Main Source F*CK What You Think CD

Even if Main Source's lineup had remained the same for the follow-up to Breaking Atoms, the group would've had trouble following it up. That's not all the group had working against it. Most significantly, in a very gutsy move, K-Cut and Sir Scratch opted to keep Main Source running after the departure of Large Professor, easily their greatest asset as both an MC and a producer. They replaced him with the rougher-sounding Mikey D. and didn't return with F*ck What You Think until a full three years after Breaking Atoms impacted the hip-hop world. Needless to say, the group is much less of a force without their original member; while the in-house production isn't lacking by any stretch, it simply doesn't have the same degree of liveliness as Breaking Atoms, and there's nothing that makes Mikey D. a distinctive MC. Perhaps it's unfair to judge this record against a landmark that has such a different element to it; if this had been a debut by a new group, it probably would've gone down better. But, by retaining the name Main Source, K-Cut and Sir Scratch left themselves completely open. Regardless of the circumstances, F*ck What You Think does not sound like the work of a group. It sounds like the work of two remaining group members struggling to maintain completely lost momentum for all the wrong reasons. ~ Andy Kellman

Recorded at Platinum Island Studios, New York, New York in 1994.

Personnel: Mikey D. (rap vocals); Frank Easten, Shawn McKenzie (guitar); Stuart Charles (saxophone); Michael Warner (keyboards); Bob Power (bass guitar); Kevin McKenzie (drums).

DJs: K-Kut; L.T.; Sir Scratch.

Main Source: Mikey D. (rap vocals); K-Cut, Sir Scratch (scratches).

Additional personnel: Lotto, Shaqueen, Jay, Sheik (rap vocals); Frank Easton, Shawn McKenzie (guitar); Michael Deering (harmonica, percussion); Stuart Charles (saxophone); Michael Warner (keyboards); Bob Power (bass); Kevin McKenzie (drums).

Vibe (4/94, p.107) - "...DJs K-Cut and Sir Scratch return with the hardcore dynamics of Mikey D. And this Jamaica, Queens-bred MC--winner of the New Music Seminar's MC Battle in '88, where he defeated Melle Mel--is the key to Main Source's future..."