THE SOUTH FROM A GROUP AND SOLO PERSPECTIVE, THE SOURCE SAW A NEED TO GRANT "TRILL OG" WITH ITS FIRST 5-MIC RATING IN FIVE YEARS.  I TRUTHFULLY DON'T KNOW, BECAUSE, IN MY HUMBLE OPINION, "TRILL OG" IS NOT A 5-MIC ALBUM.  I CAN SEE 4 MICS, MAYBE BECAUSE I'M FICKLE WITH TODAY'S HIP HOP CLIMATE.  DON'T GET ME WRONG, THE ALBUM IS GOOD, BETTER THAN MOST OF WHAT YOU SEE AND HEAR IN MUSIC.  BUN B IS BRUTALLY HONEST IN HIS APPROACH TO HIS LYRICS AND MUSIC.  YOU CAN HEAR IT IN HIS VOICE AND CADENCE WHENEVER HE PICKS UP A MIC.  I GET THE SENSE THAT "THE HIP HOP BIBLE" LABELED THIS ALBUM AS A 5-MIC RECIPIENT BECAUSE OF EITHER PAST SLIGHTS OR OVERSIGHTS.  FROM WHAT I'VE HEARD ON "TRILL OG", IT'S NOT DESERVING OF THE COVETED LABEL.  I DON'T FAULT BUN B IN THE LEAST BIT, BECAUSE HE RELEASED ONE OF THE BEST OFFERINGS IN HIS CAREER, AND ARGUABLY THE BEST FROM HIS "TRILL" SERIES.  I THINK THAT THE SOURCE MAGAZINE NEEDS TO GET BACK TO REPORTING THE CULTURE WITH AN OBJECTIVE EYE, NOT PANDERING TO GIMMICKS OR PROPAGANDA.  UNTIL THE SOURCE CAN DO SO, I WILL CONTINUE TO LOOK AT THIS PUBLICATION WITH A CAUTIOUS EYE.

     OVERALL, THE ABOVE-MENTIONED ALBUMS ARE A GOOD ADDITION TO THE VAST HIP HOP CATALOG THAT THE SOURCE MAGAZINE HAS REVIEWED OVER THE PAST 22 YEARS.  HOWEVER, GIVING "TRILL OG" 5-MIC STATUS LOWERS THE REPUTATION OF A PUBLICATION THAT IS FIGHTING TO REGAIN IT'S RESPECT AND STATUS IN HIP HOP.  I HOPE THAT THE NEXT 5-MIC ALBUM (IF THERE IS GOING TO BE ANY MORE) IS WORTHY OF "ILLMATIC" STATUS.