Its with sadness I write this post. Hip Hop Connection – the UKs longest running Rap magazine – is ceasing to trade. The latest issue out now in shops is the last one to be printed so get out there to get your copy. This is the official notice sent to KP:

In 1988 Hip-Hop Connection (HHC) magazine published its first issue. 21 years later, the world’s longest running rap monthly recently published its last. It’s a cracker too, answering the question heads over the globe just can’t resist arguing over: Who is the great rapper of all time? And we didn’t just send our top critics down the pub to argue the toss. Rather, we polled over 100 emcees from all walks of life and all levels of superstardom to find the answer. While there is an inevitable air of sadness that a combination of increased paper and production costs allied to viciously plummeting ad revenues have made continuing unworkable, HHC and its staff are happy the magazine is hanging up its metaphorical boots while in rude creative health. Independently published by Infamous Ink since 2001, it’s charted hip-hop’s myriad highs and lows in candid and amusing fashion; never cowed by the preening demands of rap’s A-list stars or scared to take them down a peg or too, while also championing the UK’s homegrown hopefuls and the freshest underground US talent. Along the way HHC has posted upfront cover debuts for the likes of The Fugees, Wu-Tang Clan, Outkast, Eminem, Danger Mouse, 50 Cent and The Game – long before they were anything close to being on the mainstream’s radar. And while HHC will no longer be the true rap fanatic’s monthly paper fix, it will still live on in other forms: from April 7 it will become the world’s first dedicated digital hip-hop magazine, available for download from www.hhcdigital.net All of HHC’s staff and contributors will continue to be active journalistically, so please retain on any relevant mailing lists. Thank you for your support, in whatever capacity, over the years. All the best, Andy Cowan

Lets hope we can continue to see HHC out there in once guise or another. Indy.