MADETOLEAD
force behind a lot of
different projects,
and a lot of different
urban publications.
You’ve had your
hands in a whole
lot. You were 26
years old when you
launched King. What
was your inspiration
behind launching it?
DT: I was 24 when I
thought of it, towards
the end of my 25th
year, when I was
putting it together
and then turned 26
when it was out and
I was a dad for the
first time for a year.
I was married for the
first time for a year.
I didn’t necessarily
have any pressure.
What I felt was, I just
wanted to honor
young black men and
the lifestyles that they
were into at the time,
which was beautiful
women, street stuff,
understanding what
was going on and
education. People
forget that there are
so many young black
men, at the time, that
were in fraternities
and college
programs and stuff
like that. For all the
incarcerated males it
needed to be known,
“Hey man, we still got
love for you all.” The
car culture, fashion, it
was like, social justice
and all those different
things. I wanted to
put it all into one
publication and I
think we really did
a great job for eight
solid years when it
was in that particular
iteration.
MADE:What is a
typical day in the life
of Datwon Thomas?
What does that
entail from start to
end in that role?
DT: I get up around
6 - 6:15 AM. I drive
my daughter to the
bus stop. Come back
home, get dressed
for real. Run to the
train, because I’m
always running late
for the train. Do my
hours commute into
the city. I get to
the office and the
meetings are usually
right off the bat. Most
days, maybe two to
three days out the
week, we have artists
coming through. That
is when I’m starting to
check the emails and
all that stuff. Artists
are coming through
so I’m entertaining
that or doing the
interview, or sitting
with different
departments within
Billboard and Vibe
and having meetings.
Doing interviews
like this, then, trying
to figure out, “Am I
going to go to this
event? Am I going
to go do this thing
that is my passion?
This thing for my
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hat company? Deal
with this thing for
the creative aspect
or what I want to
do outside of here?
I have to run these
errands for the wife
and the girls. It’s
like, my mom needs
this or my sister. My
brother said, and
then my man said.
Dag, I got to call back
such and such. Man, I
got to run over here
because I need this.”
It’s insane sometimes.
MADE: You’ve been
in the game two
decades at this
point. How do you
feel about the future
of publications and
media; For example,
Vibe is no longer
in print and a lot of
times it is said that
print is dead. Do you
feel that way or do
you feel like there is
a future for it?
DT: A few years
ago I would’ve been
like, “No, man. Print
is on its way out.”
But it’s still viable
as a vintage thing,
like vinyl. Now I feel
like it’s in this state
of whatever the
flow of creativity is.
If somebody could
come out with
something dope and
it’s printed, it could
win because it’s all
about creativity now.
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