The Source January 1992 (1991 Year In Review)

I’m finally back with a re-up. There is no rhyme or reason to the order I’ll be posting these so be patient. I’ll eventually get to the issue you’re looking for. Anyway, the year 1991 was one of the greatest in my life for personal and hip-hop reasons. One of the oddest things about that year (I was 18) was that I worked two drastically different summer jobs between semesters at college. One of those jobs was working at the Philadelphia Zoo where I worked as a picture taker for people who sat on a baby elephant and paid $4.00 for an instant Polaroid snapshot. No one realized that the baby elephant smelled like poop at all. And another time a big ass panther got loose in the zoo and I was the only employee sitting outside while everyone else ran for cover. My boss saved my life by running out to get me. I was so engrossed in the sports section of the newspaper that I didn’t hear the damn alarm go off. But I digress. I worked two jobs on purpose so that I could afford to buy the many great albums and singles being released seemingly every week. I spent damn near all of my money on music and that led to many other financial issues. I barely had money for those expensive college textbooks but what the heck; at least I had the new Black Sheep album, right? And ’91 was the last year I purchased everything exclusively on tape and vinyl. Because during the holiday break in December of that year, I bought a CD player. And I had to buy ALL of my old albums again in CD version. Used music stores were a favorite of mine and I scooped up CD’s for just about half price, which was $6.99, back then. I remember buying my first new CD, Lord Finesse’s Return of the Funky Man, and how at least 10 guys all sat around in my dorm room completely captivated by the album. Damn, I really miss those days when music moved you like that!

Here’s the original link to my first post about this particular issue:
http://thimk.wordpress.com/2008/01/26/be-true-to-the-game/



I still highly disagree with the order of the Source’s top 15 albums of the year (see below). I mean, both Chubb Rock (11) and DJ Quik (9) were ranked above Gang Starr (14). How the eff did that happen? Was it just a sign of the times with so many options to choose from? Tribe will always be #1 for 1991 to me. Anyway, check it out and leave your thoughts in the comment section.

http://rapidshare.com/files/2400029010/Source%20January%201992.rar
PW = thimk



~Vincent~

It's Been A Long Time...(continued)

It’s been quite a while since I’ve done this but I’ve decided to post magazine issues again when I have some free time.  The past couple of years have been very hectic with school, family, and work completely monopolizing my time.  My 3 year old daughter and 8 year old son are two of the greatest joys of my life but I missed blogging as a stress outlet.  See, adults need time to do what they want, too.  It’s amazing how much I relate to songs like “Parents Just Don’t Understand” nowadays.  I never thought that would happen.  Getting older changes your whole life and perspective and you appreciate the little things more and more.   And the big 4-0 is just around the corner for me.

Questions/comments for you:

Do you have any children?  If so, what hip-hop music do you allow them to listen to in your presence?  Or to put it another way, if you’re playing hip-hop in the car with your children, what is allowed?  Wu Tang? Tribe Called Quest?  D.I.T.C.?  I’ve been experimenting with this for a while now.  I don’t play anything with profanity while my children are in the car but I hate edited versions of albums.  So I usually play 80’s hip-hop and my son now loves “He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper” by DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince (especially the video game song).  I try to sneak in a little BDP/KRS-One, MC Lyte, Public Enemy, L.O.N.S., Gangstarr, Run-DMC, Tribe, Main Source, Rakim, EPMD, De La Soul, Common, etc. from time to time, too.

What new music do you like these days?  I have to say, I like a few songs on the Lil Fame and Termanology album "Fizzyology" EXCEPT that I can’t stand Termanology on the album.  Can someone please find me an edited version of the album with his vocals completely removed?  “Crazy”, essentially an M.O.P. song with Termanology almost screwing it up, is hands down my favorite track.  More Billy Danze and less Termanology would have made a better overall album.  Other than that, I miss the “feeling” hip-hop music used to have in it.  It pops up here and there but rarely for an entire album.  I mean, if I were to play Gangstarr’s “Hard to Earn”, Tribe’s “Low End Theory”,  or Redman’s “Whut?” albums right now, there is something special about them that I can’t quite put my finger on.  But it is sorely missing in the mainstream today.  It reminds me of The Roots’ “Illadelph Halflife” intro track where someone discusses hip-hop music becoming a disposable art form. 

  

Since the November air is getting colder, it’s that time of the year when I constantly listen to GZA’s “Liquid Swords”, Black Moon’s “Enta Da Stage”, The D.O.C.’s “No One Can Do It Better”, Above The Law’s “Livin Like Hustlers”, O.C.’s “Word…Life”, EPMD's "Business as Usual", The Roots’ “Do You Want More?!!!??!”, and a few others.  I have no idea why I listen to certain albums more during particular seasons but it works for me.

Last, I have a newfound respect for the hip-hop heads in Europe and all other parts of the world.  They really know their hip-hop history and appreciate the essence of it all.  Since my hiatus, I have received hundreds of requests/props via email from people living in countries like the U.K., Germany, France, Poland, Russia, Netherlands, Brazil, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Japan, Canada, Australia, and on and on.  I was very humbled and it’s one of the few reasons I wanted to get back into this.  I’m assuming The Source had limited worldwide distribution in its heyday so there are hip-hop heads around the world that never got the chance to read them.

That’s all for now.  Check back soon for a magazine re-up.

~Vincent~