John H. Johnson

For your reference, there is a well maintained Wikipedia article for this individual . This page is meant to explicate this individual's connection to Chicago and hip-hop culture.

Photo courtesy of The Chicago Hip-Hop Heritage Museum - Memorial Wall exhibit.

John H. Johnson (January 19, 1918 – August 8, 2005) was a publisher and entrepreneur who transformed media for African American audiences in Chicago, Illinois. In 1942, he founded Johnson Publishing Company in Chicago, launching Ebony in 1945 and Jet in 1951. These publications became essential platforms for Black stories, culture, and civil rights advocacy, reaching a peak combined readership of nine million.

Young Chicagoans growing up with Ebony and Jet in their households often absorbed ideas of Black excellence and coolness, which influenced how early Chicago hip-hop artists presented themselves visually and stylistically.

Jet’s music charts and Ebony’s profiles of Black entertainers helped set the stage for understanding hip-hop as part of a broader lineage of Black musical innovation.

Johnson was the first African American to be listed on the Forbes 400 in 1982 and was named Black Enterprise’s Entrepreneur of the Decade in 1987. In 1996, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, cementing his legacy as a trailblazer in American media and business.