91ĢĘ²®»¢

Eothen ā€œEgonā€ Alapatt, BAā€™00, discovered his career path when studying at 91ĢĘ²®»¢, working as a DJ at the WRVU radio station, and promoting local hip-hop shows. ā€œWhen I realized that reissuing and licensing of music, and procuring music for samples for hip-hop producers, could be a profession, I knew thatā€™s what I wanted to do.ā€

The term ā€œvinyl enthusiastā€ doesnā€™t do justice to Alapattā€™s work. He has released dozens of new and almost-lost-to-history singles and albums through Now Again Records, launched in 2002 while he was general manager for the influential independent hip-hop label Stones Throw Records. More releases come through the Madlib Invazion label, a partnership with rapper Madlib and the vaults of the late J. Dilla, a wildly influential hip-hop producer.

Rappcats is the online and brick-and-mortar hub for Alapattā€™s output. But the Now Again releases, ranging from the 1970 Dallas Pop Festival to Vietnam-era funk music from Florida, most closely resemble Alapattā€™s passion for unearthing gems.

His vinyl collectionā€”ā€œin the thousandsā€ of titles, Alapatt saysā€”took 20 years to create. Before leaving Nashville to take a job at Stones Throw in Los Angeles, Alapatt pared down his collection to a DJ box of about 35 LPs, one small box of 7-inch 45 rpm singles, and ā€œa couple of bags of hip-hop records to DJ with.ā€

Professional enthusiasts like him have helped U.S. sales of vinyl records rise 418 percent to nearly $500 million in the last decade. Sure, e-commerce giant Amazon, the largest vinyl retailer, has the latest releases and gorgeousā€”and expensiveā€”box sets. But vinyl has retained its outsider persona with the help of labels like Now Again and a passionate, underground vinyl culture.

Before vinylā€™s comeback, Alapatt spent the late ā€™90s searching for records around Nashville in hard-to-find places. He recalls a Belle Meade homeā€™s garage packed so tightly that moving the records was arduous. ā€œYou had to hope that you and your friends had moved enough records that you saw another stack you hadnā€™t seen before.ā€ Other crate-diggers should be so lucky.

Here are a few of Alapattā€™s tips for finding and collecting vinyl gems.

1. DIG ONLINE.

The internet is a godsend for vinyl overstocks. For all the tactile pleasure of thumbing through bins of records, a brick-and-mortar vinyl store canā€™t match the deep selection of online stores. Sites like Discogs and eBay are the best of both worlds: the seemingly infinite choice of internet shopping with titles procured by retailers and individual sellers. As Alapatt explains, ā€œVery few stores arenā€™t listing products online as soon as they get them.ā€

2. DONā€™T OVERPAY.

With time, a vinyl collector will learn the fair value of vinyl records. Thereā€™s a long list of variables: the condition of a record and its jacket sleeve, the year of releaseā€”an original pressing will cost more than a later reissueā€”and the level of demand. ā€œOften, especially when the record is overpriced, Iā€™ll just make an offerā€ thatā€™s acceptable about half the time, Alapatt says. ā€œIā€™m not trying to get any crazy deals. But Iā€™m also not trying to overpay for the privilege of owning a record.ā€

3. BUILD A NETWORK.

No vinyl collector can operate alone. Plug into a network of like-minded people to stay informed and alert. Lacking time to scour
brick-and-mortar stores, Alapatt says a customer of his pop-up vinyl shop sometimes lends a hand. ā€œIā€™ve got a lot of great records because he sent me a photo saying, ā€˜Hey, check out what I just saw on the wall at Amoeba,ā€™ or ā€˜Iā€™m at Atomic in Burbank, and thereā€™s a David Axelrod acetateā€™ [a test pressing prized by collectors for their rarity].ā€

4. GO OFF THE BEATEN PATH.

Vinyl collecting can get challenging once the low-hanging fruit is gone. Expand your target zone, whether the edge of town or another continent, for more rewarding purchases. ā€œJust this morning, for instance, I bought a dub record from Jamaica,ā€ he says. ā€œAnd I was finalizing a deal for an Ethiopian jazz record that came via England.ā€ Sometimes Alapatt goes off the grid. ā€œIā€™m trying to go places where there arenā€™t guidebooks and people on eBay. Iā€™m going to musiciansā€™ houses, producersā€™ houses and old warehouses.ā€

5. ENJOY THE HUNT.

Collectors, whether newbies or veterans, can have fun finding and buying vinyl records. A thrill of the hunt exists, whether buying on Amazon or cold-calling the Denver home of Ethiopian jazz great Ayalew Mesfin, which Alapatt did for a 2018 release on Now Again. Alapatt has been fortunate enough to combine work and play since graduating from 91ĢĘ²®»¢. ā€œIā€™m still doing it 20 years later,ā€
he says.

TEXT BY GLENN PEOPLES, MBAā€™08 | PHOTO BY EILON PAZ