Urban magazines

As any hip-hop fan will tell you, Southern urban artists are killing it right now. So it makes sense that several Atlanta publications have emerged to capitalize on the phenomenon. Some of the titles we've seen on newsstands include Grip, The Juice, Holla, World Famous and Plugd.

But it's also a volatile market, and new magazines usually don't last. When The Juice's second issue hit stores last fall, it boasted an impressive two special editions and four covers, two for each edition. Its contents, slick and professionally executed by a sizable staff (including Trina as fashion editor and Da Brat as hair editor), ran over 100 pages. When we tried to reach The Juice's owners, however, the main phone number printed in the magazine was disconnected. We randomly called one of the advertising executives' numbers and got Brad McWhorter, who said the fourth issue of The Juice will soon be published.

"It's hard to really look at one issue and judge [the magazine] by that," says Julia Beverly, who publishes Ozone magazine. Based out of Orlando and entering its fourth year of business, Ozone is the most established Southern hip-hop publication. "People don't realize how expensive it is," she says. "I see it all the time — and not just in Atlanta — where a magazine will come out that's really impressive, nice and thick, nice paper, graphics and everything. Then they print up 50,000 copies that just end up sitting around. And it never really picks up, because they don't stay consistent."

Grip, with a motto of "Urban Everything Urban Everyone," appears to be the most stable. Since first launching in May 2005, Grip has expanded to a circulation of 50,000, national distribution, and a bimonthly print schedule. (You can access its website at www.grpmag.com.)

Still in the start-up phase, Grip's owners admit they haven't found a profitable niche yet. Though based in Atlanta, they want to expand the magazine's readership to reach urban trendsetters nationwide. "We're trying to define ourselves in the industry," says Publisher and CEO Key Anthony. They haven't reached that goal yet, but are already benefiting from timely editorial content: New York rap star Busta Rhymes, who is in the news for his hot new single, "Touch It," is on the cover of the third issue.

"We can put out the product we have based on the publisher's ability to provide us with great printers, the best designers, and great writers," says Grip Editor in Chief Linda Day. "The editorial vision is much broader than the other [Atlanta hip-hop] magazines out right now."