Some of these old Source Reviews....

[mobbinfms]

In 90-91 a lot of albums got 5 mics. In 92, the my put a new editor in charge of the mics and he put a moratorium on 5 mic ratings. He said that Chronic not getting 5 is what made getting 5 mics so coveted.
The only time they broke the rule was Illmatic. In 97, they started up giving 5 mics again.

the two biggest snubs, without question:

the still found a way to recognize GOATness though

 

[I'm Blackman]

wow.

 

[Tj Bronson]

In 90-91 a lot of albums got 5 mics. In 92, the my put a new editor in charge of the mics and he put a moratorium on 5 mic ratings. He said that Chronic not getting 5 is what made getting 5 mics so coveted.
The only time they broke the rule was Illmatic. In 97, they started up giving 5 mics again.

I remember reading that interview but I can't remember who it was with. But he had said something about it being hard to label something a classic immediately upon release and used a Scarface album they gave 5 to as an example. Said he bumped the album a lot at the time, but by the time of the interview he couldn't even remember the album's title, which made him wonder why it had been called a classic. I can agree with the idea of things being difficult to classify as classic right out the gate, but some of these are undeniable (like The Chronic) and should've got that 5.

Man I wish I still had my old magazine collection. There's so many of those reviews I'd like to read again

 

[Crumple]

They re-rated some of them and gave them 5.

Lil Ghetto Boy being the reason Chronic didn't get 5 was ridiculous.

Lol what the fukk?
Wild.

Lil Ghetto Boy is probably my favorite song from the Chronic.

It is what it is with critics. Time truly tells wether or not something becomes classic.

 

[JustCKing]

Reading the review, I'm trying hard to figure out how this is a 3 mic album. That was a glowing review worth far more than the rating it got. They had less positive reviews for albums that got 4.5 or even 5 mics.

 

[JustCKing]

They basically didn't give Doggystyle 5 mics because it had too many guests. Really? All these years, I was never bothered by the amount of guests and never really thought about how many solo Snoop songs were on the album. They also pointed out that he doesn't rap until the third song. These are things that I noticed, but don't take away from the experience.

 

[Tony D'Amato]

A 5 mic album is a perfect album. O don't think Chronic or Doggystyle were perfect.

Ready to die was damn near flawless. Like every song was a banger.

 

[Ziggiy]

A lot of these albums were slighted. I understand why some didn't get a 5 though. Illmatic got a 5 in 1994. The Source was not handing these out like candy in that era which is possibly why Kast nor Biggie got a 5 that year.

Doggystyle and Chronic are the biggest snubs though.

The guy who ran the Source at the time said that he wanted to give Outkast a 5 but Benzino hated them for some reason and wouldn’t allow it.

i’ll try to find a link for the interview. I read it yyeeeaaarrssssssss back during the Nas BBS days. He also said that he was backstage one night and witnessed Biggie talking to Suge about leaving Bad Boy and coming to Death Row.


He also talked about what went into giving Nas the 5 Mics and how he felt uncomfortable with the decision at the time because of all the great albums they specifically DID NOT give 5’s too. But basically the entire staff overrode him and basically told him it would be a big mistake not to give Nas the 5.


He talked alot about Benzino’s weird relationship with Dave Mays and how Mays was scared of Benzino and Benzino ran roughshod over alot of shyt.

 

[prophecypro]

It was better when the 5 mic club is more exclusive

Saying a classic can only happen when its 5/5 without benefit of time and impact to others is hard. You can have an album be classic even if its not perfect, its like that with most. And that was one of the problems the Source had to deal with along with perceptions of bias

I dont really blame them for giving some of these 4 and a half/4 at the time. Thats why even though a lot of the albums they re-mic'd or retroactivley gave are classics it kinda made it less exclusive and then afterwards it got shaky with the 5 mic handouts


On a sidenote the Source also needs to upload their mic reviews online even the ones in print. I dont think anyone knows what albums got what mics after 2010 unless you looked? Has any album gotten 5 mics after MBTDF? Kendrick?
Seen a few 4 mic and 4 and a half

 

[Playaz Eyez]

It’s a travesty that Kim album got a 5, when it wasn’t nearly as good as La Bella Mafia was.

 

[JustCKing]

The guy who ran the Source at the time said that he wanted to give Outkast a 5 but Benzino hated them for some reason and wouldn’t allow it.

i’ll try to find a link for the interview. I read it yyeeeaaarrssssssss back during the Nas BBS days. He also said that he was backstage one night and witnessed Biggie talking to Suge about leaving Bad Boy and coming to Death Row.


He also talked about what went into giving Nas the 5 Mics and how he felt uncomfortable with the decision at the time because of all the great albums they specifically DID NOT give 5’s too. But basically the entire staff overrode him and basically told him it would be a big mistake not to give Nas the 5.


He talked alot about Benzino’s weird relationship with Dave Mays and how Mays was scared of Benzino and Benzino ran roughshod over alot of shyt.

Was this article from 2005 because I remember some of this being discussed in an old AHH interview.

 

[Tj Bronson]

Was this article from 2005 because I remember some of this being discussed in an old AHH interview.

Sounds like the same article I remember, which was this one...
The Source Magazine (Early 90's) Part 1: The Greatest Story Never Told

3 parts, it's a pretty long read, but a good one with some hilarious moments.

 

[Ziggiy]

Was this article from 2005 because I remember some of this being discussed in an old AHH interview.

Yes definitely around that time. It was before Nas made peace with Hov and signed with Def Jam so early 05ish sounds about right

 

[Ziggiy]

It was better when the 5 mic club is more exclusive

Saying a classic can only happen when its 5/5 without benefit of time and impact to others is hard. You can have an album be classic even if its not perfect, its like that with most. And that was one of the problems the Source had to deal with along with perceptions of bias

I dont really blame them for giving some of these 4 and a half/4 at the time. Thats why even though a lot of the albums they re-mic'd or retroactivley gave are classics it kinda made it less exclusive and then afterwards it got shaky with the 5 mic handouts


On a sidenote the Source also needs to upload their mic reviews online even the ones in print. I dont think anyone knows what albums got what mics after 2010 unless you looked? Has any album gotten 5 mics after MBTDF? Kendrick?
Seen a few 4 mic and 4 and a half

I THINK To Pimp A Butterfly got a 5 but who the hell knows. I stopped REALLY giving a fukk about Source reviews in 08-09. I was all about XXL for awhile but they fell the fukk off too

 

[prophecypro]

I THINK To Pimp A Butterfly got a 5 but who the hell knows. I stopped REALLY giving a fukk about Source reviews in 08-09. I was all about XXL for awhile but they fell the fukk off too

I picked up an issue of the Source late last year and now they only review like one album per issue

I know Damn got 4 mics from an issue I read at the newstand in 2017.....but the last DJ Khaled album from 2019 got 4.5 mics

Those are the last 2 reviews I remember


Now I think why they dont post their reviews online