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Planet Black Magazine was the world's first national weekly hip-hop publication. It's first issue debuted in May 1995, in Cleveland, Ohio. Launched by the Ashanti Publishing Company, Planet Black started as an entertainment insert in Ohio's largest black newspaper the "Call and Post"(founded in 1908 by Garret Morgan). Planet Black featured hip-hop news and info as well as a wide range of social and political articles. It's niche was the attention it gave to artist who were either local, underground, up and coming, or often overlooked by larger media. Many larger mags borrowed concepts first used in Planet Black. Planet Black is credited with being the first mag to give covers to superstars Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, RBX, and Mystikal, among others. It's moniker of "empowering the world of hip-hop" was the vision of Planet Black's creator Rashad Jabri. Jabri, an activist, came up with the idea for Planet Black initially as a business project for a class of at-risk youth he was mentoring at Harry E. Davis Middle School. Jabri sketched out the prototype on some loose sheets of paper and took it to the Call and Post to get 25 copies printed. Call and Post editor-n-chief Andre Bustamante saw the projects potential and made a deal with Jabri to include a new issues of it in it's weekly newspaper. Planet Black benefited greatly from the huge circulation of the Call and Post, which was audited at over 100,000. Jabri took issues of Planet Black with him on out-of-town trips and found it to be a hit everywhere he went. By it's fifth issue Planet Black was being distributed throughout the United States and parts of Canada. Because of it's newspaper style and a grassroots approach to marketing, Planet Black became popular inside the record industry. Especially with big labels who were looking for a place to break their lessor known artist. In 1997 Planet Black began to struggle when it's partner the Call and Post fell on hard times. Planet Black hung on for two more years before printing it's final issue in 1999. |
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