Quincy Jones' love letter to hip-hop

Vibe Magazine saw hip-hop through the lens of luxury and aspiration

Quincy Jones, the icon of music, film and TV, died today at the age of 91. With a career spanning some 70 years, there’s too many accomplishments to name: Grammy Award-winning artist, Thriller producer, the mastermind behind The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. But for hip-hop fans and music journalists, we have to remember his love letter Vibe magazine.

I delved into the origin story of the publication for my book Fashion Killa: How Hip-Hop Revolutionized High Fashion by speaking to the key players of the test issue featuring Treach of Naughty by Nature in 1992 and the inaugural issue in 1993 with Snoop Doggy Dogg. Vibe was Quincy’s vision to elevate hip-hop into the same spaces as Vogue and Rolling Stone. It was hip-hop but through an all-encompassing cultural lens: fashion, politics, Hollywood.

One of my favorite stories is how Quincy killed the cover story featuring Madonna and NBA star Dennis Rodman because he thought it would be too controversial for the time. Ah the ‘90s. Tame by today’s standards right?

I highly recommend reading Quincy’s autobiography and seeing the 2018 documentary, Quincy, helmed by his daughter Rashida Jones. And if you need a laugh, his extremely candid conversation with New York Magazine is a treasure trove of honesty, frankness and sass.

RIP to the legend.