How sad is this!!!!!! ..Worldfamous VIP Records has been a LANDMARK on the West Coast forever.  I am sure everyone remembers the image of a young Snoop Dogg posted atop the record store  in the “What’s My Name” video.

Kevin Anderson Sr. has had to endure some lean times since 2003 while trying to hold the shop together. He states that now he and his son “can barely pay rent or the utilities”.  This seems impossible but like so many record chains (Virgin, Tower) in LA.  People just don’t care about buying CD’s and Records like that from record shops.  People just want to Download from the comfort of home. Amoeba is the antithesis to this but the majority of shops are closing quickly.

 Itunes and music downloading is convenient but we never stop to think about the small mom and pop record shops we grew up with closing down or going bankrupt.  You know that going into Big Ben’s in LA off La Brea or sitting in VIP Records listening to the latest Con Funk Shun or Eric B and Rakim album was quite different than running to Target to listen to music at one of those little kiosks..

This was more than just a place to buy music and posters,  this was a place which housed the studio from whence Snoop and Warren G first created demos. Sir Jinx had a studio in this building.  The West Coast Gangsta Rap Foundation has bricks with VIP stamps on them.  Technology has given way to so much.  Read more about the demise of a part of history at LA WEEKLY.