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Ask any "hustler" on any street corner of America: "How do you make a dollar out of 15 cents?" and he’ll come up with a number of different ways. Ask him how to flip a c-note ($100) into a couple of grand and you better believe he’ll know the science on that as well. And if you’re from the ’hood, you know that the brother who can turn the biggest profit in no limit of time is the brother who’s considered to have the most game.

So, then, how about a White boy, Harvard undergrad student, who took $250, produced a one-page newsletter with a mailing list of 1,000 names, and then flipped it into a multi-million-dollar magazine with approximately 108 million readers a year.

That’s what David Mays, founder and CEO of The Source— a magazine of hip hop music, culture, and politics—did, and then some. Now, who’s got game?

‘We don’t take our influence lightly, with such a powerful brand comes a responsibility to produce products and service that reflect our devotion to the hip hop movement. While others have come and gone, this set of standards has allowed us to remain on top, a place we have no intention of relinquishing.’ —Ray Scott, a.k.a Benzino Co-founder and chief brand executive

The Source is the number one selling music magazine on America’s newsstands, now celebrating 15 years in the publishing business. As Biggie once said, "who ever thought rap would take it this far."

Not even Mays, who started the newsletter to promote, "Street Beat," his on-campus radio show in 1988, saw the fullness of what was about to happen.

"I wasn’t looking to make a career out of publishing, but simply to offer the show’s listeners news and information they were interested in and couldn’t find anywhere else. At a time when mainstream media outlets were largely ignoring the emergence of hip hop, we were the first to recognize its historic significance and the first to look beyond the hottest artist and report on all the elements that made it so powerful, from MCs and b-boys to graffiti artists and DJs," said Mays.

Over the last 15 years, hip hop and its elements have transformed the American way of life, not just for the kids in the inner city, but it has crossed racial and social barriers—and The Source has been there to record and make its history.

"Our dedication to providing well-balanced and honest reporting has earned us the reputation as the most trusted brand in hip hop. We’re the only ones willing to take a public stand when others choose to ignore and misrepresent the culture," said Mays.

The Source magazine’s officials pride themselves in being at the forefront of controversial issues that relate to the hip hop community and the inner cities at large, like its groundbreaking article on FBI profiling of Black rappers (September 1990), a report on the growing presence of White rappers well before the emergence of Eminem (October 1991), a call to end gang warfare (April 1996), a frank discussion on artists’ use of the "N" word (May 1994), a thought-provoking 3-part series on the crack epidemic (July-September 1994), a shocking report on the growth of Black suicide (December 1998) and the influence of Islam on hip hop (September 1991).

It seems articles like these have kept readers at newsstands to pickup their Source, but with the rise of hip hop, corporate America is/has paid attention and big advertising dollars to capture this billion-dollar market. In June of this year, The Source issued a press release citing the continued significant growth in ads and sales in the face of the country’s economic downturn.

"Despite recent declines in U.S. consumer and corporate spending, The Source cited a 10.1 percent gain in advertising revenue while increasing total ad pages to 514 through June 2003. Since 1988, we have consistently provided unparalleled access to the coveted 18 to 34-year-old demographic—from four advertisers featured in our first issue to the 107 brands included in the current issue," said Chris White, director of advertising for The Source.

And speaking of branding, The Source is attempting to establish a brand of its own, and has in many ways, with several strategic ventures such as The Source Magazine radio network, The Source: "All Hip Hop Hour" television program, The Source Hip Hop Awards, The Source Youth Foundation, and The Source Clothing company, the first magazine-branded line of apparel schedule to debut this fall.

What about the competition? "What about them," says Ray Scott, a.k.a Benzino, co-founder and chief brand executive, who concluded with, "We don’t take our influence lightly, with such a powerful brand comes a responsibility to produce products and service that reflect our devotion to the hip hop movement. While others have come and gone, this set of standards has allowed us to remain on top, a place we have no intention of relinquishing."

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