Angela
Simmons, daughter of rap pioneer Joseph "Rev. Run" Simmons, has hooked
up with Word Up! magazine to launch a new magazine for teens. The
monthly publication, titled Angela’s Rundown, will target youths age
14-18 and cover teen issues, style, music and fashion while offering fashion tips
and in-depth celebrity interviews. Among
those featured in the first issue will be Kimora Lee Simmons, Chris Brown, Ne-Yo
and Bow Wow."It
feels good. I feel empowered. I’m happy with it," Angela Simmons told
AllHipHop.com. "It’s a great opportunity for me. It connects back to
what I like to do, which is fashion and I want to be a fashion designer. So everything
that’s in the magazine is what I love."Angela’s
Rundown is the end result of Angela’s desire to start her own full-fledged
magazine, after distributing a newsletter/mini-version of the publication at her
school. Viewers
got a chance to witness the magazine’s creation on MTV’s show Run’s
House. The first seven issues of the publication will be packaged and sold
with Word Up! as part of an agreement between Angela, Rev. Run and Word
Up! founder Scott Figman.Once
the magazine gains acceptance, it will spin off as it’s own full-fledged publication,
according to Figman. Additionally,
Angela will become the new executive editor of Word Up!, said Figman, who
embraced the opportunity to work with the young businesswoman."Angela
showed me a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of creative ability and the willingness to
work hard and join forces with us. And I was very impressed with her. She’s
going to have a nice long career," Figman said."The
exciting thing about this is she’ll be a teen that owns a teen magazine.
And you don’t see many 18-year-olds who have their own magazine and taking
on all this responsibility," said Rev. Run, who believes the magazine will
fill the void left by recently defunct publication Teen People. "First
of all, I believe that Angela has a mindset that would service her community better
than anyone," Rev. Run said. "I don’t think that there’s anyone
that can talk to teens better than teens, but I don’t think people understood
that…for somebody to invest this type of money into a young kid says a lot about
this kid. In the state of magazines right now, it also says something. So we’re
very excited over here. Me and my brother and the family. It’s just pretty
unbelievable to us that we can have this going on."In
addition to Angela, Rev. Run revealed that her brother Diggy will step into the
world of journalism with his own Word Up! column, titled "Diggy’s
Doin’ It." Despite
pulling double duty as executive editor of Word Up! and publisher of Angela’s
Rundown, Angela is up for the challenge."Yes,
it’s definitely going to be a task, but I know that I have a lot of help
there at the same time," she admitted. "It doesn’t all fall on
me because I have a team there working with me. It probably will be a little bit
of a challenge, but I’m up for it. It’s worth it."The
premier issue of Angela’s Rundown hits newsstands next week. The
creation of Angela’s Rundown comes on the heels of MTV’s recent decision
to renew Run’s House for a third season. Taping
for the new season begins Sept. 26, stated Rev. Run, who added that the new episodes
will be preceded by a Christmas special. "It
was a big deal," Rev. Run told AllHipHop.com about the renewal. "We
jumped up and down because it’s not easy to get this type of show, especially
on MTV, the type of show that we have. It’s like a sore thumb. Everything
else looks totally different from our show on MTV. MTV has one look. Run’s
House has another. So how it fits there is really pretty amazing. It’s
God."
