Why the future could be Tense

Until now, young black people in the UK have had to buy American magazines to read about their interests. But that is about to change, writes Ian Burrell

Tim Westwood's background as the son of the Bishop of Peterborough- turned-rap presenter has seen him parodied as a real-life version of Sasha Baron Cohen's comical suburban gangsta, Ali G. But the fortysomething Radio 1 DJ has become the chosen messenger to convey the reality of 21st-century inner-city streetlife.

According to the publishers of a new magazine, Tense, the lives of young black people have never been covered with any credibility by British publishing houses. Black British teenagers have been forced to turn to American magazines to find authentic accounts of those with whom they most closely identify. Westwood is supposed to change all that.

Toussaint Davy, Tense's editor, says that he hired the DJ because his knowledge of the world of hip hop was unrivalled in this country. Davy says: "If you look at any rap albums from the mid- to late Eighties onward, you will see his name on them. Everybody from Public Enemy to Jay-Z to Eminem, Tim knows them personally."

Rather than commission a journalist to profile the big rap stars, Davy, 28, says that he has asked Westwood to do the interview and write it up himself. "With Westwood, you get an insight you wouldn't get elsewhere," he says.

Tense has also secured the services of Trevor Nelson, the face of MTV Base and Britain's best-known DJ for soul and R&B. Nelson, says Davy, is "regarded by a lot of the US acts as the go-to guy in Europe." Davy himself lived in New York for a year, partying alongside Puff Daddy and Lenny Kravitz and learning the secrets of black American magazines.

The popularity of hip hop and R&B in Britain has inspired and been bolstered by the launch of a series of music television stations, including MTV Base, Emap's Kiss, and Sky's recently launched Flaunt. Davy thinks that there is a similar market that is untapped in the British print media.

But if Westwood and Nelson can deliver the stories of the American heroes of black British youth, then Tense will need a lot more to distinguish itself from glossy Stateside rivals such as Vibe, The Source and XXL, which are all widely on sale in this country. So articles have already been commissioned on the ever-controversial issue of interracial dating and other hot urban topics. Officers from Scotland Yard's Operation Trident team, which investigates black-on-black gun crime, have been interviewed for another piece exploring the impact of firearms on inner-city clubbing. "It is a lifestyle issue that affects us all," says Davy.

Tense, launched next month, will not be entirely alone in the British marketplace, as it will have to compete with Touch, a relaunched version of a publication that Davy once edited and to which Nelson contributed.

Davy emphasises that, although the music content of Tense will be predominantly rap and R&B, he hopes that the readership will come from all ethnic backgrounds, reflecting the increasingly diverse followings of those genres. And although the magazine is intended to depict the "urban lifestyle", it will be distributed right across the country. If Ali G gets down to his newsagent in Staines, he may yet learn how to "keep it real".