The Source is an American music magazine and website specializing in hip-hop and entertainment. Founded in August 1988 by Harvard University students David Mays and Jonathan Shecter, it began as a black-and-white, one-page newspaper promoting their college radio show. Within months, it evolved into a professionally designed, full-color magazine. Dubbed "the bible of hip-hop," primarily focused on hip-hop music and culture while also covering politics and fashion. Its music reviews held great significance in the hip-hop community, with the "five mics" rating considered a prestigious honor and a significant achievement. The ratings often sparked heated debates among both artists and fans.

At its height in the late 1990s, The Source was the highest-selling magazine on the newsstands in the United States. It launched its own compilation album series and an award show. The 1995 Source Awards were noted for their effect on the hip-hop landscape, particularly in escalating tension between the East and West Coast hip-hop communities, which ultimately resulted in the murders of The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur.

Several controversies embroiled The Source throughout its history, often leading to editor walkouts. The most publicized of these, its feud with Eminem, was among the factors that contributed to its decline. Financial struggles worsened as the launch of its website in the early 2000s resulted in significant losses, forcing David Mays to sell part of the magazine. These challenges ultimately led to the magazine's bankruptcy and shareholders firing Mays in 2006.

In 2008, the magazine was purchased by the publisher L. Londell McMillan, who successfully brought back major advertisers. However, in the 2010s, as advertising revenue declined and online publications became more dominant, McMillan was forced to downsize the team and reduce the magazine's publication frequency.

The Source was founded in August 1988, by two Harvard University students, David Mays and Jonathan Shecter. The two had the show Street Beat on the college radio station WHRB, initially using The Source to promote it. According to Mays, the name of the magazine comes from the song "Ya Slippin'" by Boogie Down Productions. The first issue was a one-page newsletter, distributed for free. It was printed on Mays's personal Macintosh computer and funded with $200 of their own money. The mailing list of the radio show's listeners initially served as the magazine's readership. Two other Harvard students, H. Edward Young and James Bernard, soon joined the team; Young helped Mays with the business side of the magazine, while Bernard and Shecter worked on its content. With a $10,000 loan from a friend, they purchased better hardware and rented an office in Somerville, Massachusetts, which allowed them to publish 10,000 copies every two months. During its first year, the magazine adopted full-color covers, and then transitioned into a professionally designed 64-page monthly magazine during the second year.

There was better criticism to be had in The Village Voice, better industry coverage in Billboard, better reporting and actual copy-editing in Spin, but The Source had the authority of young heads on a mission.

After Mays and Shecter graduated in June 1990, the magazine moved from Boston, Massachusetts to New York City. To financially support the move, the team asked for advance payments for ads from several record labels, raising $70,000. Their editorial team, called the Mind Squad, was also growing; by 1991, it included Reginald Dennis, Chris Wilder, Matteo "Matty C" Capoluongo, Rob "Reef" Tewlow, Bobbito Garcia, dream hampton, and Kierna Mayo, along with other contributors. Matty C was responsible for the "Unsigned Hype" section, which showcased up-and-coming rappers, and helped launch the careers of numerous artists, including Notorious B.I.G., DMX, Common, Mobb Deep, DJ Shadow, and Eminem. James Bernard became the magazine's coeditor-in-chief, and Chris Wilder was its senior editor. Reginald Dennis, who joined the magazine as an intern, became its music editor, responsible for the "Record Report" album review section. The Source's album ratings, presented on a scale from one to five microphones ("mics"), often led to hot debates, both inside the Mind Squad and outside of the magazine. Pitchfork's Dean Van Nguyen wrote: "The Source's mic-based rating system became the most trusted scale of quality in rap." The magazine's highest rating—five mics, signifying "a hip-hop classic"—became highly sought after. "That half-mic to five-mic system really meant something to hip-hop artists. People wanted to start fights with Source writers over reviews—and some writers got terrorized", said Greg Tate.

Since its early days, the magazine branched out from hip-hop music into topics like fashion, graffiti, and politics, highlighting various issues affecting the Black community. Adopting the tagline "the magazine of hip-hop music, culture & politics", The Source published stories on protests against police brutality, misogyny and violence against women. In 1991, the magazine hosted a summit for rappers affiliated with the Five-Percent Nation. Next year, James Bernard flew to Los Angeles during the riots and spent several days interviewing locals, publishing an article that stood apart from the coverage by the mainstream media.