“Please take care of my baby.”
Those were the words Quincy Jones said to me in November 2019, and they’ve stayed with me ever since.
Quincy created VIBE Magazine in 1992, a different time in the media landscape. Q was already one of the most accomplished producers in music history, the architect of Thriller, the biggest-selling album of all time. He saw a void in American media. Black culture was shaping music, fashion, language, film, and politics, but there wasn’t a mainstream publication reflecting its full power, sophistication, and authentic influence.
VIBE changed all that.
A preview issue was mocked up, featuring a young Treach of Naughty By Nature on the cover — soon becoming a cultural institution. VIBE wasn’t trying to join the conversation; it wanted to lead it. Like Rolling Stone, Q valued impactful journalism that held a mirror to American culture.
The magazine eventually expanded beyond print into television with VIBE’s late-night talk show, first hosted by Chris Spencer and later Sinbad, and the annual VIBE Awards. VIBE LIVE concerts and the VIBE Music Seminar rocked. The magazine’s glossy covers became collectible cultural moments.
Behind VIBE’s growing cultural force was a multitude of writers, thinkers, and artists, with many no longer with us, like Afrofuturist Greg Tate, award-winning photo director George Pitts, culture-shaping editor Shani Saxon, music editor Sacha Jenkins, Dave Bry, Bob Morales, Joe Wood, Da Ghetto Communicator, Ricky Powell, and Gary Koepke. Their brilliant work, alongside hundreds of VIBE alumni, built a legacy — a fearless blend of street sensibility, elevated style, sharp commentary, and cultural intuition. We also lost our founder, Quincy Jones, in 2024, but the spirit he instilled in this brand never disappeared.
Now, after a 12-year hiatus from print, VIBE Magazine is back in your hands.
Quincy Jones and Datwon Thomas after Jones received the AKG Lifetime Achievement Award on November 12, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.
Courtesy of Datwon Thomas
There could be no better cover star for this moment than Harlem’s own A$AP Rocky — a creative born of grit, whose artistry has expanded into music and fashion — not to mention a beautiful family with global icon Rihanna. His story reflects the limitless possibilities of modern Black ambition. His return to music and culture mirrors VIBE’s own bold return.
Which brings us to today.
The partnership between VIBE and Rolling Stone is unexpected, but we see it as a full-circle moment. Together, we now have an opportunity to preserve, elevate, and evolve music journalism for a new generation.
VIBE is not returning to relive the past, but rather to help shape the future.
Mr. Jones, we’re taking care of your baby.
Respectfully,
Datwon Thomas
Former VIBE Intern to Editor-in-Chief to Editor-at-Large