Hip Hop’s self proclaimed ‘bible of hip hop’, The Source Magazine, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after deceitful business practices by former management caused the hip-hop publications advertisers to flee, according to court papers in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.

President and chief executive of Source Entertainment, Jeremy Miller, said that the company is struggling to recover from a cloud of negative publicity brought on by former managers that misused company funds several years ago. The company filed for bankruptcy Friday (April 27^th) in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.

The company has been "damaged by the wrongful business practices of the companies'' former management," Miller said in court documents.

David Mays founder of the ‘bible of hip hop’, The Source, and company president (and hip hop rap artist) Raymond "Benzino" Scott were fired in 2006 after the magazine lost significant support from advertisers. Sales of the hip hop publication fell off after The Source published a series of "unfavorable articles" about top hip hop and rap recording artists, including Interscope Records Inc. hip hop artists Eminem and 50 Cent.

The company also issued bad checks to former employees and creditors, and abruptly stopped sending magazines to some 140,000 subscribers. Several salaries were also paid to people who did not work for the New York Company, according to court papers.

Some of the top unsecured creditors of the company include printer Gould Paper Corp. and catalog publisher Quebecor World Inc.

Known in hip hop circles as "the bible of hip hop," The Source was once considered the top of the line of hip-hop publications.

LP Harrison III, an attorney for The Source, said the company plans to "exit bankruptcy as a reorganized entity."