Say buh-bye to VIBE Magazine. The urban-music publication founded in 1993 by legendary producer Quincy Jones is closing its doors. Multiple sources in and outside the magazine industry tell the Daily Finance that VIBE is shutting down at close of business Tuesday.
“We will be making a statement by the end of the day. That’s all I can say at this point,” chief financial officer Angela Zucconi told the site this morning.
UPDATE:
It’s a wrap for VIBE.
The staff was told of the publication’s closure during a meeting at 2 PM EST on Tuesday.
“On behalf of the VIBE CONTENT staff, it is with great sadness, and with heads held high, that we leave the building today,” Editor-in-chief Danyel Smith said in a statement. “We were assigning and editing a Michael Jackson tribute issue when we got the news. It’s a tragic week overall, but as the doors of VIBE Media Group close, on the eve of the magazine’s 16th anniversary, it’s a sad day for music, for hip-hop in particular, and for the millions of readers and users who have loved and who continue to love the VIBE brand. We thank you, we have served you with joy, pride and excellence, and we will miss you.”
Irv Gotti recently addressed Eminem’s placement on VIBE’s “Best Rapper Alive” list and questioned the rapper’s emcee skills as compared to Jay-Z and Ja Rule.
Ok, we were with you on Jay, Irv, but you’d rank Ja Rule above Em? Blasphemy!
Claiming his opinion is not based on their previous beef, Irv explained his gripe in an interview with MTV News.
“Vibe did a thing and they had him as the No. 1 rapper,” Gotti said. “Shit like that kinda pisses me off. You know why? Because let’s take Eminem’s records. Watch my analogy. Eminem is a great artist, no doubt. He puts words together, he’s witty, a smart lyricist, a great lyricist. But how can we say the guy is the best rapper alive? Look at Hov…I been to battles with [DMX], Jay and Ja, that was some real shit. Homie, you wouldn’t been able to survive…I say take Eminem, and let him say ‘Hard Knock Life.’ Still hot. Now, let’s have Jay-Z say the ‘We Made You’ song. They would laugh him out the fucking building…It would be over.”
VIBE announced Eminem as the winner of the urban mag’s “Best Rapper Alive” competition.
The Detroit MC took the crown as the Original King of Hip-Hop with sixty-nine percent of the fan vote, according to VIBE. Read the rest of this entry »
VIBE has issued a statement into recent accusations from R&B star Robin Thicke that accuse the urban mag of being racist and failing to offer him a spot on its cover because he is White. Read the rest of this entry »
