The Miss Urban Beauty Pageant features women who have full-figured physiques, community-oriented outlooks with the smarts to build successful careers in Corporate America and they love the hip-hop culture.

Hip-hop has become one of the most popular, profitable music genres and lifestyles in the marketplace today. The hip-hop culture is the basis of billions of dollars in annual sales of clothing, accessories, fragrances, automobiles, spirits, movies and more.

A large part of hip-hop’s appeal is the beautiful models featured in hip-hop and rap music videos, magazine layouts and other aspects of the culture.

Shannon Anderson, founder of the Miss Urban Beauty Pageant, would like to bring urban models to the forefront in a different, more positive light. She says they contribute significantly to the marketability and power of hip-hop, but are usually seen as just a group of “pretty girls with glossy lips and voluptuous hips.”

“We are taking urban models and placing them in a more mainstream setting. The Miss Urban Beauty pageant is designed to break the barriers and stereotypes associated with urban models by giving them more mainstream appeal while still maintaining the integrity of being an urban model.

This pageant will be Miss America meets America’s Next Top Model and the Apprentice,” Anderson says, and with the expected release of the calendar, DVD, and submission to television networks this pageant is definitely setting the path for major success.

This year’s Atlanta pageant will be held at the Rialto Theater on August 20, 2005. For more information about the Miss Urban Beauty Pageant, log onto www.MissUrbanBeauty.com .