I get the majority of the ideas for my blog from two places: Twitter and Complex.com. I write about what my foIlowers tweet about, what celebrities tweet about and what’s trending on twitter. In fact twitter is the reason I first started reading articles on Complex.com. One day one of my followers retweeted a tweet from Complex’s twitter feed. I found the article very interesting, so I followed @ComplexMag. That was probably my best idea, and worst mistake! It was a great idea, because Complex.com has EVERYTHING: Style, Sneakers, Art & Design, City Guide, Rides, Music, Pop Culture, Sports, Girls, Video Games, News and more, but because Complex has everything I spend hours upon hours on this site every week. While developing my blog, I have read many blogs geared towards hip hop lovers, but I believe Complex does the best job at incorporating everything that has to do with hip hop culture, and doing it in a way that shows how hip hop is more than a negative genre of music that focuses on street life, violence, and degrading women.
I think the first time I become consciously aware of Complex magazine was while listening to Kid Cudi’s “Cleveland is the Reason” when Cudi says,
I keep my closet complex like the magazine
Until this year that lyric that I sung along with all 76 times I have listened to Cleveland id the Reason (according to iTunes) had no real significance to me. I’d never picked up the magazine or been to the website. In fact, I had no idea that Complex is a young men’s style and lifestyle guide founded by fashion designer, Marc Ecko.
Complex is an example of print media that has evolved on line. Complex, the magazine is known to be “The Original Buyer’s Guide for Men.” Although this magazine was initially geared towards men, everything section of the website (well maybe not the “girls” and “style” section, although it does provide interesting articles) can appeal o both genders. The online version of Complex Magazine, “Complex.com” features articles on everything from sports to hip hop to world news and many articles are presented in an easy to read and understand Top 5-100 format.
Some of my favorite Complex articles include:
“Barack Obama’s Most Hip Hop Moments”
“Donald Trumps 50 Stupidest Tweets”
“50 Hottest Alleged Mistresses of all Time”
“President Obama’s Got 99 Problems but Mitt’s Not One”
“25 Websites with the Best Comments Section”
While the subject of every post isn’t explicitly hip hop, all posts target hip hop culture lovers. Complex magazine has approximately 300,000 monthly subscribers and Complex’s twitter feed has 201,075 followers, and the website gets over 50 million views per month. Complex’s use of twitter is also outstanding, making it a favorite by rappers who are constantly retweeting @ComplexMag.
To me, Complex.com does the best job of combining hip hop culture and world news on the Internet. Not only is it great at that, but it is also a great example of a magazine turned digital. I think Complex.com also is great at addressing all audiences. Although it’s original purpose was to be a lifestyle guide for men, myself and other female friends of mine, love reading the content on the website and don’t feel out of place, or degraded. Complex was founded by a white man, Marc Ecko, a hip hop fanatic, who loves graffiti. While most hip hop listeners are African American this website targets more than that demographic. People of all races and genders can enjoy Complex.com while appreciating hip hop, and this is what makes it great to me.
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