Albums That Didn’t Deserve Five Mics from The Source

In its glory days of hip-hop, success wasn’t measured by winning weak Twitter beefs, or racking up awards on TV shows, or even endorsement deals for that cheap liquor you get in the back of limousines.

Nah, if you wanted to measure success, you turned to The Source.

An MC’s greatest achievement was receiving a five-mic rating in that venerable magazine. The Bible of Hip-Hop was the authority on the culture — if you made it there, you could make it anywhere.

The elusive five-mic rating was so rare and coveted that only 45 albums in the magazine’s nearly 30 year history have won the prize, with most of them being bestowed retroactively well after the honored album was released. Only 15 albums won the honor at the time of their release.

Ice Cube’s AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted. OutKast’s Aquemini. Jay Z’s Blueprint. A Tribe Called Quest’s Low End Theory. All five-mic albums. All undisputed classics.

Even after the mighty Source’s credibility began to wain, the legend of the five-mic designation did not. It was — and still is — confirmation of a hip-hop classic.

Except when it’s not.

Fans have spent 30 years debating whether some of The Source’s favorite albums deserved the coveted five-mic rating. And you know hip-hop fans aren’t ones to hide their opinions. Personally I don’t think Tribe’s People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm nor Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy are five-mic albums (Tribe’s album is slightly uneven and some of Ye’s track are needlessly overblown) but both have proven to be extremely influential. It’s hard to argue their worth.

A few other albums, though, just don’t stand that test of time.

Let’s look at three albums that achieved the designation of hip-hop classic but don’t quite live up to that billing.

naked truth

Lil Kim, The Naked Truth (2005)

I bet when you read the title of this column you knew this album would be on the list. The rumors surrounding this album’s inclusion into the Five-Mic Club are legendary, from speculation that Kim’s manager was dating former Source owner Dave Mays to the reviewer having 25 years of wax crusting up his ears.

Now, by no means is The Naked Truth a bad album. In fact, it might be Kim’s most artistically creative – she steps out of the boroughs to experiment with diverse sounds, from reggae to West Coast to that Dirty South knock. And lyrically, she’s extremely strong  – dialing back on the usual sexual tropes to actually convey messages through her bars.

Still, five stars?  No way. The album is bogged down by skits and more than a couple throwaway tracks. And its impact was nowhere near as strong as Kim’s debut Hardcore, which, for better or worse, set the template for female rappers for nearly 15 years, inspiring many future stars. Ask your girl Nicki Minaj.

Actually, don’t ask. She won’t admit it.

What the album SHOULD have received: FOUR MICS

trill og

Bun B, Trill OG (2010)

Here’s yet another case of a great album with an oddly inflated score. Rap heads have long recognized Bun B as one of the best to touch a mic – he still reigns as one of the South’s most influential pioneers as part of UGK.  In fact, UGK’s sophomore set Super Tight, is much more deserving of the coveted five mics than Bun’s 2010 solo release.

As an album, it’s a solid piece of work, proving to skeptics that, even as an elder rap statesmen, Bun still towers over most of these half-pint MCs. However, Bun often sounded like he was on autopilot here, lacking the forceful presence that he exhibited earlier in his career. He was spitting hard, but not UGK HARD.

Trill OG is a technically proficient album and a solid edition to Bun’s catalog. But by no means was it a game-changer or industry influencer – two key ingredients of a true classic album.

What the album SHOULD have received: FOUR MICS

let the rhythm

Eric B & Rakim, Let the Rhythm Hit ‘Em (1990)

Oh yes, this is the album that will be the source of all my hate mail.

If Rakim isn’t on your Top 5 Greatest Rappers of All Time list, you must have been born in 1998. Thank the R who birthed the intricate wordplay that has become the staple of the art farm.  The next time you use that BARS hashtag, realize that Rakim was the rapper who set the bar for BARS.

Rakim’s an all-time great, and his albums with partner Eric B were the foundation of the golden age of hip hop. The duo’s debut, Paid in Full, was retroactively given five mics in 2002.  No argument there.

Yet, despite its greatness, Let the Rhythm Hit ‘Em isn’t on that level – or even on the level of the pair’s previous set, Follow the Leader.

It was a much different album for the duo, featuring a harder edge and more aggression than previous works. There’s also deep subject matter too, with messages of faith and community sprinkled between scratches. But it’s far from flawless – the second half of the album noticeably slows down (with the exception of “Mahogany”) and, like the other albums on our list, lacks the historical punch of Eric B. & Rakim’s first two albums.

Put it this way: Let the Rhythm Hit ‘Em is the Empire Strikes Back of Eric B. & Rakim’s trilogy — it’s memorable but not as groundbreaking as its predecessors.

What the album SHOULD have received: FOUR AND A HALF MICS

OK, it’s your turn — was I too hard on these albums? And which albums do you think are undeserving of five-mic honors? 

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24 Comments

  1. I agree with your choices. I still think The Minstrel Show deserved its original 5 mic rating.

  2. Kim is actually an error on this list. Ironically she scaled in either by crook or hook. Good a thing Eminem ain’t yet on board cos he’s always over rated

  3. Nas Untitled is an easy 5 Mic choice. It was dope without using 3 key elements of EVERY RAP ALBUM ON EARTH: Drug sales, Sex, Murder.

    It was all about black empowerment and in 2008 that is pretty much doing an album with BOTH HANDS tied behind your back…..but Nas pulled it off masterfully.

    Also, despite it lacking those key entertainment elements this album debut on the Billboard Top 100 at #1 (Read that again)

  4. Lil kim is the only femcee to receive 5 mics and you want to take that away? Typical. Should be more women on the list

    • @wintress-Just cause she is a woman she should get it? Her stuff is just not up to par. In fact, it was kind of trash. It was clearly some cronyism that got her that. Sorry.

    • actually Fugees got 5 mics so you’re just a dumbfuck

      • No, the Fugees originally received four mics. They upgraded the score later.

      • I’m so glad no one who commented below worked at the Source. Too much emotional mic ratings. Everyone thinks their favorite MC should have a 5. No. Please stop. Look at the albums that got 5. They changed the wave. They made the listener look at them differently bc they went in a different direction. No I don’t agreee with Bun and Kim’s rating but I see what it was considered. As a Rakim fan, this album was really good but no it was not FTL. I love HH fans. They are passionate. They are loyal to their faves but other than that I’m glad they don’t make the rating decisions. ✌🏾

        • Reading what this man wrote about Ye album not being 5 mics made me laugh. Really Ye has 2 5 mics classic . He went on to say that Bun’s album shouldn’t have got 5 but Supertight should . SR everyone from the South knows that Ridin Dirty should have got 5 mics . A lot of these dudes just listen to east music and dont know what the hell they be talking about

    • If there’s any woman who deserves a five mic album, it’s Lauryn Hill. Her first album is definitely a classic. I would also throw Bahamadia’s classic Kollage in there.

  5. Dude you sound stupid, The Empire Strikes back is considered not only the greatest Star Wars movie ever but one of the ten greatest movies ever made, period. And Let The Rhythm Hit’em was definitely a five mic album, Large Professor’s production was banging on every track and Rakim was never tighter lyrically than on the title track.

  6. Trill OG deserved it as well as Eric B and Rakim’s album. I totally disagree, I think Kanye’s first album deserve it before the Dark Twisted Fantasy album

  7. Where’s the legendary classic Benzino 5 mic Album?

  8. Why does this blog not respect rappers post 2000 tho? And only female rappers that dress like boys? 🤷🏽‍♂️ He stays pressed over nicki Minaj, can’t wait to throw a dagger her way even when it does nothing to support the erroneous assertions #bye

  9. Prince Mamuwalde May 7, 2018 at 3:44 pm

    Let the Rhythm Hit Em was Rakim at his greatest. No hooks, just beats and bars. Lyrically and beatwise it’s better than Follow the Leader, but Follow The Leader is just more known based off 2 singles(title track and “Microphone Fiend”). If we did a song for song comparison, it’s really no competition between FTL and LTRHE. This is what made the Source so great for us that lived it in the late 80s and early 90s. This album was Eric B and Rakim’s darkest album, but Ra was in a zone on that one and the Source acknowledged greatness aside from how popular the album was. It’s the least popular of their 4 albums due to lack of commercial success. The thing with the Source magazine back in the day is that you couldn’t just give 5 mics to every album that was released because it would have diminished the magazine and rating system, even though from 89-95, about 40% of the albums they reviewed deserved 5 mics.

    There was a lot of east coast bias. I have years of those magazines saved up and sometimes I go through an old magazine from the 90s and will be amazed at some of the albums that didn’t get 5 mics or even 4 mics. DJ Quik was on the end of a lot of unfair ratings. As well as the Heiro crew and Death Row. Outkast as well. Their first 2 albums should have been 5 mics so the Source made up for it giving Aquemini 5 mics. I think the rating system hurt the magazine in the long run. The controversy kept it going, but that should be a lesson to future rap mags to not have a rating system because you can’t satisfy everyone.

  10. Yes minstrel show was a classic… but the naked truth shouldn’t be on this list… I strongly dislike lil Kim but the naked truth album was a classic and I felt that way since I heard it… period

  11. 🎤🎤🎤 for Lil Kim’s Naked Truth album. Bun B gets 🎤🎤🎤1/2. Eric B & Rakim can stay on 5. Kanye West MBDTF is 5 worthy. Tribes first album is TOP 5 HIP HOP

  12. Most slept on…O.C. Times up. Deserved 5 mics. Rass Kas & Jack Splash Breakfast at Banksy’s is a modern day west coast 5 mic’er. Fly AF. Rass’s lyrics are entertaining and as deep as any I have heard from a modern day perspective with old school experience. Plus Jackie holds it down tight, great duo. Jackie who?

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  1. Lil Kim, ‘Nasty One’ | Track Review - The Musical Hype

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