Danyel Smith (born June 23, 1965) is an American editor, critic, novelist, media pundit and the founder of the cultural and political website The Smithian. Danyel is a 2014 John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University. She is also writing a history of African-American women in pop music. Smith is also the former editor of Billboard and the first African-American editor of the magazine. Also, she is the former chief content officer of Vibe Media Group and former editor-in-chief of Vibe and vibe.com. She was the first African-American, and first female editor of Vibe. Over the course of her career, Smith has interviewed and profiled artists including Beyoncé, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Mary J Blige, Queen Latifah, Usher, MC Hammer, Gang Starr, Wesley Snipes, Marc Anthony, Laurence Fishburne, and Jamie Foxx. Among other outlets, Smith has written for Elle, Time, Cosmopolitan, Essence, The Village Voice, The New Yorker, CNN.com, Rolling Stone, Condé Nast Publications, Ebony and NPR.