In the world of online hip hop there are a few different levels. You have your forums, blogs (RealTalkNY, NahRight, MissInfo), and your “real” news sites (XXL, SOHH). However, there is only one website that sits atop this pyramid of online destinations, AllHipHop.

AllHipHop.com gets more traffic than any other hiphop/urban website and according to recent reports were pulling in about 2 million dollars a year. Yeh, crazy right? Even more crazy is how they were feeling themselves so much they almost gambled it all away. Take a look at this story I just read over at Inc.com which tells the tail of how the heads over at AllHipHop started to let all slip away by trying to do way to much (record labels, concerts, merchandise) instead of concentrating on what made them all that money in the first place (content).

I hope those guys get it together because I very much look forward to the feeling I will have as Highbrid Nation one day takes that number one spot. Unfortunately I’ve already had the chance to gloat to Elliott Wilson taken away from me.

Here’s an excerpt fromt he article…

Both founders had run up tens of thousands of dollars in personal credit card debt. Creekmur’s credit rating suffered because of the additional debt, and he called his mother to warn her that he might need to ask for a loan. “We paid those people we had to pay,” Creekmur says. “If someone could wait a month or a few days, that’s exactly what we did. Without those people who were gracious enough to work with us, we would have had a serious, serious problem.” Luckily, their accountants, lawyers, and Web-hosting provider all agreed to wait, since AllHipHop.com had always paid its bills on time in the past.

Link: Inc.com