SHUT UP! Magazine [ 2001 – 2010 ]

SHUT UP! was a trademarked quarterly glossy magazine. It was founded in 2001 by Sahar Vahidi as an email newsletter on AOL. By 2003, its increasing subscriber base allowed it to evolve into a printed publication. The magazine was distributed nationwide in the United States, readers purchased the title in bookstores and in select major concert venues until 2010. SHUT UP!'s target audience was emerging artists in music and fashion. The staff looked for anyone that was up-and-coming and stardom bound. The magazine was produced entirely independent of mainstream media and corporate sponsorships. The magazine's tagline was "Live Your Life With A Heavy Heart," as it catered to outgoing, rebellious young adults. Where are they now? The careful curation of artists featured have gone on to selling out concert venues, booking national campaigns with publicly-traded brands, becoming NY Times best-selling authors and so on. SHUT UP! was so ahead of its generation, it is now considered a futurist product. Given that all materials were produced by creatives aged 14-to-23, it was entirely fitting for Sahar Vahidi to fold the company on her 24th birthday. The last issue of SHUT UP! featuring Holly of Hyper Crush was thickest produced by the staff, in intent for their efforts to go out with a bang! While SHUT UP! has ceased printing, the title left behind a legacy of tastemakers and innovators, well before influencer marketing became a coined term in the social industry. Live Long & SHUT UP!