World Famous VIP Records in Long Beach struggles to stay relevant: The record store, key to the birth of West Coast rap, retools amid technological changes in music.
Now owned by Kelvin Anderson, VIP in Long Beach midwifed the careers of some of America’s best-known hip-hop stars. Rapper Snoop Dogg filmed parts of three videos on the VIP roof, next to its landmark sign, which featured the cartoon image of a black man in a baseball cap walking toward an enormous vinyl record.
But that was years ago. Anderson’s siblings have long since closed their stores. Today, in the age of Internet downloads, Anderson remains in music — barely.
Photo: Kelvin Anderson, owner of World Famous VIP Records, sits in his new downsized store, just a few feet down the street from his former location on Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach. Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times
Source: Los Angeles Times
Strictly Cassette is a new website/blog that’s been collected, compiled and presented as a cassette archive.
Seeing it all come together and on display is pretty mindblowing. Some of these I had when I was younger, so there’s the nostalgia factor, but then a lot of them I had never seen or even thought that they existed. A Company Flow - 8 Snippets To Perfection cassingle? Hot damn.
Some dope interviews as well. Definitely worth a peep.
Source: strictlycassette.com
Long Beach Funk Fest. You know how we do. Pass the peas.
Sustaining our future through Funk. Long Beach Funk Festival, August 2010. LA all day.
Long Beach Funk Festival
