I Worked At Vibe Magazine For 17 Years. Here's What I Learned From Quincy Jones.

Mega-producer Quincy Jones, who died Sunday at the age of 91, was "on a special mission his entire life," writes the author.Alain BENAINOUS via Getty ImagesThe first time Quincy Jones appeared on the cover of his own magazine, he had a sense of humor about it.“How come it didn’t happen earlier?” he joked with Scott Poulson-Bryant — the brilliant young staff writer who came up with the magazine’s oh-so-evocative name, Vibe — in the November 1995 cover story.“What took so long?” Quincy added with a laugh.

“I mean, it’s my baby, my dream.”It wasn’t so long ago that the idea of a glossy hip-hop and “urban culture” magazine published by a multibillion-dollar media conglomerate would have seemed absurd.It felt like a miracle when I got the chance to write an in-depth profile of the Jamaican dancehall star Super Cat for Vibe’s 1992 test issue, which — fun fact — was all laid out and ready to go with the name “Volume” until we learned that an indie music publication in England was using that name, and Scott suggested “Vibe” at the last possible moment.Advertisement I was blessed to join Vibe’s editorial team soon after Quincy’s crazy idea was officially greenlit in 1993.

Like the rest of Vibe’s young, passionate, multicultural staff, I was embarking on a life-changing journey that would also change global pop culture and the media industry forever, all of it made possible by the most influential musician, composer, arranger, producer and connector of the past 91 years.It may be hard to imagine in a post-Vibe universe — a space and time where President Barack Obama weighs in on the Kendrick/Drake battle, where Snoop Dogg carries the Olympic torch and hangs out with Martha Stewart (who actually attended the Vibe launch party), and where most print magazines that still cling to existence lean heavily on hip-hop slang, stars and sensibilities — but back in 1992, all this stuff was very new.The mere suggestion of somethi...