Thug Life Army

On Wednesday, March 23, just two weeks before rap artist Eminem was going to have to take the stand and explain the details of a series of songs he made calling Black people "n***ers," "p**ch m****ys," and "sp**r ch***ers," his own company, Shady Records, withdrew a lawsuit they brought against The Source Magazine in 2003, admitting that The Source had done nothing illegal when it played the songs at a press conference and posted snippets on its website. As The Source originally reported, the songs were recorded in 1993, when Eminem was 21 years old. Eminem had lied and said he was only 16, and also lied about having a breakup with an "African-American" girlfriend, who never existed.

“These guys had us in court for two years now, claiming we were guilty of copyright infringement just because we reported on the racist songs that Eminem made," said David Mays, co-Founder and CEO of The Source. "Now, they admit that we were right all along, after they spent the past two years telling everyone that The Source has no integrity and that we have a ''personal vendetta'' against Eminem. We have had to spend a lot of money in court, not to mention that Interscope Records has pulled millions of dollars of advertising from our magazine and tried to influence others to do the same. And a federal judge watches all of this take place and then allows them to withdraw without any penalty. That is how crazy this situation is."

"It was a cowardly move for Eminem to back out of his lawsuit against us just two weeks before he was going to have to take the stand, but it doesn''t surprise me," said Ray Benzino, co-Founder and Chief Brand Executive of The Source. "The fact that he lied about his past and still hasn''t had the courage to come out in public and address his racist songs, shows the lack of respect he has for the Hip-Hop community."

"It appears that Eminem's ''copyright infringement'' lawsuit was nothing more than a strong-arm attempt to silence The Source's constitutional right to freedom of the press-another attack in Interscope Records'' dirty war to cover up the truth about racism and corruption in the Hip-Hop industry," added Mays. In the past 3 weeks, the New York Daily News published a series of editorials where they criticized Interscope's parent company Vivendi Universal Music Group for prospering by "peddling the destructive and the dangerous" and turning "a blind eye" towards violence in the industry. The Daily News went on to call for stockholders to demand an explanation from Vivendi Universal's top management. Reverend Al Sharpton also recently announced his intent to buy stock in record companies so he can get some answers on how they plan to stop violence in the Hip-Hop industry. Sharpton met last week with FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to address the role of radio stations and their dj's in inciting violence by allowing rappers to taunt each other over the public airwaves.

In a shocking investigative report to be published in the upcoming May issue, The Source Magazine and its staff of Hip-Hop truthseekers uncover startling facts that suggest the recent "truce" between 50 Cent and The Game was a staged publicity event, and expose the role of Interscope president Jimmy Iovine in producing the song "Rock n Roll N***er" in 1978.

The Source is the most widely-recognized and well-respected brand name in communications for Hip-Hop fans across the globe, earned through The Source Magazine's role as the most trusted media voice for the Hip-Hop movement for over 16 years. The Source is the #1 selling music magazine on newsstands in America, reaching nearly 9 million readers per month. Co-founder and CEO David Mays, along with Co-founder and Chief Brand Executive Raymond Scott, have successfully built The Source business brand into a renowned trademark, with extensions in music, television and consumer products such as clothing and DVD's.