It Pays to Be VLAD: How a Ukrainian Software Engineer Became a Top Name in Hip-Hop News
Shirley Ju As VLAD TV, a go-to source for hip-hop news and hard-hitting interviews, approaches its 15th anniversary, founder Vlad Lyubovny has to curb his enthusiasm slightly. As a native of the Ukraine, where his family faced anti-semitism and defected to the United States in order to escape it, Lyubovny has his yes on the raging war with Russia, while he keeps his ear to the ground for the pulse of the culture he’s covered exhaustively since 2007.Today, VLAD TV boasts nearly 5 million subscribers on YouTube. Its most popular videos? His interview with Boosie Badazz is at 21 million views, Keefe D at 18 million, Mob James at 17 million, Michael Franzese at 16 million, and Mike Tyson at 14 million views.