Category: Pop-Ups

Rare rap records and ephemera from NYC’s underground hip hop mecca, from its founder’s collection.

Saturday, February 25, 2017, Noon-6

Rappcats
5638 York Blvd
Los Angeles CA 90042

Rappcats is bringing the collection from Fat Beats founder Joe Abajian to Los Angeles for a one day pop up. Fat Beats, in its first incarnation in the East Village NYC in 1994, was the epicenter of the ‘90s East Coast independent rap explosion. In the days before web-stores, collectors and fans from all over the world made pilgrimages to this hip hop mecca to buy the latest vinyl releases by their heroes. Whether the release was a rare double vinyl LP on a major label or one of a five-hundred press run released by a fledgling indie, Fat Beats stocked it all. It’s hard to describe just how thrilling it was to walk down the steps at 332 East 9th St, feel the heat from the overhead lamps, and hear the likes of DJ Avee play Jay Z’s “In My Lifetime” as a new release on his self-funded Roc-A-Fella records, but that’s exactly the mise en scene of the environment. It was ’90s hip hop at its best, and the scene was welcoming. At its height, Fat Beats employed DJ Eclipse, Mista Sinister, Ill Bill, Q-Unique and other NYC hip hop staples who would happily recommend records to anyone who walked in the door. MORE

Groove Merchant at Rappcats: Legendary Bay Area store comes to Los Angeles for a two day pop up record shop, with thousands of hand picked vinyl rarities, posters, handbills and other ephemera.

January 14-16, 12-6PM each day.
Rappcats, 5638 York Blvd, Los Angeles 90042

On January 14th and 15th Rappcats is bringing its favorite record store in the world to LA for a two day pop up record shop. “Cool” Chris Veltri, proprietor and force of the fabled Groove Merchant record store for over two decades, has put together an event that encapsulates on what he calls the “spirit of the shop – DISCOVERY!”

The leagues of influential collectors and musicians who sing Groove Merchant’s praises are myriad, from Rappcats’ partners Madlib and Egon, who’ve been buying from Veltri since the 90s, to Q-Tip, Questlove and Rza. They’re drawn by Veltri’s unique characteristics – he takes a graceful, grateful approach to collecting and sharing knowledge, and he’s both ahead of new trends in collecting and well schooled on the classic ones. From 60s modal jazz and library albums to 70s African funk and American funk 45s to 80s boogie soul and synth-heavy no wave or new age, you can grab any type of record at the Groove Merchant and probably learn about what you’ll be collecting in ten years from the dude behind the counter, as he pulls out heat from unlabeled boxes. Many times those records included the likes the PE Hewitt private-press jazz LP’s issued by Now-Again, Bay Area outsider electro-funk grail TJ Hustler, and Donald Trump’s early 70s psychotic psych 45 “Fuck Funk.” All these rediscoveries Veltri himself made and they spread out throughout the record collecting world through his store.

But this Rappcats pop up isn’t about Veltri boxing up the Groove Merchant’s crates and hauling them down the I-5 for a jaunt in his onetime hometown. He’s been stockpiling records for the event for years and is pulling numerous rarities from his personal collection for the sale. Paper goods – gig posters, handbills, movie slicks – and other ephemera will abound too.

“I will be bringing upwards of 2,500 records. They’re will be a supreme focus on the American Private press with over 1,000 LP’s represented. They’re will be a very strong showing on international music of all shades in all genres. There will be Jazz, Rock, Folk, Soul, Disco of the under the radar variety and of the classic variety. They’re will be Grails and loads of $5 jammers. Above all, they’re will be a lot of shit you have never seen.

I will also bring a eye-popping wall of posters and music ephemera, many of which rarely surface in any shape or form. They’re will be gig posters, handbills, books, clothes, rare photos, pins and badges.”

Veltri also produced a book which debuts at the Rappcats pop up: Record People – Found Photos 1950-1986.

Saturday, December 3, 2016
Noon — 6PM
5636 York Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90042

Rappcats is bringing back Ubiquity Records founder Michael McFadin and key records from the peerless collection of “Boston” Bob Gibson for a one day pop up shop in Highland Park. The first installment, in August, focused on the breadth of Gibson’s collection, which is considered by collectors like DJ Shadow, the Groove Merchant’s Chris Veltri and Chairman Mao to be one of the best of its kind ever assembled. From one-off, uber-rare Northern Soul and Deep Funk 45s to rare groove classics to heavy psychedelic rock, the shop showcased but the tip of the iceberg of a collection that numbers in the tens of thousands LPs and 45s.

This installment focuses on Gibson’s rap records – and the records he collected, and often sold, that influenced every important New York hip hop producer of the 1990s and, by extent, the rap world in general. Gibson, as his name reflects, lived in Boston which, in the pre-Internet 80s, might as well have been in a different country than New York City. But Gibson was a preternatural collector and, while Lenny Roberts’ Ulitmate Breaks and Beats was the biggest direct influence on the 80s hip hop soundscape, Gibson was using Roberts’ template as a springboard, and going deep. Deeper than any collector had ever gone, at at time when the records he was buying were not fashionable. But they would become so. MORE

Friday, October 28, 7-10PM: Arthur Verocai reissue celebration with Egon, Mr. Bongo and other collectors playing their favorite Brasilian and global groove cuts. FREE, 21+ RSVP REQUIRED

Saturday, October 29, 12-7PM: Mr. Bongo’s global record collection sale. Open to the public.

RAPPCATS
5636 York Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90042

Dave ‘Mr Bongo’ Buttle began digging in Venezuela 30 years ago; filling up suitcases with amazing latin records to bring back to Europe. It has continued ever since – in warehouses in the US, to dusty back street shops in South America, houses and garages in Africa, and lesser known spots in Europe and Asia. This led to several successful record shops in central London, plus one in the heart of Shibuya, Tokyo. Now the shops are gone, the label lives on, releasing & reissuing the finest funky music from around the world. Mr,. Bongo are currently issuing a marvelously restored version of Arthur Verocai’s self-titled masterpiece of Brasilian 70s music, with blessing from the man himself. It’s the closest one can get to listening to the original Continental Brasil pressing without dropping thousands of dollars.

Mr Bongo is coming to LA for a special pop up at Rappcats – a celebration of the Arthur Verocai reissue with Egon, Mr. Bongo himself and a host of other collectors spinning Brasilian and global grooves on Friday October 28th and a pop up shop focusing on hundreds of choice records Mr. Bongo culled over 37 years of collecting on Saturday October 29th.

If you’re a frequent visitor to this site, you know that we think Arthur Verocai’s album is one of the pinnacles of modern music. But if you’d like to read more, check out Egon’s Funk Archaeology piece at NPR.