Brown Bag Allstars pay tribute to their old place of employment, Fat Beats. As ex-record shop owners ourselves, this struck a chord with us as well. Directed & Filmed By Robert Adam Mayer.

New poison from G. Rap’s Riches, Royalty, Respect, in stores now.

As shown above, Celph Titled and Buckwild will be releasing a double vinyl instrumental album for their seminal 2010 LP, Nineteen-Ninety-Now, May 10th via Fat Beats. Celph tells us that they also have a new EP in the works called Nineteen-Ninety-More, which will include three non-album tracks, as well as unreleased cuts from the original album’s recording sessions. Also in the works is Celph Titled + Buckwild + DJ Pizzo Buck’s Wildest Beats free downloadable mix CD, which should be hitting here in the next week or so. Stay tuned….

Fat Beats founder Joe Abajian explains how Fat Beats will live on in the aftermath of it’s retail stores closing. The new venture will exist as a “pop-up shop”, a monthly event which will section off a piece of their Brooklyn warehouse for customers to come in and purchase product. “FB BK will be reminiscent of the atmosphere and energy that the NY and LA stores once exuded. We have DJs of note spinning throughout the day, such as DJ Evil Dee, DJ Spinna, and Rich Medina,” Joe told The Village Voice. The first event takes place March 5th from noon to 8pm.

A host of artists speak on Fat Beats on their last day in NYC. Quotes from Ras Kass, Sadat X, Razel, Dom Pachino, DJ JS-1, and more.

Collection of videos sending off Fat Beats NYC to the hip-hop heavens on 9/4/2010. Performances by DJ Premier, Just Blaze, A.G., Pack FM, J-Live, Masta Ace, and more. R.I.P. Fat Beats.

Canadian-born DJ A-Trak puts on a Montreal Expo on the turntables during his segment of the Fat Beats farewell performance series in the NYC store.

After 16 years, Fat Beats has announced the closing of the legendary label’s two remaining retail locations in New York and Los Angeles. Fat Beats will celebrate the legacies of the stores, which are scheduled to close in early September (New York: September 4th, Los Angeles: September 18th) by throwing a series of blow-out sales and tribute parties open to the public during their last weeks. Fans can check www.FatBeats.com for updates.

Fat Beats’ longest running and most famed location is at 406 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan. Since the 1994 opening of Fat Beats’ flagship retail location, hip-hop fans have traveled far and wide to visit the iconic store. With locations soon following in Los Angeles (7600 Melrose Ave.), Atlanta, Amsterdam, and Tokyo, the record stores were a place to experience hip-hop culture and its legacy, which became a global phenomenon. “The closing of Fat Beats is just like one of my friends passing away. They promoted vinyl at its highest degree for the culture of good music and that makes it more difficult to say goodbye,” says DJ Premier.

The announcement of the closings is a reflection of the woes that have been plaguing the industry for years. Global chain HMV closed their last US location in 2004. Tower Records shuttered in 2006. Last year saw the close of the last Virgin Megastore, and the story is no different in 2010. For Fat Beats, maintaining two stores well into 2010 is a testament to the stores’ importance to the music and to fans and consumers continuing to support independent hip-hop.

While news of the stores’ closing marks the end of an era, the future is not doom and gloom. Digital sales continue to increase industry-wide; for Fat Beats, currently operating a profitable and growing online retail store, this has provided a boon to business as fans continue to order mp3s, vinyl, and CDs from FatBeats.com. Although digital sales continue to grow, executives at Fat Beats understand the importance of independent retail stores and are planning to re-open a brick and mortar hip-hop lifestyle location sometime in the near future.

The future looks just as bright for Fat Beats Distribution and the label. Fat Beats Distribution, which has been renamed FB Distribution, continues to strike noteworthy distribution deals with independent and major labels worldwide and is now working with different genres of alternative music. Fat Beats Records will continue to release notable albums from their own impressive roster of artists including ILL BILL, TruMaster/KRS-One, Black Milk, Trinity, Sha Stimuli, Q-Unique, and more. Fat Beats owner and President Joe Abajian says, “This is the start of a new era for Fat Beats. We’re adapting to meet the needs of our demographic by revamping and improving our existing systems. While our website, which stocks everything available in our retail stores, continues to do very well, we’re still exploring our options for alternate retail locations in the future. We’re proud of our legacy and will continue to re-invent ourselves. For now, we’ll see you online at FatBeats.com”

It’s been a long time coming, but they’ve finally got it all wrapped up. The final art, tracklist and street date for Q-Unique’s Between Heaven and Hell dropping September 7th on Fat Beats Records

TRACK LISTING:
1) Paradise & The Abyss Intro
2) Listening Problem
3) Crack Era (cuts by DJ Presto One)
4) Mr. Lopez
5) Green Grass
6) Between Heaven And Hell Prologue
7) Just Because (featuring Cashis & Realm Reality)
8) Man Of God
9) Questions (featuring D Stroy & Freestyle)
10) On My Block (featuring D Stroy)
11) Conspiracy Theory (featuring Freestyle & D Stroy)
12) Gutter Talk (featuring Jise)
13) Dead Roses
14) Between Heaven & Hell (featuring Psycho Realm)(cuts by DJ FM)
15) Dark Knight (featuring Ill Bill & Jise)
16) Bk, Bx, Bk (cuts by DJ Eclipse)
17) The Brute Squad (featuring Mr. Hyde & Ching Rock)
18) No Turning Back (featuring Slaine & Jise)

Real shit right here….. Talib rocks stages, stadiums, and intimate in stores at real record shops. Revolutions Per Minute in stores now.