VX: Ten Years of VIBE Photography

The decade from 1993 to 2003 was the period during which hip-hop rose from an urban subculture to a multi-billion-dollar industry, whose styles and sound have affected every aspect of worldwide popular culture. One magazine led the way in chronicling this hip-hop revolution: VIBE. Launched by Quincy Jones in 1993, VIBE soon became the fastest-growing music magazine in history. Envisioning a multicultural future that has since become a reality, VIBE ushered in a new kind of celebrity: stars who challenged showbiz conventions and spoke to issues of race and identity. VIBE was the first magazine to profile future megastars like Snoop Doggy Dogg, Puff Daddy, and Mary J. Blige, while continuing to embrace pop royalty like Michael Jackson, Prince, Britney Spears, and Destiny's Child. The magazine also connected hip hop to the larger tradition of black music and the broader culture that informed it, with revealing profiles of figures like Al Green, Jennifer Lopez, movie stars like Will Smith, comedians like Chris Rock and Richard Pryor, sports figures like Shaquille O'Neal, and cultural icons like Oprah Winfrey and Louis Farrakhan. As part of the celebration of VIBE's 10th anniversary, the magazine's editors have gathered together some of the most powerful and compelling images ever to appear in the magazine, along with a selection of never-before-seen shots and outtakes. These photos showcase the work of some of the best contemporary photographers, and include images from Tupac Shakur in a straight jacket and the members of TLC in firemen's outfits (for an article in which Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes admitted to burning down her boyfriend's mansion) to candid shots of a porn star clutching a teddy bear and a resident of Watts, L.A. just getting through the day. VX: Ten Years of VIBE Photography will be the definitive photography book for the hip-hop generation.