Mr Faqs : An Ode to Vibe

I don't remember the date fondly but, I do remember the day. It was the summer of 1997 and I was in the Stop 'N Go on Wallisville Road in the front of Pine Trails:A Deed Restricted Community. There she was, her brown skin standing still with perfect form. Her left arm covering her bare breast while a white sheet held by her right hand covers her intersection. The Toni Braxton Vibe cover of June/July 1997 will forever be etched in my memory. In my opinion, this is one of the most iconic magazine covers by any publication of my generation. Surprisingly enough with all the outrage surrounding the cover at the time of its release, not much is mentioned online, including its exclusion from her and Vibe's wikipedia pages. Perhaps its not remembered at all and I've just been a pervert since a young age.

Toni Braxton certainly was not the first (and certainly will not be the last) female celebrity to strike a provocative pose. But this wasn't soft-core porn or some high-society coffee table book. This was Vibe, at the time a four year old "urban" demographic magazine with a growing readership. This was before King Magazine made it popular for black female stars to sell-ass and before Maxim did the same for whites. This was before distinctly Black music, art and style were termed pop and covered by Rolling Stone. This was before Complex. Vibe Magazine was a trail blazer and with its demise comes not only he end of an era in print media, but also the end of an era in Black culture.

Vibe was not The Source. It never had [never] has-been rappers at it helm. It had substance. When Quincy Jones launched Vibe in 1993 he created a voice for urban young people who were not covered by Ebony, Essence and Jet. After Highlights, Vibe the only other magazine that came in the mail with my name on it. I remember the Cash Money cover when they were on the bubble, the artist of Next who went on to become then and now, the 20 Questions that made me laugh and think. As I grew up though, I started to neglect Vibe. The most recent copy I picked up in years was when they endorsed Obama. I was immediately disappointed in the reduced-size format. I always imagined I would see it again, and now I won't be so lucky.
Vibes gone, but sister2sister still goes strong. That just aint right. We can fall back on XXL but Vibe left a void that currently is not filled.

Vibe represented a generation of young Black readers, artist, writers and photographers whose aspirations were amongst its pages. As of June 30, 2009 we all have to come up back-up plan.