R&B singer Keyshia Cole is on the cover of Vibe magazine. This should be no surprise because she is currently one of the most popular music artists with a new album titled Just Like You and a reality TV show on BET. What has been surprising is what she is wearing, or better yet…NOT wearing.

The December 2007 issue of Vibe magazine has Keyshia Cole on the cover, naked. There have been provocative covers of Vibe in previous issues, but this one does not represent the magazine or Keyshia Cole too well. When I first located this issue, I thought that it was some type of men’s magazine until I paid closer attention to the title. Keyshia Cole is talented and pretty. She does not have to be naked to attract fans, magazine readers or anyone else.

Therefore, my only question about this issue is what were they thinking? Why did she pose like that for this type of magazine? What was Vibe trying to pull off with this cover? When I think of Vibe, I think of rap music and other genres of music. I do not think of naked women.

If being provocative will bring more readers, magazine sales and album sales, maybe this cover is worthwhile for both parties. However, the Vibe magazine cover photo appears as if they are going for a more elegant look as opposed to raunchy. That is great too, but that was not really accomplished. Maybe it was the concept that ruined it. Maybe it was the photographer, or it could have been other factors that made this Keyshia Cole Vibe magazine cover look outrageous.

Naked photos of actresses and music artists have been published on magazines covers and in feature articles for years. What makes this different is that many of those other nude photographs were creative and does not make readers question the subject or the publisher. Vanity Fair is one magazine that publishes naked images of celebrities yet still maintains a sense of class. The Keyshia Cole Vibe magazine cover has not produced the same results. The only great aspect of this magazine cover is Keyshia Cole (from the neck-up, of course). She looks pretty and her hair is great. I am not anxious to find the next issues of Vibe unless it will be totally different than this one. Keyshia Cole does not need to be seen naked on a Vibe cover. That is what those music video “models” are for.

Do you like the Vibe magazine cover?
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