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It’ll be interesting to see what direction Vibe magazine takes. It was just sold to a consortium of investors, including the people who publish BlackBook magazine. Editor-in-chief Mimi Valdes was fired, along with much of the editorial staff and they’re bringing back former Vibe EIC Danyel Smith.

Here’s Jeff Chang’s take on it:

Reports say they want to take the magazine more upmarket. With Danyel coming in, that could mean an older, wealthier audience, a change in the sub base from something that’s been largely 18-to-30 driven. This would mean a shift in advertisers to more upscale brands, and of course, more expensive ads. Or, given her from-The-Town, grassroots-loving steez, maybe not. Or maybe both.

As an aside, lots of us aging hip-hop journalists, good backs or not, have been hoping for years for a magazine that would cater to a 30-to-45 market, a market that the indy-backed Tracks tried to fill on the more Spin oriented side and failed at doing. But something that was also more political, topical, investigative, and not merely celebrity or commodity-driven. In other words, something that was more life than lifestyle. We can’t be sure if this is what Vibe will become. We’ll just have to trust our girl.

Sounds like the new management is not going about its changes in the most diplomatic way. Mass firings took place earlier this week and The New York Observer has not painted a pretty picture of the new management team.

For more on the recent Vibe news, check out jimiizrael.com, ProHipHop, HipHopMusic.com, and of course, the always-entertaining BitterVibes.com, written by an anonymous and very disgruntled Vibe staffer.