The only surprise about VIBE magazine closing its doors earlier this week… is that it didn’t happen to The Source first. VIBE’s been over for a hot minute now, if we wanna be real about it. It went from subscribe-worthy, to buy-it-if-it’s-a-good-issue-worthy, to thumb-thru-it-in-Rite-Aid-while-you-wait-for-your-laundry-to-finish-worthy.
Two months ago, I recieved my neighbor’s new issue in the mail by mistake and kinda sorta forgot to give it to her (hope she’s not readin’ this). I remembered when VIBE was taller than the other mags, thicker than the other mags, and had quality interviews. THIS thing I was looking at was about 90 pages deep, half of which were ads, and the best article was about ya man “Boogaloo Shrimp” from Breakin’. No dis to those who were still workin’ hard on the ship as it sank, but shit’s been wack for a minute. I still don’t know how I feel about that time they had Pliiiies on the cover and called him “The Future of Rap”. Bonkers!
But my intent here is not to maliciously dump on the final days of VIBE. Lord knows, I don’t need anyone calling me “retarded” again, like I give a fuck. I’d rather talk about the better days. From the early-to-mid-’90s, VIBE came through my mailslot every month, and I’d spend at least a good 90 minutes reading it from cover-to-cover. It was a more diverse (although not better) version of my favorite mag at the time, The Source. Whereas I could count on The Source for the best articles on the hip-hop artists, VIBE had the best on the singers, the movies, TV, and other random “urban pop culture” shit.
There, I could read about things like Prince’s reasoning behind “the symbol” or Chaka Khan’s unfavorable opinion of Mary J. singing “Sweet Thing”. When the R. Kelly/Aaliyah story broke, they had the marriage license and some mo’ shit. I’d even read the mini-articles about stuff I didn’t know about. One feature that stood out to me was the story of DJ Larry Levan- I had no clue who he was, but I was interested in his story once I got to the end. Nowadays (and for the better), we can hop on the net and get the full story about everything, and immediately at that. But at that time, the magazines had all the stories for people like myself, who were interested beyond the music.
One thing that VIBE will be remembered for is the role it played in the East Coast/West Coast Bad Boy/Death Row beef. Almost every seed in that situation was planted in their pages. From 2Pac describing the Quad Studios shooting, to Puffy questioning the authenticity of “Thug Life”, to ‘Pac hinting on that he smashed Faith. When Dre left Death Row, they had the first interview. When Puff expressed plans to put out his own album, they covered that. And of course, when the biggest stars from each label got killed, they had the story on those. For better or worse, VIBE was the mag that had a crucial part in that whole ‘95-’97 stretch.
But, after VIBE lost its initial relevance, they never got it back. Personally, I blame that lame talk show they had. They meant well, but that shit died fast. Most people stopped checkin’ for VIBE by the early part of the 2000s, and before long it was about as relevant as Right On! is. And now, it’s officially a wrap. Quincy Jones has been discussing trying to bring it back in digital form, but even he realizes that the power of the pages is gone. Matter fact, it likely won’t be the last mag to go under this year (just like it wasn’t the first). Good read while it lasted, though. Rest well, VIBE.
AND JUST ON G.P.:
A Tribe Called Quest “Vibes And Stuff” (1991)
R. Kelly & Public Announcement “She’s Got That Vibe” (1992)
Boyz II Men feat. Treach, Craig Mack, Busta Rhymes, & Method Man “Vibin’” (Remix) (1995)
P.S. Damn shame THIS had to be the final physical issue:
I mean, got-damn: even KING got to go out with Tahiry’s iconic ass on the cover. Does it get any more anti-climactic than this? I’m just sayin’…
-D!
Posted by Danj! 
