A Shot of Incilin

“I been thinking, it’s good to be in on something from the ground floor. I came too late for that, I know. But lately I’m getting the feeling I came in at the end; the best is over.” – Tony Soprano, The Sopranos, Pilot Episode

I only interned at Vibe for one semester but it was by far the most rewarding and fulfilling job I ever had. Some touching tributes have already been written and a great obituary (of sorts) appeared in the Times, but I do have a few memories of my own to tell.

Here’s just a handful of the great memories and the amazing people I met while working at Vibe: Shirea gave me the job. Danyel gave me inspiration. Rob gave me books. Sean let me do an interview. Ben gave me props. Linda gave me advice. Diona took my picture. Crystal shared her M&Ms. Tracy made me laugh. Andrea let me edit. Jozen let me report. And Jon got my name in the mag.

I thank everyone for everything they taught me while I was there. I still haven’t gotten my head wrapped around this whole thing, but I’ll will say this: When I was at Vibe, I the life I always dreamed of seemed well within my reach even though I knew there was a giant piano dangling above the whole industry.

That’s why I quoted the Sopranos. It’s not just that the suddenness of Vibe’s end reminded me of the Sopranos iconic final scene, but because the feeling that the best days of journalism are so far behind us, that the future is so uncertain, no one is promised tomorrow. I can’t shake the feeling that this is just an end, not a new beginning, but just a plain old end. No organization seems to be in place to ever pick up where Vibe left off, and continue its mission.

“I think about my father, he never reached the heights like me. But in a lot of ways he had it better. He had his people, they had their standards, they had pride. Today, what do we got?” – Tony Soprano, The Sopranos, Pilot Episode

When I think of Vibe, I always think of the brilliant Death Row cover. I’d provide an image, but I don’t have to: You know exactly the one I’m talking about it. It was the best magazine cover I’ve ever seen simply because it captured the sentiment of that era: Hip hop at that time really felt like a gangsta movie. But nowadays, what do we have? Sure, the internet helps us reach way more people than ever before at a much faster rate. But concert footage from a shitty handheld camera and blog posts by pseudo journalists (like me!) simply don’t compare to photo editors and real writers who have perfect their crafts.

I send emails to some of the people on staff telling them to keep their head up and that they’ll be alright, and I meant that. Those people have skills that go beyond just the magazine world, they might not have another dream job but they will prevail. But the things that Vibe represented, the work they put out, that truly seems like a thing of the past. And that breaks my heart.