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Uproxx Studios (stylized as ''UPROXX'') is an American music, entertainment and popular culture website and content studio. It was founded in 2008 by
Jarret Myer Jarret Myer (born February 6, 1973) is an American media entrepreneur who co-founded the record label Rawkus Records, the YouTube talent company Big Frame, and the digital media brand Uproxx. Since the sale of Uproxx to Woven Digital in 2014, My ...
and Brian Brater. The website was acquired in 2014 by Woven Digital (which later changed its name to Uproxx Media Group). In August 2018, Uproxx Media Group was acquired by
Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...
, with Myer remaining in control of the company's operations as publisher. In April 2024, Myer partnered with Rich Antoniello and
will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "will I am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the frontman of the musical group Black Eyed Peas, which he ...
to form an independent company, Uproxx Studios, after acquiring Uproxx along with ''
HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...
'' and ''
Dime Magazine ''Dime Magazine'' is an American basketball magazine that was created by Patrick Cassidy and Josh Gotthelf and began circulation in 2001. The magazine publishes six issues a year for its worldwide readership, as well as a handful of editions of ' ...
'' from Warner Music Group.


History

Uproxx was founded in 2008 by
Jarret Myer Jarret Myer (born February 6, 1973) is an American media entrepreneur who co-founded the record label Rawkus Records, the YouTube talent company Big Frame, and the digital media brand Uproxx. Since the sale of Uproxx to Woven Digital in 2014, My ...
and Brian Brater, who previously co-founded the
hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
label
Rawkus Records Rawkus Records (or Rawkus Entertainment) is an American hip hop record label, owned by James Murdoch, known for starting the careers of many rappers. Rawkus started in 1995 with releases in hip-hop, drum and bass and fun-dustrial (Dystopia One) ...
in 1996. In April 2014, Uproxx was acquired by Woven Digital, an ad network company. In December 2014, Woven raised US$18 million in
Series A funding A series A is the name typically given to a company's first significant round of venture capital financing. It can be followed by the word round, investment or financing. The name refers to the class of preferred stock sold to investors in excha ...
with a portion of the capital allocated to growing Uproxx through staff hires and video development. Myer joined Woven Digital as general manager of publishing. Uproxx was Woven Digital's largest brand, with a viewership of 40 million per month. Then Headquartered in Culver City, the company also had production facilities in New York City and Chicago. The Culver City offices housed a full production studio staffed by writers, illustrators, presenters and video editing staff; the company produced all of its own sponsored videos. In January 2015, Uproxx acquired ''
Dime Magazine ''Dime Magazine'' is an American basketball magazine that was created by Patrick Cassidy and Josh Gotthelf and began circulation in 2001. The magazine publishes six issues a year for its worldwide readership, as well as a handful of editions of ' ...
'' to expand its sports division. Uproxx's coverage of film and TV was expanded with the acquisitions of
HitFix HitFix, or HitFix.com, was an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information, and reviews and critiques of film, music, and television. In mid-2010 HitFix crossed the 1,00 ...
in 2016. Following these acquisitions, the company had 110 employees as of March 2017. Benjamin Blank, who served as the chief creative officer, was also named CEO of the company in November 2016. In August 2018,
Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...
announced that it had acquired Uproxx and its properties. While the acquisition was for an undisclosed sum, Uproxx had raised around $43 million (£33 million) from previous investment, possibly indicating the firm's valuation. In February 2024, Warner indicated its plan to sell its owned media assets, including Uproxx and HipHopDX, as part of a shift to focus on its music business. Following this announcement, Myer partnered with Rich Antoniello and
will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "will I am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the frontman of the musical group Black Eyed Peas, which he ...
to acquire Uproxx, HipHopDX, and Dime Magazine, bringing all three publications under an independent company named Uproxx Studios in April 2024. The new independent studio also reached a deal to represent Warner Music for all
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
media sales in the United States. Myer was named CEO, Antoniello served as partner and executive chairman, and will.i.am joined as partner, investor, and chief visionary officer. Elliott Wilson was also appointed editorial director of hip-hop journalism overseeing Uproxx, ''HipHopDX'' and ''Dime Magazine''.


Content

Uproxx covers
entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...
and
popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art
f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...
or mass art, sometimes contraste ...
, including fashion, music, and sports. Video makes up a significant portion of the site's content and Uproxx produces both original and sponsored video. After its acquisition by Woven, Uproxx placed more emphasis on video content and released several web series. It develops web originals, long- and short-form series and films. ''Luminaries'', a show that profiled young scientists and inventors, was Uproxx’s first original series in January 2015. The first two episodes of the series generated 18.5 million views within the first four months. ''Luminaries'' was nominated for a
Webby Award The Webby Awards (colloquially referred to as the Webbys) are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over three thousand industry experts a ...
in 2015. Also in 2015, Uproxx launched several sponsored video series. Among these were ''Human'', a video series about
artisan An artisan (from , ) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art, sculpture, clothing, food ite ...
s and others who preserve traditional work, sponsored by Coors Banquet, and ''Uncharted: Power of Dreams'', a show that profiles rising musicians, with
Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...
, ''Uncharted'' won a
Clio Award The Clio Awards, also simply known as The Clios, is an annual award program that recognizes innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design, and communication, as judged by an international panel of advertising professionals. The awar ...
in 2016. In 2017, Uproxx created a piece of branded content for fast food chain
Checkers Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), is a group of Abstract strategy game, strategy board games for two players which involve forward movements of uniform game ...
featuring rapper
Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. An influential figure in modern Hip-hop, hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "Wiktionary:booming, booming" vocal perfor ...
. In June 2021, Uproxx and Pilot Boy Productions produced the podcast ''People's Party with Talib Kweli'', which was co-created by rapper
Talib Kweli Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He first earned recognition through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def (now known as Yasiin Bey) in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's music ...
and Myer. The podcast was a weekly interview series featuring celebrity guests that aired on the podcast network Luminary. In 2022, Uproxx released a new web series titled ''Fresh Pair'' hosted by hip-hop producer
Just Blaze Justin Gregory Smith (born January 8, 1978), known professionally as Just Blaze, is an American record producer and DJ. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Smith attended Rutgers University for three years before dropping out to pursue a career in mus ...
and sneaker designer Katty Customs. The series returned in 2023 for a second season.


Uproxx Music Critics Poll

Since 2018, Uproxx has held the Uproxx Music Critics Poll, a poll which tabulates the submitted lists of invited music critics, similar to the discontinued ''
Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...
''
Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...
poll. The following albums and songs have topped the poll since its introduction: ;Albums ;Songs


References


External links

*{{Official website, https://uproxx.com American entertainment websites Internet properties established in 2008 Mass media about Internet culture American companies established in 2008 2008 establishments in California Companies based in Culver City, California 2018 mergers and acquisitions 2024 mergers and acquisitions