Rob Kenner

Rob Kenner is the author of the New York Times bestseller The
Marathon Don’t Stop: The Life and Times of Nipsey Hussle. This
in-depth biography of the inspirational hip hop entrepreneur, artist,
and activist was hailed by Quincy Jones as a “beautiful tribute to a
legendary artist.”

A founding editor of VIBE magazine, Kenner joined the start-up
team of Quincy Jones’s groundbreaking hip hop monthly in 1992.
During a seventeen-year run at VIBE he edited and wrote cover
and feature stories on iconic cultural figures ranging from Tupac
Shakur to Barack Obama as well as writing the acclaimed reggae
and dancehall column Boomshots. Kenner went on to senior
editorial positions at BET, Complex, and Mass Appeal, and
developed Boomshots Media into a respected digital platform and
production company, which has collaborated with Red Bull,

Supreme, Def Jam, Epic Records, and Tuff Gong.

A former member of the Recording Academy, Kenner served on
the Grammy Awards’ Reggae Panel for several years, and has
written and spoken out about reforming the voting process.
Kenner’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, GQ,
Billboard, Rolling Stone, VIBE, Complex, Mass Appeal, Pigeons &
Planes, XXL, The Huffington Post, Wired, Genius, Ego Trip, and
Poetry magazine.

Kenner has produced and directed documentary shorts on hip
hop legends like De La Soul, Nas, and Skip Marley. As Editorial
Director of VIBE Books, Kenner worked on the New York Times
bestseller Tupac Shakur and contributed to The VIBE History of
Hip Hop. He co-authored VX: 10 Years of Vibe Photography and
produced Unbelievable, a biography of The Notorious B.I.G. by
Cheo Hodari Coker, which was optioned for the motion picture

Notorious.

He lives in New York City.