Sadly, Legendary Fat Beats closes its doors.

23 August 2010 No Comment

I used to LOVE this spot. I would roll through regularly and I wasn’t even a DJ. I brought my newborn daughter in just to catch a whiff of the place. There was something so hip-hop about the place. Navigating your way through the guys trying to hock their mixtapes outside, trekking up that rickety flight of stairs, catching a tag on the way in and then sweating your ass off in the store. And on the way out, Grey’s Papaya. It was a complete experience. For those who don’t know, Fat Beats was a storefront that sold vinyl. The walls were lined with new and classic records that aesthetically brought you back to a time when album artwork was paramount. Any wall space that wasn’t covered with albums was completely overrun with stickers, including the entirety of the ceiling. It was customary for a dj to be spinning and if you were lucky you would catch an album release or a DJ Premiere spinning en route to making a purchase.

It’s been a few years since I lived in Brooklyn but whenever I visited New York I felt like I had to make the pilgrimage. Unfortunately that won’t be happening anymore.

Fat Beats made a stomping footprint for hip-hop with such a small storefront and kept things real throughout. Now that is hip-hop.

Game, DJ Clark Kent Mourn The Loss Of Fat Beats

Taken from MTV.com

By LowKey

The end of an era is near.

Legendary record store Fat Beats recently announced it’s shutting the doors of its two remaining locations in early fall. The establishment revealed it will close its New York location on September 4 and its L.A. location on September 18.

Since 1994, the famed record hut has served as a one-stop shop for the culture’s underground needs. Fat Beats was deemed the only place left for DJs to purchase vinyl records – old and new.

Though dates, venues, and participants have yet to be announced, the underground enterprise is currently planning a string of tribute celebrations to honor the store’s legacy.

The Fat Beats era was a pivotal period for DJs and the demise of the store hit home for one particular former employee.

“Fat Beats closing is definitely an end of an Era,” offered HOT 97 On-Air Personality Cipha Sounds. “At one point, vinyl was the reason why I woke up everyday. Working at Fat Beats was a great time in my life and meant so much to the hip-hop culture. People would come from all over to get vinyl from Fat Beats. All DJs felt a few years ago that vinyl was dying but at least Fat Beats stayed open as our beacon of hope. … When I got the news of it closing down, it felt like a family member had passed away.”

While mixtape crown-holder DJ Drama paid homage to the fallen establishment, he offered a likely cause for the retail store’s closing. “RIP! I used to always cop records from Fat Beats. But hip-hop has just gone digital. Fat beats didn’t stay relevant.

“Further proof that hip hop is entering the final phase of its transformation to “purely digital,” as Twitter user @JusAire commented this morning.

Hip-hop heavyweight Noreaga also chimed in on the matter. “Fat Beats closing is just another sign of how real hip-hop is slowly dying as well! Salute the legacy!!!”

But with this particular hip-hop landmark closing up shop, what does the move mean for the hip-hop culture?

Compton MC Game also expressed his gratitude for Fat Beats’ contributions to the hip-hop culture, describing it as the first establishment to breathe life into his career. That was the first store that really gave my demo and early mixtapes the opportunity to breathe and circulate around Los Angeles.

“I think Fat Beats is an amazing outlet for underground music as well as mid-level mainstream. There arent many stores here that can compete or match their level of love for our music.”

Iconic New York record-spinner Clark Kent shared Game’s sentiments.

“This is the death of one of hip-hop staples for hip-hop DJ’s in NYC,” the legendary DJ said. “This is truly one of the saddest days if you’re a true hip-hop DJ in NYC. It’s extremely sad because that was a staple in the NYC hip-hop DJ world. I know there was one in L.A., but people traveled all around the world to come to Fat Beats in NYC.”