RIP Fat Beats

If you didn't know, Fat Beats is closing its retail stores. The New York store closes this week & the LA store later this month. This video is the Ustream of the Halftime Radio Show's tribute to Fat Beats. DJ Eclipse & Joe Abajian, the founder of Fat Beats, wax poetic about the history of the brand.  It's long but worth the watch.

I suppose that I should note that the label & the online store will live on.  But still... damn.  It's not like I've ever been to the store (I live in IL... give me a break) but it's still like a hip hop icon to me.  Back in the day before the internets I wrote them a letter because I heard that they sold Stretch & Bob tapes (yes, a letter. picture me calling long distance on my pops phone bill... yeah right!).  I asked them how I could mail order some because I was paying $10 a pop from my source & the tapes were never the complete show (I had no idea the show was like 3 hours long lol).  Whoever wrote me back was like "send me the tape you have... I'd like to see that."  I never did because the $10 I was paying for the "bootleg" was a better price than the official tapes through Fat Beats & I didn't want them to shut down my source haha!  But they were cool & sent me a bunch of Fat Beats swag.  For the kids out there "swag" is stickers/handbills/random items with your logo on it.  Back in the tape trading days somebody tried to sweeten their deal by offering to get me one of the shopping bags from Fat Beats.  I was like "fool, I already have one of those!"