Hip-hop magazines

Magazines have played a major part in the success of hip-hop music. From SPATE Magazine, to Vibe magazine,XXL magazine, Grip magazine, Don Diva magazine, The Source, Fader magazine and Complex magazine. These publications have followed hip-hop music and documented the ups and downs of the culture. From magazines distributed by major companies like Curtis Distribution to small local independently distributed magazines. The first documented hip-hop magazine was The Source founded about 20 years ago by Dave Mays. The Source was once a major force in hip-hop but within the past 5 years The Source has experienced a speedy decline in popularity due to lawsuits and inside company disputes. Now the number one magazine is XXL magazine and then you have Vibe magazine. Vibe magazine was founded by Quincy Jones about 10 years ago and financed by Time magazine. Vibe has become a stable in the hip-hop community and is still expanding and going strong today. Complex magazine was founded by Marc Ecko in 2002. Marc Ecko is a very important part of the hip-hop community because of his involvement is so many successful businesses such as video games, clothing, watches, shoes and other ventures. Complex magazine is still growing and is experiencing great success. You also have Scratch magazine that is a division of XXL magazine. Scratch magazine is dedicated to the producers and DJ's of hip-hop music.

Independent magazines

Starting a magazine can be very difficult because it takes capital in order to have a successful magazine launch. With the success of larger hip-hop magazines comes a whole new culture of independent magazines. An independent magazine is a magazine that does not have any ties to major distribution or companies. Solely distributed by the magazine itself or local news stands. Ozone magazine started as a small independent magazine but is now distributed by Curtis Distribution so it still has a smaller distribution than The Source but is on its way to becoming a major magazine. Ozone magazine is a southern hip-hop magazine founded by editor and chief Julia Beverly. SPATE Magazine was founded by Antoine King and editor and chief Rondell Maddox Aka MadMan. SPATE magazine has featured DJ Khaled, Pitbull and Khia on the covers. SPATE magazine is experiencing great growth but is still local in the New York area. Then you have other magazines like Grip Magazine, The Ave magazine and Rap pages magazine.

Online magazines
With the success of print magazines and the rise of internet use came a whole new crop of dot coms. You have the oldest online magazine and community Sohh, then you have allhiphop, hiphopdx, hiphopsite, hiphopgame, Undergroundhiphop, and many more. There are thousands of sites dedicated to hip hop music but these sites are the most popular with hits ranging form 20,000 a month to well over 3 million. Hip-hop newspapers are also becoming more popular but haven't experienced great success as of yet.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu