Image Source: Cover of The Source Issue #70 (July 1995) – Fair Use

James Bernard, one of the co-founders of The Source magazine and a man who helped legitimize hip-hop to the world, has died. This loss hit those of us who truly love the culture of this musical style—one that finds its origins in the Bronx of the 1970s—especially hard.

Questlove, the drummer for The Roots and one of the foremost historians of rap music, paid tribute to Bernard on Instagram, writing: “His passion for music was legendary. A class act. James helped shepherd hip-hop from skepticism to seriousness, from novelty to culture. This loss........

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