Rob Kenner, one of the founding editors of VIBE magazine, which includes Boomshots — a column he dedicated to reggae and dancehall artistes — has exclusively announced to the Jamaica Observer that the publication will be returning to print after a near-12-year hiatus.

The magazine — that was founded in 1992 by legendary record producer and music executive Quincy Jones — had switched to digital editions.

“I was the only editor who was actually able to stand the whole 17 years that the magazine continued as a monthly print publication. So, during that time, I was able to edit and write lots of stories that might have been of interest to Jamaica. I edited and wrote the cover story around Sean Paul, which was the first time that any dancehall artiste had been on the cover of VIBE or I think any international music magazine. That was a big highlight for me as a lover of the culture to see Sean on the cover of the magazine,” Kenner told the Jamaica Observer on Friday at the Island Music Conference held at the Courtleigh Auditorium in New Kingston.

The physical magazine will make its return at South by Southwest in Texas later this March. Though tight-lipped about who, the editor said that there is a completed column about a Jamaican artiste for the return edition.

Kenner also explained that while Boomshots went on to become a stand-alone as Boomshots TV, which featured many reggae and dancehall greats, the sentiment of wanting to include Jamaican genres in the magazine as it returns to physical copies remains.

“At the beginning of VIBE I wanted to ensure that reggae always had a consistent presence. It’s important to many other genres like hip hop… We wanted to make sure that reggae and dancehall were always represented, alongside all the other great music in the world. So, I started a column called
Boomshots in the early 90s that ran every month for many years,” he said.

International acts who have been featured on the cover of VIBE magazine include Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Janet Jackson, LL Cool J, Tupac Shakur, Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, and many others.

The revamp of the print publication will be handled by the same company as Rolling Stone and Billboard.

Kenner noted that there will be no partiality with who is featured, as long as they produce authentic reggae or dancehall music.

“We want all the great new artistes to be highlighted. We’ve done a lot of iconic things, including the black and white photo of Beenie Man and Bounty Killer that was used in their Verzuz matchup; that was our photoshoot — I was the one who produced that photo. So we’re definitely looking forward to working with some of the newer talents, but we also pay our respects to the icons,” he told the Observer.