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Hip-Hop Connection
by tonymcjr
A bit of a belated review seeing as the magazine is now defunct, but definitelyHip hop connection, was pretty much the bible for Hip hop lovers that lived in the U.K.
Hip Hop connection had a slightly irrelevant style that works well when dealing with the absurd world of Hip Hop, and it was often incredibly funny.
The writing ... was usually top notch and the writers for the most part filled there articles with humour and a real sense of love for both Hip Hop music and culture.
H.H.C as it became was a great magazine that was more true to a hip hop ethos than its po-faced rivals such as the source.
The writers seemed to not get carried away with popular opinion and for the most part seemed to keep it real with both their attitude, and their approach.The mag had regular graffiti sections, varied hip hop artist interviews and some fantastic giveaway cd's,it was just a fantastic magazine that will be sorely missed and the digital version just aint the same.
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Uncut
by Eilidh70
Uncut is a monthly magazine focussing on music, movies and related books. It costs around £4.50 per issue, which includes a cover-mounted CD compilation each month.
I've been reading Uncut on and off for quite a few years now, and it is probably the music magazine I buy most often, although I've never quite wanted to commit to ... an annual subscription. I think this is because some issues tempt me to buy and read it a lot more than others.
Uncut always has a very indepth retrospective feature on a certain artist, who also features on the cover, and this is one of the things that influences my choice to buy the magazine. Their featured artists can seem very 'safe' at times; for example, U2 or The Beatles, and the prospect of buying a magazine with so many pages dedicated to these major artists can be off-putting.
I tend to buy music magazines that alert me to new music I might enjoy, and it's in this area that I feel Uncut shines. Its review section is huge, featuring over 200 reviews per issue. The free CD can also be a huge bonus, and some of their past CDs have led me into whole genres that I hadn't previously explored, such as Americana. It does tend to focus on indie/rock/punk music more than other genres.
The writing in Uncut is generally unpretentious and conveys an active interest in and enjoyment of the music they're writing about, which is more than can be said of some music magazines. It's substance over style here.
On the whole, I'd say Uncut is a quality monthly magazine that's very useful for finding out about new releases. I tend to look at the cover artist and contents of the CD when deciding whether or not to buy it, though.
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RWD Magazine
by XICripZ
RWD (Rewind) Magazine is a UK-based urban music magazine. Starting-up in mid-2003, it immerged at a significant time for this music scene as it was at this point when Grime began bubbling-under and taking with it all the fans of the 2-Step Garage and Rap prior to it. This magazine was seen to stand alongside Channel U (before being ... called 'AKA') as the platform for young, aspiring artists in this field and has grown with these acts to the point where many of the pioneers have became Pop chart regulars and even a commercial offshoot to Grime has come about. Since its days of first being all about the London-born underground, it has since re-designed itself to become much more of a general music-orientated lifestyle mag.
Physically, RWD stands apart in that its only pocket-size and so quite clearly doesn't want to be seen as any sort of a competitor with other similar entertainment monthlys. This also reflects the fact that it which to remain to be a platform to styles which are only really seeing localised exposure and wants to broaden this out. Although this may be the case, they also have to ensure that they highlight any big things relating to acts which are bound to be well-known to their audience and so often have features with US stars too.
Fans of the American music scenes tend to know when artists in genres that are close to them are in the UK. As an R&B and Hip Hop fan, you don't really need to be doing any research on which acts are promoting a project on our shores as they tend to be everywhere for around a week in all media you may follow. As this is the case, you'd expect interviews with all the big names in this magazine and that's exactly what you get. Speaking in regards to the July 2010 edition, Big Boi, Ciara and Drake are in there as they should and it reflects the fact that RWD Magazine always seems to stay up with who people are looking to find or should be highlighted as an album or tour may be upcoming. If you're aware of someone who perhaps you'd expect to be in there but isn't, then you're almost guaranteed that it's saved for the following edition in the month to come and so shows that they're always up-to-date in this respect. Obviously, as a UK-based magazine, they regularly run around the local scene and pick out key names for short interviews just to remind us of their presence. The Grime, UK Hip Hop, Dubstep, Drum & Bass and R&B scene are what are primarily covered here, but they're sure to broaden things out to closely-associated urban styles if they fit in.
On the whole, the magazine does extremely well in regards to the music side of things. They cover all the top names in addition to those who you may have heard of, but won't yet have had any real label backing and so are yet to create any sort of significant buzz for themselves. They highlight any new music videos and song leaks as well as a decent review section in which a dozen or so new albums get rated out of five with a brief analysis of each. This, the primary side to the monthly, is handled well as they seem to go over things thoroughly to ensure that people won't be left feeling as though something key was missing in a certain issue.
Aside from the music, the magazine also picks up on typical things such as latest platform games, gadgets and films, but I thought that one of the best non-music sections to it was the 'Style Guide'. There, each month they pick up on a specific fashion look and give both a male and female breakdown of what to shop for and where exactly you'll be able to find it. Although the 'Yellow Mellow' of the most recent one didn't appeal to me, they off a number of websites to clothing websites which you'll probably not have heard of before and so will broaden knowledge on that to a similar degree as how they cover all the other things which don't directly relate to the music. It isn't comprehensive, but it is a great starting point.
It's often the case the adverts throughout magazines are rather annoying and do nothing but fill it out and give it added length. I'd say that this isn't the case here and that it's actually really useful. Here the advertisements scattered throughout are quite refreshing in that all of them seem to be extremely relevant and are bound to be desirable to anyone picking this up. Most of these are for album releases or clothes, but I found that the extensive listings of upcoming, local music events to be very valuable and so they give readers more of a reason to want to pick it up. You won't be bombarded with lots of things which have little to do with the overall theme of the magazine, which is often the case, as they nearly all seem to be things that you'd want to be aware of.
Speaking generally on the magazine, it's glossy, top-quality and overall aesthetically-pleasing. I found it to be inviting and once you're in you'll be bound not to want the hundred-page issue to finish. I look forward to each one as I feel that although I may collect other magazines; this one seems to be the most relevant to me in terms of lifestyle and what exactly it presents monthly. I feel as though this is the case with many others and when you consider the cost of getting one (which I'll mention later) you wouldn't want to be without it.
All should be pleased to find out that the magazine is actually free. If you're unable to get your hands on it (I re-discovered it after a Yukka order came with a free edition), then they actually allow you to read it online on their website or will send it direct to your email inbox if you add yourself on to the mailing list. I feel that it's silly not to be kept up-to-date with this magazine as it really does offer a lot for something free and pocket-size. It doesn't quite cover anything and so clearly for actual news you'll have to be a lot more in-the-know and on the internet searching it out (perhaps on their website), however this does a good job as foundations to this.
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