Exclusives

Happy 64th Birthday To Public Enemy’s Flavor Flav!

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In 1959, William Jonathan Drayton, better known to the world as Flavor Flav, was born in the world in NYC. Flav is the former hypeman of the iconic Rock N’ Roll Hall Of Fame Hip-Hop group Public Enemy.

Growing up on Freeport, Long Island is where A young Flavor developed his love for music, teaching himself to play the piano, drums, and guitar on his own. In Long Island, a young adult, Flav met Chuck Ridenhour, who later became known as Chuck D, the frontman of Public Enemy. The two linked at Adelphi University on the Island, where the two attended college and learned about each other’s love for Hip Hop.

As one of the founding members of PE, Flav was there in 1984 when the song “Public Enemy #1” was recorded, the first known track by the group. In 1986, the crew signed with Rick Rubin on Def Jam. However, Rubin did not initially want to sign Flav because he didn’t understand his role in the group.

Ever since PE’s debut album Yo! Bum Rush The Show, Flav was the hype jester to the ultra-serious, politically charged group, including Chuck D, Terminator X, and a security force known as the S1Ws. Songs such as “Fight The Power,” “911 Is A Joke”, and “I Can’t Do Nothin’ For Ya Man” featured the comedic darts of Flav, which brought a balance to PE.

Drugs and domestic issues hindered Flav for a short while during his career. However, he bounced back into the public eye as a reality show pioneer, with shows like Surreal Life and The Flavor Of Love breaking ground in reality TV. Earlier this year, Chuck D announced that Flavor Flav was indefinitely fired from the group for his response to PE publicly endorsing Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 2020 Presidential race.

Big ups to Flav on his born day and TheSource.com wishes the Flavor Man many more!

The post Happy 64th Birthday To Public Enemy’s Flavor Flav! appeared first on The Source.

The Source Magazine Remembers Nate Dogg 12 Years Later

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Sending a 21 gun soldier salute Rest In Peace one of Hip Hop’s favorite crooners

There were many who tried, but nobody put R&B into Hip Hop the way it was supposed to sound better than the late, great Nate Dogg of the legendary Dogg Pound. The Source Magazine would like to send him a posthumous shout in recognition of his contributions to the game.

Besides his obvious links to Snoop Dogg and the original Death Row Family, Nathaniel Hale, born on this date in Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1969, Nate appeared alongside several iconic artists in the game including 2Pac, 50 Cent, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Jay-Z. The world lost a talented singer, actor and musician when Nate succumbed to multiple strokes on March 15, 2011. He was 41 years old.

Condolences go out to Warren G, Dr. Dre, Snoop and the entire 213 on the day an entire community lost a Hip Hop legend.

The post The Source Magazine Remembers Nate Dogg 12 Years Later appeared first on The Source.

Happy 80th Birthday To NYC Graffiti Documentarian Martha Cooper!

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Born on this date in 1942 in Baltimore, Maryland, famed photojournalist Martha Cooper took her photography skills as a staff photog for The New York Post and became one of the most celebrated documentarians of Hip Hop’s most unrecognized subculture.

Cooper began her career as a photographer working as an intern for National Geographic in the 60s, which parlayed her into position as a staff photographer for The Post in the 1970s. One day on her way home from work at The Post, she began taking pics of the children in her neighborhood. This is when she met HE3, who explained to Cooper the importance and artistic aspect of graffiti. Cooper instantly became intrigued by graffiti and by 1984, put together a book of photographs illustrating the graffiti subculture called Subway Art, which is now recognized as the bible of graffiti and street art.

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Copper later put out another book in 2004 entitled Hip Hop Files: Photographs 1979-1984 From Here To Fame and later had a documentary produced about her life called Martha: A Picture Story in 2019.

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Happy 80th birthday to Martha and salute to her for all of her groundbreaking accomplishments that help to spread the culture of graffiti around the world.

The post Happy 80th Birthday To NYC Graffiti Documentarian Martha Cooper! appeared first on The Source.

Today in Hip Hop History: Kool G. Rap and DJ Polo Dropped Their Debut LP ‘Road to the Riches’ 34 Years Ago

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On this day in 1989, Corona, Queens rap and street legend Kool G. Rap and DJ Polo released their first album on the quintessential yet now-defunct Hip-Hop label Cold Chillin’ Records.

As esteemed members of the world-famous, Queens-based Juice Crew, G. Rap and Polo dropped this project as one of the first full-length albums from the crew, only to succeed Big Daddy Kane’s Long Live The Kane and Biz Markie’s Goin’ Off albums. The Marley Marl-produced album is one of NYC’s crime rhyme holy grails, with tracks like “Road To The Riches” as a theme song for late 80s hustlers, but most of the album showcased G. Rap’s uncanny rapping ability. Tracks like “Men At Work,” “Poison,” and their premiere track “It’s A Demo” were proof three decades ago that G’s style would be pioneering in the rap game.

Salute to G. Rap, Polo, Marley, Fly Ty, and the rest of the Juice Crew and Cold Chillin’ staff for this important piece of Hip Hop history!

The post Today in Hip Hop History: Kool G. Rap and DJ Polo Dropped Their Debut LP ‘Road to the Riches’ 34 Years Ago appeared first on The Source.

Today in Hip-Hop History: 2Pac Dropped His Third LP ‘Me Against The World’ 28 Years Ago

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On this day in Hip-Hop History, the late Tupac Shakur released his third studio LP, Me Against the World. This album came at one of the most pivotal times in ‘Pac’s life and career. Recorded shortly after his near-fatal assassination attempt in New York and released while he was in prison, this album marked a change in 2Pac as an artist and a man.

This album was nothing like the music that gave him his “thug life” gangster image and street credentials. The subject matter and tone of this project were a lot more serious and introspective than anything he had previously released. Much less high energy than the tracks from his previous album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z…, this album showed genuine reflection on his life and career path as an artist along with shining light on some of his personal struggles with paranoia and self-loathing.

The realism of this album brought a ridiculous amount of commercial success. Debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart, the album has been certified double platinum selling over 3.5 million copies in the United States alone. Along with being #1 in the US, the album also ranked #23 in Germany and #20 in Sweden. In the year after its release, the album received the Soul Train Music Award for Best Rap Album. The project was Tupac’s most positively reviewed album and has been called the magnum opus of his career.

The singles from the project “Dear Mama,” “So Many Tears” and “Temptations” all made appearances on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. “Dear Mama” peaked at #9, “So Many Tears” hit #44 and “Temptations” claimed the#68 spot.

The post Today in Hip-Hop History: 2Pac Dropped His Third LP ‘Me Against The World’ 28 Years Ago appeared first on The Source.

Happy Birthday To Chicago Hip-Hop Pioneer Common!

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On this date in 1972, Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr., the rapper, actor, and poet also known as Common was born in Chicago, Illinois. The Grammy and Academy Award-winning artist is not only an icon of Windy City’s Hip Hop scene, but he has also helped to blaze a trail for Golden Era rappers into other aspects of entertainment as he has with his roles in blockbuster movies such as American Gangster, John Wick 2 and Glory just to name a few. The newly signed HBO producer has come a long way since he was known as Common Sense asking Can I Borrow A Dollar?

As we salute Common on his born day, let us send him a keen reminder of his first love that brought him into our living rooms, literally making him a household name.

The post Happy Birthday To Chicago Hip-Hop Pioneer Common! appeared first on The Source.

Today In Hip Hop History: Cult Classic Flick ‘CB4’ Opened In Theaters 30 Years Ago

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On this date 29 years ago, Gusto and the gang shows us what gangsta Hip-Hop is all about.

In 1993, Chris Rock, Allen Payne and Charlie Murphy gave their own take of how things go down behind the scenes with gangsta rappers vs. real-life gangsters in the comedy flick CB4. Directed by and starring Rock, CB4 was a parody that pokes fun at “the world’s most dangerous group” N.W.A. and features several Hip Hop notables including Ice-T, Ice Cube, Flavor Flav and the late Eazy-E.

Murphy, who played the role of “Gusto”, is a certified “G’ who is “three generations deep in gangsterdom.” Rock, who plays up and coming rapper Albert Brown from “LoCash” California, jack Gusto’s gangster look, background and persona, becoming MC Gusto after the “gangsta” Gusto went to prison. The group that Rock’s character formed, who were called CB4, which stood for gangsta Gusto’s prison location ‘Cell Block 4″, took the rap world by storm until reality hit; Gusto gets out of jail.

Salute to Rock, Charlie Murphy (RIP), Allen Payne and even Daddy-O of Stetsasonic, who was the rapper for CB4’s hits “Straight Outta LoCash” and “Sweat From My Balls.” CB4 is definitely a comedic learning tool and will forever be a piece of Hip-Hop history!

The post Today In Hip Hop History: Cult Classic Flick ‘CB4’ Opened In Theaters 30 Years Ago appeared first on The Source.

Happy Birthday To Super Producer Timbaland! Top 5 Timbaland Smash Hits

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When the phrase ‘super producer’ is uttered, not many names come to mind. Names like: RZA, Dr. Dre, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, The Neptunes, Jermaine Dupri, and Kanye West are among the high ranks that have earned the title. Today however, we celebrate the birth of one who help to shape the scope of both Hip Hop and R&B in the late 90s and early 2000s. Timothy Zachery Mosley a.k.a. Timbaland was born on this day [March 10] 49 years ago.

Timbaland is responsible in large part for the success of artists like Missy Elliot, Aaliyah and Ginuwine. Timbaland helped shape a Hip Hop culture in his home state of Virginia and through his production and organization of local artists. He has even crossed over into pop, working with acts like Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado, to create a sound and culture that helped bridge the pop culture gap to allow for more and more trans-genre collaboration.

In honor of Timbaland’s born day, here’s a list of some of his hottest and most influential tracks that have left a permanent mark on Hip Hop and R&B music and culture.

Aaliyah – “One In A Million”

As the third main single of the popular album of the same name, “One in a Million” peaked at #1 on the US Hot Rap/R&B chart. It also claimed the#1 spot in R&B Airplay for six long weeks.

Ginuwine – “Pony”

“Pony” was actually Ginuwine’s debut single and peaked at #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop chart and #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song kept it’s spot on the Hot R&B chart for two weeks.

Missy Elliot – “Supa Dupa Fly”

This was the first single from Missy Elliot’s debut album of the same name. This song hit at #4 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop charts and helped to earn Missy a spot on Elektra Records with her own sub-label Goldmind.

Justin Timberlake – “Sexy Back”

“Sexy Back” is the name of one of Justin Timberlake’s most successful and well known solo records. Hitting the #1 spot in a plethora of countries, this song has gone platinum a few times over in this country and across the globe.

Nelly Furtado – “Promiscuous”

“Promiscuous” is the international #1 hit single of Canadian singer/songwriter Nelly Furtado. Although it has peaked at #1 in a few countries around the globe it hit #3 in the United States. This was the second single from the album Loose.

The post Happy Birthday To Super Producer Timbaland! Top 5 Timbaland Smash Hits appeared first on The Source.

New Memorial Mosiac of The Notorious B.I.G. Unveiled on Christopher Wallace Way

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New Memorial Mosiac of The Notorious B.I.G. Unveiled on Christopher Wallace Way

A new memorial honoring the late The Notorious B.I.G. was unveiled on Thursday in Brooklyn.

According to CBS News, New York City mayor Eric Adams helped in the reveal of the new mosaic memorial, located at Saint James Place and Fulton Street. The intersection is also known as Christopher Wallace Way, where the late rapper grew up.

The new mosaic is based on an iconic image of the rapper, and the face has a mirror, reflecting the rapper’s former home.

Earlier today (March 9), remembering his late friend, Diddy hit Instagram to salute the legend and show love.

“There will NEVER be another. The GREATEST RAPPER OF ALL TIME. Today we celebrate and honor you king. Love and miss you!! @TheNotoriousBIG”

On this day in 1997, Brooklyn native and Hip Hop legend Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls, was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting in LA. 26 years ago

Wallace left Puff Daddy’s Vibe Magazine party in a GMC SuburbanS.U.V.V that stopped at a red light at Wilshire Boulevard and South Fairfax. While stopped a Chevrolet ImpalaS.S.S pulled up beside him and his entourage. According to witnesses, a black male dressed in a blue suit and bow tie rolled down his window and shot Biggie four times and he was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m. at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

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After years of investigations and conspiracy theories as to who killed Biggie and why, no one has been brought to justice to answer for Wallace’s death. Former LAPD Detective Russell Poole fought vigorously, even sometimes against his own peers, to get to the bottom of his untimely death. Poole died from a heart attack on August 19, 2015, while discussing the Tupac Shakur and Wallace cases at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The legacy B.I.G.. left behind is officially embedded in Hip Hop culture two decades later and will continue to influence the community as his family and friends share his story.

The post New Memorial Mosiac of The Notorious B.I.G. Unveiled on Christopher Wallace Way appeared first on The Source.

Diddy Salutes the Notorious B.I.G. On the 26th Anniversary of His Death: ‘There Will NEVER Be Another’

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Today (March 9) is the anniversary of the death of The Notorious B.I.G. Remembering his late friend, Diddy hit Instagram to salute the legend and show love.

“There will NEVER be another. The GREATEST RAPPER OF ALL TIME. Today we celebrate and honor you king. Love and miss you!! @TheNotoriousBIG”

On this day in 1997, Brooklyn native and Hip Hop legend Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls, was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting in LA. 26 years ago

Wallace left Puff Daddy’s Vibe Magazine party in a GMC SuburbanS.U.V.V that stopped at a red light at Wilshire Boulevard and South Fairfax. While stopped a Chevrolet ImpalaS.S.S pulled up beside him and his entourage. According to witnesses, a black male dressed in a blue suit and bow tie rolled down his window and shot Biggie four times and he was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m. at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

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  • biggie and mom
  • biggie funk flex
  • meresbiggie
  • 1331309874 biggie
  • kim biggie5

After years of investigations and conspiracy theories as to who killed Biggie and why, no one has been brought to justice to answer for Wallace’s death. Former LAPD Detective Russell Poole fought vigorously, even sometimes against his own peers, to get to the bottom of his untimely death. Poole died from a heart attack on August 19, 2015, while discussing the Tupac Shakur and Wallace cases at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The legacy B.I.G.. left behind is officially embedded in Hip Hop culture two decades later and will continue to influence the community as his family and friends share his story.

The post Diddy Salutes the Notorious B.I.G. On the 26th Anniversary of His Death: ‘There Will NEVER Be Another’ appeared first on The Source.