Scratch Magazine has
a new captain steering its ship. Beginning on Monday, June 6th, former AllHipHop.com
contributor Jerry Lawrence Barrow will take over Editor in Chief duties at the
year old magazine, ending his three year tenure at The Source Magazine.
Launched in 2004, the bi-monthly
Scratch (published by Harris Publications, home to XXL Magazine and King Magazine)
has devoted itself to highlighting the contributions of producers and DJ’s
in hip-hop’s pecking order.
Assuming the post vacated
by last month’s departure of Andre Torres, Barrow aims to positively and
exponentially affect the mags growing clout.
“MY job as Editor
in Chief is to bring more awareness to the good work that’s already being
done,” Barrow explained to AllHipHop.com. “The people there have
already been doing a dope job. There’s stuff in there that you just don’t
find in regular hip-hop magazines. My job is to get on the grind and get out
there and build the awareness and make sure the covers are hot (laughing). We’re
localized in New York and I want to branch out. I definitely want to get it
up there on a national level. My hope is very soon to go from bi-monthly to
eight issues a year then ten issues. I want to keep growing the brand and growing
the circulation. I can’t be in the same house with King and XXL and my
numbers ain’t right. That’s my big task (but) there’s enough
of an interest out there that we can do it. The people that know Scratch love
it. So my job is to get more people to know about it.”
Barrow was hired as an Associate
Music Editor at The Source in 2002 before quickly bouncing up the masthead ladder
and settling into his final position as the magazine’s Deputy Editor.
A well respected figure
in the small circle that is the hip-hop publishing industry, he sees his latest
stop as a natural progression.
“This was an opportunity
I couldn’t pass up. I think we did a lot of really dope work at The Source.
Fahiym [Ratcliffe, Editor-in-Chief of The Source] was 100% supportive of me
in my decision. There’s definitely no ill will there, at all.”
Before The Source, the Flatbush,
Brooklyn native and Wesleyan University grad worked at Black Beat Magazine while
earning a Master of Science in Publishing from Pace University.
A self professed hip-hop
academic, his penchant for the culture’s beat architects is now coming
in handy.
“I love the
emcees, I love hip-hop in general but everybody knows it’s a producer
game now. What we hope to do at Scratch is make new stars. They’ve had
all the big dogs-Lil Jon, The Neptunes-but I really want to start making stars.
There are all these producers making really hot beats that nobody knows. They
might know they’re name vaguely, but they have no idea what they look
like. If people want to start knowing who these producers are on a regular basis,
DJ’s too, Scratch is that one forum where you know you’re going
to find out.”