Video: Fat Beats 323 E. 9th St. (June, 1996)

Today (July 14, 2015) marks the 21st anniversary since the opening of the first Fat Beats location at 323 E. 9th St. (which later went on to become Bobbito’s Footwork). Here’s some old footage I came across of the basement store with some of the earliest staff. Ryan Sikorski, Neal Santos, Ricardo (who didn’t work there, but ended up co-founding the Amsterdam store with Ryan), Mark Kotlinski (88HipHop.com), DJ Hiro (R.I.P.) and some bonus footage of Mista Sinista (X-Men) practicing while Hiro observes. And even though the owner Joseph Abajian isn’t in this clip he represents with a phone call to the store at the end of the clip. It’s a cool look at what was out and what we were carrying back then as you see the titles of vinyl that lined the walls. Especially for those that never got a chance to make it to the OG location. The stores may all be gone, but the company still lives on. www.fatbeats.com