Live Session with B’EN Original of Urban Magazine
In this Live Session, I get to chop it up with B’EN Original, creator, and Publisher/Editor in Chief (website) of Urban Magazine, whose 30+ years in media have seen him doing stints with The Source, XXL, AllHipHop, and more before taking the leap and creating Urban Magazine in 2001. We got to talk about his journey, B’EN Original from the inside looking out, changes in the media industry, and how some journalists are abandoning journalistic integrity and taking Hip Hop culture to places that are only using it to gain $$$ and readers rather than celebrating the global phenomenon that is Black music.
Alongside the standard, turn an interview into a conversation questions, B’EN Original, and I spoke about the downturn of the print magazine. We both grew up on iconic outlets like Ebony, Jet Magazine (yes, I READ it), Quincy Jone’s Vibe Magazine, and the Hip Hop stalwarts, many of which he contributed to over his long and illustrious career. We both pondered how the digital revolution displaced some of our journalistic heroes and tomes, the people and things that kept us going as Black people. Naturally, we discussed whether or not we’d take our outlets back to physical newsstands or not…you probably already know the answer. We both came up in the media industry with the physical magazines as cherished items and have wondered what was the defining moment when it all changed!
It gets deep…Tune In!
Follow Urban Magazine, where they don’t just write about urban culture…they live it!
Website: https://www.urbanmag-online.com
Twitter: @benoriginal @urbanmagazine
Instagram: @benoriginal @urbanmagazine
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