Rap-Up
Encyclopedia
Rap-Up is a magazine
launched in 2001 by founder Devin Lazerine. The publication was originally a website devoted to hip hop
, until Lazerine decided to pitch the possibility of a magazine to several publishers. The magazine is focused on the hip hop and R&B
aspect of the music
industry, and predominantly features interviews with artists, actors and other entertainers. Issued quarterly, the magazine's target audience was the 14 to 28 demographic, although the demographic has become older over time.
The magazine's first two issues were one time deals, although Lazerine and his brother Cameron received attention for their age and white background. The magazine restarted publication in 2005, when it managed to sell enough copies to ensure future releases. The magazine is sold in more than 20 countries, and a separate handbook has been released, chronicling the history of hip hop. The magazine has been nominated for two awards, and is often referenced by other magazines.
of hip hop news, gossip and top-ten music lists. After listening to the song "Insane in the Brain
" by Cypress Hill
at the age of 10, he wanted to be in the music industry but "wasn't able to sing or rap, so that wasn't an option". Several days after launching the website, Devin decided to pitch the idea of a magazine to select publishers; the next day, a publisher from H&S Media expressed interest in the concept. Devin worked with his brother Cameron to create the magazine, and decided it would be for a young audience, in particular the 14 to 28 demographic. The magazine's first issue was published by H&S Media in 2001; however, the company went bankrupt shortly after publishing the first issue, which sold 200,000 copies. Rap-Up was resurrected in 2003 by Total Media Group as an insert in the magazine Urban Teen Scene. The insert attracted media attention—mainly because of the brothers' age and race—in USA Today
and The Los Angeles Times.
The brothers began working on a third issue in 2004, without the backing of a publishing company
. The largest advertisers were ring tone providers, while others included the Navy
, clothing labels, videogames, Sony
, Black Entertainment Television
and Reebok
. The editorials were written by 10 journalism students, and the photos were contributed by publicists. Art director Ian Lynam, who designed the magazine, sent everything online from Japan. The issue was released in March 2005, and cost $35,000 to produce. It featured singer Chingy
on the cover, and 80,000 copies were distributed around the world. Beginning with the eleventh issue, which was published in summer 2008, Lynam redesigned the magazine's cover and contents. The main reason for the redesign was the change from a younger target audience to an older and more sophisticated one. Lynam felt the facelift "imbue[d] it with a more demure and cosmopolitan aesthetic."
The magazine is not audit
ed, and is sold in more than 20 countries. In the U.S., the magazine is sold by Wal-Mart
, Barnes & Noble
, Borders Group
and Tower Records
. Devin calls Rap-Up "a magazine for Generation Y
by Generation Y". He serves as a writer, publisher and editor in chief
, and oversees editorial content and advertising sales. Cameron works as publisher and assistant editor, and is in charge of printing, production, distribution and shipping of the magazine. In 2008, the magazine released a handbook entitled, Rap-Up: The Ultimate Guide to Hip-Hop and R&B, which was published by Grand Central Publishing/Hachette Book Group
. The book chronicles the history of hip hop, and features a foreword by rapper T.I.
.
and XXL
by showing the mainstream
side of performers. Pitt said that the magazine is "not the street version [...] It has a very populist approach, in the way of People magazine
or Entertainment Weekly
." In 2003, Devin was included on Fast Company
s list of "Champions of Innovation whose achievements are changing companies and our culture". In 2006, the magazine was nominated for "Best New Consumer Publication" at the 55th Annual Maggie Awards. In 2007, the website Rap-Up.com received a nomination for "Best Hip-Hop Magazine Site" at the Vh1 Hip Hop Honors.
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
launched in 2001 by founder Devin Lazerine. The publication was originally a website devoted to hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
, until Lazerine decided to pitch the possibility of a magazine to several publishers. The magazine is focused on the hip hop and R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
aspect of the music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
industry, and predominantly features interviews with artists, actors and other entertainers. Issued quarterly, the magazine's target audience was the 14 to 28 demographic, although the demographic has become older over time.
The magazine's first two issues were one time deals, although Lazerine and his brother Cameron received attention for their age and white background. The magazine restarted publication in 2005, when it managed to sell enough copies to ensure future releases. The magazine is sold in more than 20 countries, and a separate handbook has been released, chronicling the history of hip hop. The magazine has been nominated for two awards, and is often referenced by other magazines.
History
Rap-Up was founded by Devin Lazerine when he was 15 years old as an after-school hobby; the magazine was an online compendiumCompendium
A compendium is a concise, yet comprehensive compilation of a body of knowledge. A compendium may summarize a larger work. In most cases the body of knowledge will concern some delimited field of human interest or endeavour , while a "universal" encyclopedia can be referred to as a compendium of...
of hip hop news, gossip and top-ten music lists. After listening to the song "Insane in the Brain
Insane in the Brain
"Insane in the Brain" is a hit single by the American hip hop group Cypress Hill. It was released in 1993 and in addition to hitting number 1 on the US rap chart, the song also was a surprise crossover hit, reaching number 19 in the Hot 100 chart in 1994. It was highly successful in other countries...
" by Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. Cypress Hill was the first Latino hip-hop group to have platinum and multi-platinum albums, selling over 18 million albums worldwide...
at the age of 10, he wanted to be in the music industry but "wasn't able to sing or rap, so that wasn't an option". Several days after launching the website, Devin decided to pitch the idea of a magazine to select publishers; the next day, a publisher from H&S Media expressed interest in the concept. Devin worked with his brother Cameron to create the magazine, and decided it would be for a young audience, in particular the 14 to 28 demographic. The magazine's first issue was published by H&S Media in 2001; however, the company went bankrupt shortly after publishing the first issue, which sold 200,000 copies. Rap-Up was resurrected in 2003 by Total Media Group as an insert in the magazine Urban Teen Scene. The insert attracted media attention—mainly because of the brothers' age and race—in USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
and The Los Angeles Times.
The brothers began working on a third issue in 2004, without the backing of a publishing company
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
. The largest advertisers were ring tone providers, while others included the Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, clothing labels, videogames, Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
, Black Entertainment Television
Black Entertainment Television
Black Entertainment Television is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young Black-American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its...
and Reebok
Reebok
Reebok International Limited, a subsidiary of the German sportswear company Adidas since 2005, is a producer of Athletic shoes, apparel, and accessories. The name comes from the Afrikaans spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle...
. The editorials were written by 10 journalism students, and the photos were contributed by publicists. Art director Ian Lynam, who designed the magazine, sent everything online from Japan. The issue was released in March 2005, and cost $35,000 to produce. It featured singer Chingy
Chingy
Howard Bailey, Jr. , better known by his stage name Chingy, is an American rapper.Chingy grew up in the Walnut Park section of St. Louis and began rapping in earnest in his late teens...
on the cover, and 80,000 copies were distributed around the world. Beginning with the eleventh issue, which was published in summer 2008, Lynam redesigned the magazine's cover and contents. The main reason for the redesign was the change from a younger target audience to an older and more sophisticated one. Lynam felt the facelift "imbue[d] it with a more demure and cosmopolitan aesthetic."
The magazine is not audit
Audit
The general definition of an audit is an evaluation of a person, organization, system, process, enterprise, project or product. The term most commonly refers to audits in accounting, but similar concepts also exist in project management, quality management, and energy conservation.- Accounting...
ed, and is sold in more than 20 countries. In the U.S., the magazine is sold by Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
, Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest book retailer in the United States, operating mainly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores headquartered at 122 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District in Manhattan in New York City. Barnes & Noble also operated the chain of small B. Dalton...
, Borders Group
Borders Group
Borders Group, Inc. was an international book and music retailer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The company employed approximately 19,500 throughout the U.S., primarily in its Borders and Waldenbooks stores....
and Tower Records
Tower Records
Tower Records was a retail music chain that was based in Sacramento, California. It currently exists as an international franchise and an online music store....
. Devin calls Rap-Up "a magazine for Generation Y
Generation Y
Generation Y, also known as the Millennial Generation , Generation Next, Net Generation, or Echo Boomers, describes the demographic cohort following Generation X. There are no precise dates for when the Millennial generation starts and ends, and commentators have used birth dates ranging somewhere...
by Generation Y". He serves as a writer, publisher and editor in chief
Editor in chief
An editor-in-chief is a publication's primary editor, having final responsibility for the operations and policies. Additionally, the editor-in-chief is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members as well as keeping up with the time it takes them to complete their task...
, and oversees editorial content and advertising sales. Cameron works as publisher and assistant editor, and is in charge of printing, production, distribution and shipping of the magazine. In 2008, the magazine released a handbook entitled, Rap-Up: The Ultimate Guide to Hip-Hop and R&B, which was published by Grand Central Publishing/Hachette Book Group
Hachette Book Group USA
Hachette Book Group is a publishing company owned by Hachette Livre, the largest publishing company in France, and the second largest publisher in the world. Hachette Livre is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lagardère Group. HBG was formed when Hachette Livre purchased the Time Warner Book Group from...
. The book chronicles the history of hip hop, and features a foreword by rapper T.I.
T.I.
Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. , better known by his stage name T.I., is an American rap artist, film and music producer, actor and author. He is also the founder and co-chief executive officer of Grand Hustle Records....
.
Impact
Bob Baker, the former publisher of H&S Media, praised Devin for having the "gumption to seek out publishers, to say 'I want to do this and how do I do it?' I focus more on his age than his race." Lou Pitt, a manager and producer of film and television, found that Rap-Up stood out from magazines Vibe, The SourceThe Source (magazine)
The Source is a United States-based, monthly full-color magazine covering hip-hop music, politics, and culture, founded in 1988. It is the world's second longest running rap periodical, behind United Kingdom-based publication Hip Hop Connection. The Source was founded as a newsletter in 1988...
and XXL
XXL (magazine)
XXL is a Hip-Hop magazine, published by Harris Publications.In 1997, XXL was founded by former Source staffers as well as other Harris Publication employees, who wanted to create their own magazine about the hip-hop music and culture using the model developed by the founders of The Source...
by showing the mainstream
Mainstream
Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....
side of performers. Pitt said that the magazine is "not the street version [...] It has a very populist approach, in the way of People magazine
People (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
or Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
." In 2003, Devin was included on Fast Company
Fast Company (magazine)
Fast Company is a full-color business magazine that releases 10 issues per year and reports on topics including innovation, digital media, technology, change management, leadership, design, and social responsibility...
s list of "Champions of Innovation whose achievements are changing companies and our culture". In 2006, the magazine was nominated for "Best New Consumer Publication" at the 55th Annual Maggie Awards. In 2007, the website Rap-Up.com received a nomination for "Best Hip-Hop Magazine Site" at the Vh1 Hip Hop Honors.