People With Sway

ADRIAN MCKENZIE

POWERFUL BECAUSE...

As the co-publisher and founding creative director of Urbanology magazine, Adrian McKenzie refuses to let Canada sleep on hip-hop.

Five years ago, McKenzie, 27, was a student at Seneca at York for digital media arts, where he says he used to make mock covers and read magazines like Word, XXL and The Source, and wonder when Canada would start promoting its own local hip-hop talent.

After teaming up with editor Priya Ramanujam, he started Urbanology, an urban lifestyle and entertainment magazine with a focus on music and promoting Toronto artists and youth initiatives. Started literally with money saved from friends and family, the magazine has gone from an original circulation of 6,000 in Toronto to selling almost 25,000 issues Canada-wide, with distribution in the United States.

Even more impressive has been the community initiatives, with McKenzie often speaking at schools to youth interested in publishing.

POWER IS...

“I do see myself as a powerful figure within my community and with people who are exposed to me. I just like helping people. Everyone knows they can come up to me and ask me for help, whether it’s kids asking me how to design their own magazine or an artist asking me for tips on the industry.

I always tell youth that you don’t have to be a rapper; you don’t have to be a dancer to be a success or even to be involved in the music industry. You can go into publishing, writing, design or into other areas. You just have to have the passion.” – S.S.