April 13, 2009, New York City – VIBE, the definitive voice of urban culture, launches a new iteration of its VIBE Verses competition giving aspiring artists a global platform to showcase their skills for a chance to be personally crowned by Eminem as a finalist in the “VIBE Verses Presents No. 1 Stan” contest. Launched in May 2007, VIBE Verses is VIBE’s proprietary rap battle property which has attracted more than 100,000 rappers and hip hop enthusiasts to date to create profiles in its online community.
VIBE is launching this worldwide rap star competition with Eminem to support
the award-winning hip hop icon as VIBE’s 2nd Annual Real Rap Issue
cover star and the highly anticipated release of his new album, Relapse (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope). Contest Web site is numberonestan.com.
“Battling is the way I came up, so it’s gonna be interesting to watch a rap battle unfold online,” states Eminem. “VIBE is taking it out of the clubs and street corners and putting it on the net. MCs better bring it, because I’m watching.”
In the contest’s first phase, all entrants will rhyme for 60 seconds over a specially selected instrumental track and submit video clips of their performance on numberonestan.com. Due to popular demand thus far, the first round of the competition has been extended a week until April 30, 2009. VIBE will send the Top 10 finalists (determined by VIBE.com user votes) a second instrumental track to rhyme over for 60 seconds, which will then be submitted to Eminem for careful review. His personal selection of the final two will be made by May 8, 2009. Arrangements will be made for the two finalists to be flown to a VIBE event where the winner will be crowned by audience response, presented with an engraved microphone certifying them as Eminem’s “No.1 Stan,” and featured in VIBE magazine and on VIBE.com.
VIBE’s June/July Real Rap issue featuring Eminem will hit newsstands everywhere on May 19, 2009.
ABOUT VIBE VERSES
Since VIBE Verses debuted in May 2007, more than 2,500 videos have been uploaded, generating more than 7 million page views. To date, more than 100,000 rappers and hip hop enthusiasts have created profiles in the VIBE Verses community.
ABOUT VIBE
VIBE magazine is the definitive voice of urban culture, influencing global music, life, and style for more than 7 million monthly readers around the world. The award-winning publication is the nation’s leader in reporting entertainment, fashion, politics, and culture features for a multicultural audience in print and online. VIBE’s innovation, journalistic integrity, brand equity, and overall swagger make it the No. 1 reference choice among male and female trendsetters in small and large cities in the U.S. and abroad.
VIBE Media Group, an affiliate of the Wicks Group of Companies, LLC, is a leading music lifestyle media company that publishes VIBE magazine and produces myriad other VIBE branded properties including VIBE.com, The MOST! magazine, THEMOSTmag.com, VSessions, VIBE Yardfest, and VIBE Books, which published The New York Times bestseller Tupac Shakur. VIBE magazine was founded in 1993 by multitalented music mogul Quincy Jones.
