that's pretty much pc.

that whole self satisfaction is some nice humble shit, but on the real?

no one out there is thinking 100%--this is for me.

all through voodoo we was dreaming about what our elder influences would think when they heard it.

the reason why riq goes through no less than 5 drafts of verses before he even decides on verse number one is because he's thinking about outdoing and at the same time--getting respect and love from his peers.

and no mc alive--not even the lowest recipient of a source mic (hammer @1/2) can tell you that getting a source classic rating isn't in their dreams.

it's way different now, but pretty much people remember when the source acclaims an album. especially oversees. the same can be said for non hip hop media researchers (snl for example is well aware of our acclaim) who need to know the status of a particular hip hop act that they aren't familiar with.

take that black star review on that online record store some posts up:

now i know at least 300 non hip hop fans (who saw brown sugar this weekend) that are very very curious about mos def, between topdog, and brown sugar and the vanity fair feature. now if the source gave the first record

@@1/2 then gave BOBS a @@@@1/2

what do you think they will grab first?

even my dealer guy at mitchell and ness sportswear mentioned the source ratings when he copped DYWM for the first time.

so to some of us, they hold no weight.

but pretty much they are still considered the hip hop bible to the rest of the world.

and don't confuse the initial post as bitching---again i'm rather shocked. i was really really expecting a @@@1/2, simply because of the musical direction we took it.

hope i shed some light.