The Hype Magazine is an independent publication that covers everything from Hip Hop to Hollywood. Starting out life as a news sheet, The Hype Magazine has grown into a sizeable publication and is available across the globe.
Why we love it
Everyone loves independent magazines, right? Like vinyl records and polaroid photos, independent magazines speak to us on a level that stirs thoughts of a time before the internet, of a time when Kim Kardashian would stay out of the news for a week or perhaps more. However, while those halcyon days of reality TV-star free media are long gone, independent magazines are not.
The Hype Magazine launched in 2002 and started off as a one-page news sheet. Now it is available in more than 3,000 locations across the United States, as well as some areas of Canada, Europe and Asia. The Hype Magazine has been a resounding success at a time when all and sundry are lining up to declare print media dead (again, for the billionth time).
Although not necessarily everyone’s cup of tea – indie rockers, pop starlets and new-wave punksters can look away now – The Hype Magazine does a good job of catering to the needs of an otherwise under-served audience across a range of platforms. As well as the obvious print and digital offerings, The Hype Magazine also brings in audiences with a range of online broadcast series.
On the horizon next for The Hype Magazine is web series, Junket Videos. The first episode will be aired from March 17. The collection of videos will feature a number of serialized broadcasts (in all honesty, the combination of shows and screenings is a bit confusing) such as Lyrical Boxing. This show is a national scale hip hop competition taking part across United States. It will beam underground and unsigned artists into 120 million households across the U.S., which is excellent news for the artists and communities that the magazine serves.
The thing about The Hype Magazine is that it has attitude, and lots of it. From bold front pages to session interviews, the magazine is punching well above its weight in terms of content. Similarly, independent publications don’t normally win the social media following that The Hype Magazine has (more than 300,000 followers on Twitter alone).
It is perhaps unlikely that The Hype Magazine will expand quickly in the coming years. No, this is a slow burner and, like a cartoon snowball in a Christmas film, will roll onwards, growing in size and momentum as it goes.
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.@TheHypeMagazine covers everything from Hip Hop to Hollywood. This is the number one digital title for fans of Hip Hop and urban culture
