Vibe magazine, often described as the Rolling Stone of hip-hop, is shutting down immediately after more than 16 years in print.

Word of the closure broke early Tuesday, and by late afternoon the Internet was abuzz.

In a memo to staff, Steve Aaron, CEO of Vibe Media Group, said the company tried in vain to find an investors or restructure “the huge debt on our small company.”

“The print advertising collapse hit Vibe hard, especially as key ad categories like automotive and fashion, which represented the bulk of our top 10 advertisers, have stopped advertising or gone out of business,” he wrote.

Vibe was created in 1992 by Quincy Jones and the company then called Time Warner. It reported circulation of 818,000 last year.

Sign up for our Weekly Email Newsletter Email: For Email Marketing you can trust

Other Ways to Share Twitter Del.icio.us MySpace

Discussions and Submission Agreement