Rap Pages set itself apart from other contemporary music magazines, particularly The Source, with its comprehensive coverage of West Coast hip hop artists, something they believed other publications lacked.

[3] At the time, the West Coast artists believed that The Source, which was the leading hip hop magazine, did not represent their scene adequately.

[6] According to the writer Jeff Weiss, Rap Pages was the only magazine that offered a full-time coverage of West Coast hip hop.

Under the new management and with the original editor-in-chief Dane Webb the magazine was relaunched, with plans of launching a separate Spanish-language version.

[13] Describing his time in Rap Pages, Cross said: "We had a team of A-list editors who all went on to do important things in hip-hop, and we would just sit around and have these loose, funny conversations, which is how we came up with a lot of shoot concepts.

"[14] In his book Totally Wired, the writer Paul Gorman praised Rap Pages as a magazine that "showcased inventive layouts and striking front covers", noting that it occurred during Sheena Lester's tenure as editor-in-chief.

[16] The photograph, titled King of New York, was taken by Barron Claiborne, three days prior to the rapper being assassinated on March 9, 1997.