Dub, for fans of rhymin' and rollin'

Dub, for fans of
rhymin' and rollin'

Auto magazine with a hip-hop twist

By Jeff Bercovici

    Generally speaking, specialty magazines tend to be about just one thing, or at least two closely related things. It would be odd to learn about a magazine for people who are into, say, doll collecting and opera, or taxidermy and rock climbing.
    But sometimes two apparently unrelated topics turn out to be virtually made for each other. Such is the case with Dub, a small but rapidly growing magazine about hip hop stars and their automobiles.
    Call it the InStyle of young men's magazines.
    Dub was started three years ago in by editor in chief Myles Kovacs and publishing director Herman Flores. The two had been publishing a nightclub magazine called Industry Insider when Kovacs, inspired by the rap music world’s obsession with flashy, customized cars, hatched the idea for an "automotive lifestyles magazine," as Dub calls itself.
    Dub's first issue got a good deal more attention than it might have otherwise thanks to a happy coincidence: Latrell Sprewell, the New York Knicks star and sometime sportswear designer, had just started a business selling wheel rims. His Los Angeles shop was located just down the street from Dub's offices.
    Sprewell agree to be on the cover of the first issue. (It need hardly be said that NBA players are just as good as rappers in the eyes of Dub readers.) Fifteen thousand copies of the first issue were printed and handed out at the NBA All-Star game and the Super Bowl.
    In the time since, Dub's readership has swelled, going from 87,000 to 130,000 with the current issue. Following Sprewell on the cover have been celebrities including Shaquille O'Neal, actor Michael Clarke Duncan, and the music groups Limp Bizkit and Sugar Ray.
    In the current issue, rapper Ice-T shares his passion for European sports cars (and his plans to market rap-themed ice cream treats), R&B crooner Brian McKnight pops the hood on his banana-yellow Ferrari and skateboarding legend Tony Hawk shows off his loaded GMC Yukon Denali (along with the Cadillac Escalade, a favorite SUV of the street elite).
    Refreshingly, the writing in Dub is largely free of the frat-guy humor of Maxim et al and the thugspeak and creative spelling common to hip hop titles. The focus on famous people doesn’t mean Dub is intended for the casual car admirer only; there’s enough technical jargon to satisfy the appetites of hardcore gearheads.
    Dub is currently better known on the West Coast then the East. In an attempt to remedy that, the upcoming issue focuses on New York-based rappers, including Busta Rhymes, Fabolous and the Rocafella family.
    Though still relatively small, Dub has already managed to attract both would-be buyers and imitators. A couple of major publishing houses have expressed interest in acquiring Dub, including one that publishes a well-known hip-hop title, says Flores.
    Meanwhile, Dub readers may have detected the magazine's influence in the 24-page special automotive section in a recent Rolling Stone issue.
    Much of the section is devoted to an examination of "Rock Star Rides," in which various musicians explain how they've had their prized vehicles customized. (Wyclef Jean had his ’95 Cadillac Biarritz upholstered in hot-pink mink fur, while Travis Barker of Blink-182 plans to re-cover the seats of his vintage Caddy in leather from Louis Vuitton bags, explaining, "[I]t’s all about taste.")
    The guys at Dub say they weren’t bothered by the resemblance. In fact, a Dub photographer even contributed to the section.
    Less welcome have been the handful of small regional titles that have sprung up in California attempting to replicate Dub’s cars-and-celebrities conceit.
    But Flores says he’s satisfied that people will recognize Dub as the original.
    "On a national level, there’s no one like us."

-Jeff Bercovici is a staff writer for Media Life.

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