XXL (magazine)

"XXL" "(pronounced [IPA|dʌbḷlɛksɛl] , double-X-L)" is a hip-hop magazine from Harris Publications. The magazine's editor-in-chief was Elliott Wilson, formerly of "ego trip" and "The Source" magazines. He was fired on 7 January 2008, with former deputy editor Vanessa Satten serving as his interim replacement. [Jacobs, Allen: "XXL Editor-in-Chief Elliott Wilson Fired", hiphopdx, 2008. [http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.6179/title.xxl-editor-in-chief-elliott-wilson-fired] Retrieved on 8 January 2007.] [Wolfe, Roman: "XXL Magazine Fires EIC Elliott Wilson", AllHipHop, 2008. [http://allhiphop.com/stories/news/archive/2008/01/07/19099530.aspx] Retrieved on 8 January 2007. ] Satten was eventually replaced by Datwon Thomas, the former Editor-In-Chief of King magazine

Since 1997, "XXL" has competed with hip-hop powerhouses such as "The Source magazine" and "Vibe magazine". It was started by former "Source" staffers James Bernard, Robert Marriott and Reginald Dennis, as well as others who wanted to create a better magazine than "The Source", which they saw as compromised because Benzino, a Boston, Massachusetts-based rapper and associate of "The Source" publisher David Mays, was influencing the editorial content and rating system.

In December 2006, XXL took over the hip-hop producer/DJ magazine Scratch (another title owned by Harris Publications), rebranding it as "XXL Presents Scratch Magazine". It shut down in September 2007.

Other titles with limited runs have also been launched under the XXL umbrella, including Hip-Hop Soul, Eye Candy Magazine and Shade45 Magazine.

pecial releases

In August, 2005, Eminem and "XXL" teamed up to release a special issue titled "XXL Presents Shade 45", and was designed to give maximum exposure to Shade 45 as a radio station, and at the same time give maximum exposure to the Shady Records label as a whole, as well as the radio DJ's and G-Unit Records' artists. "XXL" executive Publisher, Jonathan Rheingold, stated that typically magazines based around particular artists were not favourable, but "since Shade 45 is a truly authentic and uncensored rap radio channel, the marriage with the "XXL" brand made sense," before adding that it is what would interest rap fans. [Carl Chery (23 August, 2005). [http://www.sohh.com/articles/article.php/7450/1 Eminem & Shade Collabo W/XXL For Special Radio Issue] . "SoHH.com". Accessed 29 January, 2008. but more issues from lil wayne are on the way]

Album ratings

"XXL" rates albums from "S" (poor) to "XXL" (classic). Initially, editors awarded XXL status to only five albums:

*"The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" by Lauryn Hill
*"The Blueprint" by Jay-Z
*"Be" by Common
*"Late Registration" by Kanye West
*"Hell Hath No Fury" by Clipse

A later issue re-rated some albums and gave XXLs to:

*"Get Rich Or Die Tryin' by 50 Cent
*"The College Dropout" by Kanye West
*"The Marshall Mathers LP" by Eminem
*"2001" by Dr. Dre
*"Life After Death" by The Notorious B.I.G.
*"Reasonable Doubt" by Jay-Z
*"The Infamous" by Mobb Deep
*"The Diary" by Scarface
*"Illmatic" by Nas
*"Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" by Wu-Tang Clan
*"The Chronic" by Dr. Dre
*"The Lost Tapes" by Nas
*"All Eyez On Me" by Tupac Shakur
*"Me Against The World" by Tupac Shakur

References

External links

* [http://www.xxlmag.com/ Official site]