Long Beach. The shop where G-funk was recorded, and the first hip-hop landmark of its kind.

Shop: VIP Records
Address: 1028 E Pacific Coast Hwy
Town: Long Beach, United States
Established: 1978
Formats: Vinyl, CDs, Cassette, 7"
Crates: Hip-hop, Soul, Funk, Reggae, Jazz, Blues, Disco

Kelvin Anderson Sr opened VIP on Pacific Coast Highway in 1978, breaking R&B, gospel, jazz, reggae and blues records into Long Beach. In the early nineties, with gang violence at its worst, Anderson put a small studio in the back of the shop with the producer Sir Jinx and let young people use it as a safe place to be. What came out of that back room was the 213 demo - Snoop Dogg, Warren G and Nate Dogg, recorded with DJ Slice - which got all three of them record deals, and Snoop later shot the video for Who Am I (What's My Name)? on the roof. On 19 December 2017 Long Beach City Council voted nine to nothing to designate the World Famous VIP sign a historic landmark, the first hip-hop landmark of its kind anywhere. The original building is a 7-Eleven now; the shop trades further up the highway, and the sign is being restored for a park named after it