WHAT’S THE VIBE?: When Vibe magazine was...

WHAT’S THE VIBE?: When Vibe magazine was on the drawing boards a year ago, the joint venture between Quincy Jones and Time Warner was ballyhooed as the definitive journal of hip-hop culture.

Now that it’s been in full production for three issues, how’s it doing with those who are part of that culture?

Not so hot.

“Vibe is like a Harvard Business School graduate trying to be hip-hop,” says a staff member of A&M; Records’ new rap division, Tuff Break. “The kids really into hip-hop can’t relate to it.”

Happy Walters, who manages rap acts Cypress Hill, House of Pain, Funkdoobiest and the Whooliganz, agrees. “It’s written well, but they’re trying to be too intellectual. I question some of their cover-story choices if they’re trying to establish street credibility. Most of my artists feel the same way.”

Vibe editor-in-chief Jonathan Van Meter now says it may have been a mistake to tout the hip-hop angle when the magazine was being created. Since the official debut issue featuring a cover story on rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg, Vibe has featured covers of actor Wesley Snipes and funk pioneer George Clinton, with actress Rosie Perez slated for the December issue.

Van Meter says he voiced concern from the magazine’s inception about the “hip-hop” tag line. “That’s why we . . . stopped calling it the magazine of hip-hop culture,” he says. “That was too limiting. We’ve broadened the base to be a magazine for all of urban culture.”