EDITOR'S LETTER
Say what you want about VIBE's first ever Tabloid Issue: Bold! Amazing! Sensual! Exciting! But I tell you one thing, this was the year to do it - VIBE's wicked twin sibling.
To say 2007 has been a turbulent, dramatic, and melodramatic year is still underselling the 50 Cent/Kanye West CD sales "feud," the meteoric rise of Rihanna, the dance crazes, the last-minute, the Gangster resurrection of Jay-Z, the unlikely resurrection of Vans shoes, the enduring bond between Jay-Z and Beyoncé, Rihanna and Beyoncé neck and neck, the crash and burn of 50 Cent (a zillionaire's burn, which includes filming a $60 million movie with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro). Then there's The Game getting arrested, T.I. getting arrested, Lil Wayne getting arrested, DJ Drama getting arrested, Paris Hilton going to jail, Foxy Brown going to jail, Britney Spears shaving her head, Spears' sons being handed over to Big Poppa Kevin Federline, the divorce decree for Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, the eminent reemergence of Houston, Diddy and Kim "really" breaking up for good, Scary Spice having Eddie Murphy's daughter. Amy Winehouse carving tattoos into herself with broken glass, Winehouse's beehive, Lil Wayne's continued ascension to the top of the hip hop crop, J.Lo and Marc Anthony pregnant with twins, Akon losing sponsorship deals for dirty-dancing with a 14-year-old - I mean, as one of my favorite writers has as his e-mail tag (quoting Buju Banton), I could go on and on and the full has never been told - and probably never will be. But! Here we are, screaming headlines and all - delivering 2007 in all its riotous glory, and making predictions about what promises to be a great '08.
My main prediction, though, is that VIBE will have a magnificent 15th Anniversary year. Yes, it's our birthday, a big one, and we'll be celebrating each and every issue of 2008.
Join at this wild beginning of a banner year - why not? Shoot, this month? We've even got a crossword puzzle.
As ever,
Danyel Smith
Editor-in-Chief
P.S. A grand welcome to our new Associate Publisher Edgar Hernandez (he stays fresh), as well as to new Exec. Assistant to the E-I-C, indefatigable Shirea Carroll (a deacon's daughter, by the way). We say goodbye this issue to Group Publisher Len Burnett - a man who, off and on for the past 15 years, sweat blood for this brand. We bid him adieu with love and respect.
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Comments
1.
danityk101 says:
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where are the answers to the crossword puzzles??? somebody let me know??
February 5, 2008 at 8:27 am
2.
JIMMYRED says:
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where are the answers to the crossword puzzel?
January 8, 2008 at 1:32 am
3.
chocLACE says:
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Well we have to remember that celebs are human too, honestly do they need vibe to remind them of their worst times of the year. These things are all things that have been overly publicized by too many other media bashers.
January 3, 2008 at 7:48 am
4.
serikatatum says:
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I just want you to know you lost a customer and as thin as the mag was and the lack of advertising i would say that i am not the only one. I agree if I wanted to read about out black celbs getting tore down I would go to one of those blogs. At least hip hop weekly states what it is bullshit Vibe should now do the same
December 11, 2007 at 7:33 pm
5.
Ab223600 says:
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THE ONLY THING THAT WAS HOT BOUT THAT ISSUE WAS THE CROSSWORD PUZZLE!!!!!!!!!!!
December 11, 2007 at 1:38 pm
6.
Busisiwe says:
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I haven't seen it...but looking at the cover a definite Nooooooo. My heart bleeds for the trees cut down sooo unnecessarily
December 10, 2007 at 8:14 am
7.
MaceWindu says:
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I'm also a long-time subscriber, and I, too, was disappointed by this flimsy, so-called Tabloid issue. I found it to be a waste of time and paper. If I want some superficial, shallow, unentertaining tabloid, I'll go to the supermarket cashier and pick up some junk there. But I don't subscribe to VIBE for tabloid-like bites. I want the time back that I spent wasting leafing through this sad excuse for an issue. I hope it doesn't count toward my subscription. If it does, there's a problem. I hope the VIBE staff chooses to dump this "new" idea. Seeing this, I'm now considering cancelling my subscription, as this does seem to be pointing to some misguided, shallow future for VIBE.
December 8, 2007 at 4:41 am
8.
aikend says:
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I've been a subscriber for about ten years now and I was highly disappointed by this "tabloid" issue. I would have purchased US Weekly or Hip Hop Weekly if I wanted a tabloid magazine. Where's the intergrity in journalism? It just seems like everyone is hoping on the gossip blog bandwagon. Are gossip blogs killing journalism? You lose credibility with me when you quote "mediatakeout.com" as if they are a reliable source. Whatever you got to do to sell a magazine I guess. I'm very displeased.
December 7, 2007 at 8:58 pm