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Jun

Hip-Hop, R&B

What Am I Going To Do With 50 Subscriptions to Vibe?

The first person to guess in the comment what movie that line is from (its an easy one) will get the Beautiful Mindz promo CD, featuring Dudley Perkins, Georgia Anne Muldrow and DJ 2Tall.

I’ve been a subscriber to Vibe Magazine for damn near 10 years now, but in that time span, the magazine has went from one of the best magazines in Black culture to an absolute shell of itself that’s trying to catch up. Really, the only reason I still subscribe to the magazine is because they keep giving me the this unbelievable 2 years for $11.95 rate, but even now I have to question….is it worth it?

Let’s be honest, the Mimi Valdes era at Vibe was a straight disaster. The magazine garnered backlash from its longtime subscribers (such as myself) for trying to chase the 106 and Park crowd, as well as longtime employees of the magazine (read the Bitter Vibes archives) . They added the Vibe Confidential section and tried their hardest to imitate Concrete Loop, but by the time they went to press all of their gossip “news” was old anyway.

The Danyel Smith era is getting better for Vibe, but it’s almost too little too late for me. Even with new leadership the magazine seems to try and reinvent itself every month.

So is there still a decent magazine for a middle class “urban” demographic? Fader? XXL? Complex? What are y’all reading these days?

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6 Comments

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Danny! on June 11th, 2007 12:54 pm

Office Space. Now give me my CD!

Vibe has taken a turn for the worse as of late, but maybe things’ll get better. MAYBE…?

Himalaya on June 11th, 2007 3:49 pm

Office Space.

and I mess with vibe, fader, complex and URB. also straight no chaser when I can get my hands on it.

Rob Fields on June 11th, 2007 6:51 pm

Who’s getting my subscription $$? XLR8R. Also 21st Century Hustle, but that’s just my two cents.

BTW, nice re-design.

Lady Glock on June 11th, 2007 7:30 pm

I was never very much into music magazines that looked so glossy you needed sunglasses to wear them. And you know me…I’m always deconstructing social issues in popular culture, so for the most part, magazines like Vibe, The Source. Rolling Stone and Spin tend to make me feel a little queasy.

Also, if the photographs look like they have been photoshopped to such a degree that the subjects don’t look real anymore, the magazine goes back onto the shelf.

It’s hard not to find issues in most magazines today, but one can try. My magazine reading list generally consists of:

The Fader
URB
XLR8R
Beautiful Decay
Swindle
Trace
Sneaker Freaker (is that considered a magazine?)

Oh and I did buy a copy of Elle last week, but it was mainly for the ultra cool pair of flip flops that came with it.

Stone on June 13th, 2007 2:22 pm

Yo, thx for the suggestions!

I forgot to tell y’all that I subscribe to Complex and I’m about to get a Fader subscription next paycheck. I’ll def. check out XLR8R and Trace.

Ms.Marsha on June 20th, 2007 11:31 pm

i LOVE that people still buy magazines.

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