The Flip Side - Record Shop in Dubai

The only independent record shop in the UAE, in an Al Quoz warehouse.

Shop

The Flip Side

Address

Unit 71, Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz

Town

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Established

2017

Formats

Vinyl

Crates

Jazz, Blues, Techno, Funk, Hip-hop, Reggae, House, Electronic

In the shop

In-store gigs

Shadi Megallaa learned the trade working in a record shop in New York, moved to the UAE, found there was nowhere to buy records, and opened The Flip Side in May 2017 in a unit at Alserkal Avenue, the warehouse arts compound in Al Quoz. It is small and it is still the only independent record shop in the country. Boxes by genre - jazz, blues, techno, funk, hip-hop, reggae - and a deliberate weighting towards labels working in the region, Bedouin Records and Ark to Ashes among them, plus in-stores and release parties, because in a city with no record shops there was also nowhere for that to happen.