Sunday, March 28, 2010

The Source September 1990 issue featuring KRS-One






















First, this issue has come to us courtesy of Maed from Romania so please send him a 'Thank you' shout out.

I slept on this issue when it came out back in ’90.  Right before going to college to start my freshman year, I saw this issue in the record store.  I wasn’t really up on buying The Source back then and with trying to buy my last few tapes and records on limited funds, I wasn’t about to start then.  But in hindsight, I really effed up.  KRS-One in 1990 was the G.O.A.T. and 20 years later, he’s still the greatest to me.  I bought that Edutainment album THREE times (vinyl, tape and CD).  And to find out after reading this issue that it was supposed to have a Scott La Rock interview included kind of shocked me.  Excerpts from Kwame Toure’s speech fit the album’s message perfectly and he stands as one of the three best speakers I have ever heard in person.  So would that Scott la Rock interview have been as cohesive?  And why would Scott’s estate not cooperate with KRS?  I guess we’ll never know unless KRS releases it on bootleg one day.  Other than that, back in the early days, The Source was really up on following the social/political aspects surrounding hip-hop.  I mean, was the FBI really following hip-hop artists back then because of their lyrical content?  I don’t know what you think but there’s no way in hell, the FBI would spend their time following Nicki Minaj or Nipsey Hustle or whoever else is popular today.  Popular ‘artists’ today really have nothing to say outside of their label mandated formula.  Lyrics really had power back then and maybe the government was checking into these groups.  Ironically, this particular issue is the first issue where The Source changed from “The Voice of the Rap Music Industry” to “The Magazine of Hip-Hop Music, Culture, and Politics”, which they discuss in the editorial.


























































































Source September 1990 issue

26 comments:

  1. u right Vincent, aint no way in hell FBI is following the wack niggas around today.
    back then MC's had power from what they were saying. powerful MC's like a KRS, a Rakim, a Ice Cube and etc. around that time knew they had the power to influence the crowd any way they wanted.
    but it helps cause they was speaking real stuff that people could relate to!
    in 1990, the Source mag wasnt even my categorie i was only in the 3rd grade.

    ReplyDelete
  2. big props to Maed for hookin this up & to Vincent for scanning it & making it available on the site

    ReplyDelete
  3. @brandan - yeah, the actual 'voice' of hip-hop has been pushed away from the mainstream. Ironically, I watched the Beat Street movie over the weekend and it reminded of how ill Melle Mel was with his socio-political rhymes, which is why he was my favorite rapper when i was in elementary school. He was like the first rapper to really discuss anything of importance on a large scale and you could feel it. Find that song on the web if you can.

    @davey dave - Maed actually scanned it and sent it to me. I just created the pdf file.

    ReplyDelete
  4. @brandan - you can get the Beat Street soundtrack here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XT75UXR5

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for the issue. In my friend's dorm we were discussing who the greatest MC's were and he said Nas was better than KRS. Could you please explain why KRS is better?

    ReplyDelete
  6. @dan - It could take me a while to explain it so check out this link first -

    http://thimk.wordpress.com/2008/02/03/goat/

    Also, I'd like to mention that KRS has always been able to tackle just about any subject matter in his rhymes without fear. Please listen to "By All Means Necessary" and "Ghetto Music", "Edutainment", and "Sex & Violence" ASAP. Nas is extremely ill lyrically but has yet to tackle much difficult subject matter in his music. Maybe this album with Damien Marley will help him in that area.

    ReplyDelete
  7. @ Vincent- All those albums are amazing and so is Live Hardcore Worldwide especially with "The Eye Opener." Nas seems to be his era's version of this though by releasing Hip Hop Is Dead, Nigger, & now the Distant Relatives album with Damian Marley. Did you get KRS' book last year?

    ReplyDelete
  8. i will check that out Vincent, thanks for the headz up!
    1990 in hip-hop for me is very vague, cause i wasnt fully in it yet. but in retrospect the title for #1 MC at that time was neither KRS, Ice Cube, LL or Chuck D.
    matter of fact Ice Cube could be in discussion for that title in '90 & '91

    ReplyDelete
  9. @Brandan - I used to debate that heavily (Ice Cube vs. KRS) back in '90. In hindsight, Ice Cube was very popular and dropped a classic but not the absolute best.

    @dan - Nas is close but he still hasn't tackled a wide variety of subject matter over a long period of time. What KRS was rhyming about from '86 to '90, was unheard of at that time or in this time. There's really no comparison. I didn't buy his book either. Was it good?

    ReplyDelete
  10. @Dan - In terms of consistency and influence KRS will always come out on top

    ReplyDelete
  11. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  12. @ Vincent- I haven't bought the book yet but it's called The Gospel of Hip Hop: The First Instrument. It's about how Hip Hop should be the religion of the future and the book is supposed to be written in the same format as the Bible. I've read good reviews of it and plan to get it soon.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thank You Vincent. Priceless as usual. Peace!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks for this! Long time...And by tha way, what's up with OLAS UN BEKONS?

    ReplyDelete
  15. dope as ever, thanks for bringing this to us, blast from the past!!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wonderful upload, Vincent. KRS is one of the greatest. To those who don't know: Listen to "I'm Still #1." That track made me an instant convert.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thanks for sharing, I haven't been able to download anything from here for the longest time. It's good to see you're still doing what you do.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thanks to Maed and Vincent. Great!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Everyone should listen to Nas and Damian Marley's album it is incredible. This is another classic in both of their careers.

    ReplyDelete
  20. @Dan - I wouldn't say it's classic but it's a good listen. I was happy that Damien sort of reined in Nas' talent. On his own, he tends to go astray with concepts and beat selection and Damien helped to keep him focused.

    ReplyDelete
  21. @ Vincent- The reason why I think it's a classic because it's the best collaborative album i've ever heard betweeen two artists from different genres. the subject matter is so deep, the lyrics are brilliant, and the live instrumentation brings more life to the songs. being african, it hits home to me and the album flows well and even lil wizard does well. too bad my age group is only looking for drake's album.

    ReplyDelete
  22. This issue isn't in my plans to re-up at the moment.

    ReplyDelete