Hip hop magazines certainly have their hands full: they must focus on new artists, rising stars, new rap and R&B releases, video reviews, urban fashion reports and interviews with existing superstars. Here’s a list of the top three hip hop magazines, as well as my personal endorsement for which I feel is the best.

The Source. What originally started as a rap newsletter by two Harvard graduates turned DJs eventually became one of the largest and most respected magazines in the genre. It has, however, fallen on hard times due to unfavorable publicity regarding a feud between co-owner Benzino and Eminem, as well as concern over their biased rating of albums (including Benzino’s own record). True, this publicity could have helped keep The Source in the headlines, but this reflected a poor business practice which reduced their advertising revenue, eventually leading The Source to declare bankruptcy. While its future remains clouded, this is still a magazine hip hop fans should look into for themselves.

Scratch. The Source focuses most of its energy on hip hop as entertainment, whereas Scratch focuses on rap music as a business, and provides numerous articles for those interested in making a living from it. Scratch is mostly made up of former Source employees who became dissillusioned with their former employer. While rappers can certainly learn a lot about the nuts and bolts of the industry, Scratch’s target audience consists of DJs and music producers. Purchased by XXL in Nov 2007- a powerhouse in the industry- Scratch certainly seems poised to grab a larger part of the market in years to come. Read the rest of this entry »