''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment
magazine founded by producers
David Salzman and
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...
. The publication predominantly features
R&B and
hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down production in the summer of 2009, it was purchased by the private equity investment fund
InterMedia Partners
InterMedia Advisors, LLC (a..k.a. InterMedia Partners), is a private equity investment firm focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments in the media sector.
The firm, which was founded in 2005 by notable private equity investo ...
, then issued bi-monthly with double covers and a larger online presence. The magazine's target demographic is predominantly young, urban followers of hip hop culture. In 2014, the magazine discontinued its print version.
The magazine features a broader range of interests than its closest competitors ''
The Source'' and ''
XXL'', which focus more narrowly on rap music, or the rock and pop-centric ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...
'' and ''
Spin''.
Publication history
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...
launched ''Vibe'' in 1993, in partnership with
Time Inc. Originally, the publication was called ''Volume'' before co-founding editor,
Scott Poulson-Bryant named it ''Vibe''. Though hip hop mogul
Russell Simmons was rumored to be an initial partner, publisher Len Burnett revealed in a March 2007 interview that Simmons clashed with editor-in-chief Jonathan Van Meter. In May 1994, Meter resigned after Jones prevented the publication of the June/July 1994 issue featuring
Madonna on
Dennis Rodman on the cover. Meter's successors were
Alan Light,
Danyel Smith,
Emil Wilbekin
Emil Wilbekin (born September 16, 1967, in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American journalist, media executive, stylist, content creator, culture critic, and human rights activist. He is the former editor-in-chief of ''Vibe'' and ''Giant'', editor-at-lar ...
, Mimi Valdes, and finally Danyel Smith again.
Miller Publishing purchased ''Vibe'' in 1996, and shortly afterward bought ''
Spin''. A
private equity firm, Wicks Group, bought the magazine in 2006. On June 30, 2009, it was announced that ''Vibe'' was ceasing publication immediately, although according to ''
Essence'', Quincy Jones stated he would like to keep it alive online.
After shutting down, private equity investment fund
InterMedia Partners
InterMedia Advisors, LLC (a..k.a. InterMedia Partners), is a private equity investment firm focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments in the media sector.
The firm, which was founded in 2005 by notable private equity investo ...
bought ''Vibe'' magazine. They added ''Uptown'' magazine to ''Vibe''s parent company, Vibe Holdings.
Ronald Burkle and
Magic Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. He is often regarded as the greatest point guard of all-time and has been compared with Stephen Curry. Johnson played 13 seasons in th ...
later invested in the company. Vibe Holdings merged with
BlackBook Media to form Vibe Media in 2012.
On April 25, 2013 it was announced that ''Vibe'' magazine along with vibe.com and vibevixen.com had been sold to
Spin Media for an undisclosed sum. Spin Media was thought likely to shut down ''Vibe''s print magazine by the end of 2013, which a representative stating: "We're still trying to find a print model that makes economic sense in the digital age." Instead, they cut the magazine's frequency to quarterly.
In December 2016,
Eldridge Industries acquired SpinMedia via the Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group for an undisclosed amount.
Covers
''Vibe'' magazine was known for the creative direction of their covers. R&B singer
Mary J. Blige repeatedly was on the cover of ''Vibe'' with countless articles following her career. The trio
TLC was photographed for the cover in firefighters' gear, referencing the fact that member
Lisa Lopes burned down the house of then-boyfriend and
NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
star
Andre Rison. The first non-photograph cover of ''Vibe'' was an illustration of late singer
Aaliyah by well-known artist/illustrator Alvaro; this was
Aaliyah's first appearance on the cover as well. Other famous cover subjects are
Trey Songz,
Brandy,
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, ...
,
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the ...
,
Beyoncé,
Amerie,
Jennifer Lopez,
Keyshia Cole,
Janet Jackson,
Lil Wayne,
The Fugees,
Eminem,
T.I.,
R. Kelly,
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
(whom Quincy Jones' daughter Kidada had dressed in hip hop clothing, reportedly for the first and only time in the entertainer's career),
Ciara, who also appeared on the cover numerous times and rap legend
Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...
's famous cover story in which he reveals important details about his non-fatal 1994 NYC shooting (two years before his death in Las Vegas, Nevada).
Electro-
rapper Kesha became the first
white
White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...
female artist to appear on the cover as a solo act in October 2012.
Content
Featured segments included the back page list "20 Questions"', the ''Boomshots'' column about
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the ...
and
Caribbean music by Rob Kenner; "Revolutions" music reviews; "Vibe Confidential", a celebrity gossip column; and "Next", which profiled up-and-coming artists. The magazine also devoted several pages to photo spreads displaying high-end designer clothing as well as sportswear by urban labels such as
Rocawear and
Fubu.
''Vibe'' made a consistent effort to feature models of all ethnicities in these pages. Former editor Emil Wilbikin was frequently credited with styling those pages and keeping fashion in the forefront of the magazine's identity during the early 2000s. Many clothing brands created or linked to hip hop celebrities, such as
Sean Combs
Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...
'
Sean John, Nelly's
Apple Bottoms, and
G-Unit by
50 Cent found plenty of exposure in ''Vibe''s pages.
In the September 2003 issue commemorating ten years of publication, the magazine created different covers using black and white portraits of its most popular cover subjects. It also contained "The Vibe 100: The Juiciest People, Places and Things of the Year".
Many successful writers and editors contributed to the publication, including
Alan Light,
Jeff Chang,
Dream Hampton
Dream Hampton (stylized as dream hampton) is an American filmmaker, producer, and writer. Her work includes the 2019 Lifetime documentary series ''Surviving R. Kelly'', which she executive produced, and the 2012 '' An Oversimplification of Her B ...
, Cheo Hodari Coker,
Kevin Powell,
Erica Kennedy
Erica Kennedy (March 24, 1970 – June 13, 2012) was an American author, blogger, news correspondent, fashion journalist, and singer. Her 2004 novel ''Bling'', became a ''New York Times'' bestseller. In 2010, she was named to the list of 1 ...
, Sacha Jenkins, Noah Callahan-Bever and
Miles Marshall Lewis.
Mark Shaw was the magazine's art director.
Expanding the brand
In addition to the magazine, ''Vibe'' also publishes books on hip hop culture. To celebrate the magazine's tenth anniversary, it published ''VX: Ten Years of Vibe Photography,'' which featured a bare-chested
50 Cent on the cover. The volume also includes photos of
Alicia Keys,
RZA
Robert Fitzgerald Diggs (born July 5, 1969), better known by his stage name the RZA ( ), is an American rapper, actor, filmmaker, and record producer. He is the ''de facto'' leader of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, having produced most albums ...
from the
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close a ...
,
Eve,
Chuck D of
Public Enemy
"Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...
, and
Run-D.M.C. Works by prominent photographers
Albert Watson,
Ellen von Unwerth,
David LaChapelle, and Sante D'Orazio are among the 150 photographs in the hardcover edition.
Other books published under the ''Vibe'' banner cover the history of hip hop, the women of hip hop, and rappers
Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...
and
The Notorious B.I.G. Additionally, the magazine published a spin-off publication, ''Vibe Vixen'', from 2004 to 2007. Aimed at ''Vibe''s female multicultural demographic, ''Vibe Vixen'' included features on beauty, fashion, and female entertainers. R&B starlet
Ciara appeared on the inaugural issue's cover.
Spencer was fired in October 1997 and replaced by comedian
Sinbad, along with
Big Boy as the in-house announcer. As was common practice for late-night talk shows (established by
Johnny Carson and
Merv Griffin), it had a live band, led by keyboardist Greg Phillinganes; Jones worked with him during productions for
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
's albums ''Thriller'' and ''Off The Wall''. The program aired in first-run syndication until the summer of 1998, when it was canceled. The show was taped at
CBS Television City in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
.
Other platforms featuring the ''Vibe'' brand are ''Vibe Online'', the magazine's online presence; ''Vibe On Demand'', an on-demand network
VLN TV an online video channel; ''Vibe Film''; ''MVibe'', a wireless content provider for hand-held devices as well as CD and DVD lines distributed under the same name; and ''The Vibe Music Mixer'', is available for
iPhone and
iPad
The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operati ...
.
In May 2015, ''Vibe'' expanded its brand by adding the digital extension, ''Vibe Viva''. ''Vibe Viva'' is a space where Latinos can explore their rich history, and see what is driving Latin culture.
In October 2019 ''Vibe'' co-hosted Billboard's 2019 Hip Hop Power Players event in NYC.
Vibe Awards
Beginning in 2003, ''Vibe'' produced and aired its annual awards show on
UPN through 2006, and
VH1 Soul in 2007.
An incident occurred at the 2004 ''Vibe Awards'' taping at the
Santa Monica Airport hangar, in which
G-Unit rapper
Young Buck stabbed 26-year-old Los Angeles native, Jimmy James Johnson after Johnson approached
Dr. Dre under the pretense of asking for an autograph, and then assaulted him. Young Buck later pleaded no contest to a charge of "assault likely to produce great bodily harm," and was sentenced to three years' probation and 80 hours of community service.
Other editions
''
Vibe Vixen'' was a magazine geared towards female readers of ''Vibe'' magazine that covered beauty, dating, entertainment, fashion, and societal issues for "urban minded females". The magazine was initially released in fall of 2004, and sales were considered successful enough for the magazine to be issued on a quarterly basis. ''Vibe Vixen'' folded after its August/September 2007 issue due to low circulation.
Stars featured on ''Vibe Vixen''s covers included Ciara,
Tracee Ellis Ross,
Kimora Lee Simmons,
Kelis,
Lauren London,
LaLa Anthony
Alani Nicole "La La" Anthony (née Vázquez; born June 25, 1979 ) is an American television personality and actress. In the early 2000s, she worked as an MTV VJ on ''Total Request Live''. She was the host of the VH1 reality television reunion s ...
and
Tia Mowry.
References
External links
*
* , an interview with the former
editor-in-chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vibe (magazine)
African-American magazines
Fashion magazines published in the United States
Online music magazines published in the United States
Quarterly magazines published in the United States
Hip hop magazines
Magazines disestablished in 2014
Magazines established in 1993
Magazines published in New York City
Online magazines with defunct print editions