URB (magazine)

URB is a monthly American magazine devoted to electronic music, hip hop and urban lifestyle and culture. Based in Los Angeles, California, the magazine was founded in 1990 by Raymond Roker.

Publication of the print edition was suspended following the Summer 2009 issue (#158). Plans were announced for the October 2009 launch of issue #159 as an online publication, with further issues to follow, with the hope that the print edition would be resumed sometime in 2010. Roker cited a significant "shift in consumption and media habits worldwide, especially in the magazine market" in the preceding 18 months as a factor in the decision to put the print edition on hiatus.

The Next 100

Prior to 2007, one issue a year was devoted to features of "The Next 100" up-and-coming musicians. In April 2007, the feature was moved to the magazine's website and expanded tenfold to become "The Next 1000". Instead of featuring 100 emerging artists and groups in a single issue of the magazine, 20 artists and groups are featured each week on the website, over the course of a year. The artists to be featured are selected by URB's editorial staff and are rated by the site's visitors.

Raymond Roker

Raymond Leon Roker (born May, 1968 in the Bahamas) founded URB Magazine in December 1990. In addition to being a creative director, Roker is a former (and part-time) electronic music DJ and club promoter. In the '80s and '90s Roker was a graffiti artist in Los Angeles, producing numerous murals around the city and doing commercial work for television and films. He is of Bahamian and Jewish descent.

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