Categories Men's magazines Year founded 1973 Country United States | Frequency Monthly Final issue 2005 | |
Publisher Players International Publications, Inc. | ||
Players was an American monthly men's magazine. It was often nicknamed "the black Playboy" for its attempt at providing the underserved African-American public with a racy, yet elegant reading choice.
History
Players was published by Bentley Morriss and Ralph Weinstock, doing business as Players International Publications.
Morris and Weinstock, who were both white, had a long experience in the realm of men's magazines as owners of Adam and Sir Knight.
The pair also owned a paperback book business, Holloway House Publishing. While the company did release serious biographies, it made a large share of its money from sensationalistic books about sex workers and alternative lifestyles.
When Holloway House struck gold with several accounts of the sex trade in the African-American underworld, in particular those by real life macks Iceberg Slim and Donald Goines, Morris and Weinstock realized the demand for mature ethnic entertainment. This prompted the creation of a series of novels starring Iceman, a fictional pimp turned vigilante patterned after Slim, and a brand new adult magazine called Players.
The cover girl for the inaugural November 1973 issue was former Playboy Italy Playmate and cover girl Zeudi Araya.
Players straddled the line between the mainstream aspirations of Playboy and the braggadocio associated with urban street cultures, with thinly veiled allusions to gold diggers and quick material gain. The magazine made no effort to hide its large inmate readership, featuring a letter from prison in virtually every reader's mail column.
The first few issues were edited by then little known poet Wanda Coleman. She was replaced after six issues by Iceman author Joseph Nazel, whose books were frequently advertised in the magazine. Los Angeles-based journalist Emory Holmes II also had two stints at the head of the publication.
Influential media critic Donald Bogle was a contributor to Players. Cultural critic Stanley Crouch was the magazine's top music columnist and his protégé Wynton Marsalis was prominently featured in the magazine. Iceberg Slim himself penned short stories which would form the basis of the 1979 anthology Airtight Willie and Me, again published by Holloway House. Georgia State Senator and future NAACP Chairman Julian Bond was another notable contributor to Players.
The magazine closed in 2005. It was survived by a handful of spin-offs.