Interview on the way

-photo by kasey stokes

IV COMING SOON!

"Everyone was scared to write on the steps. But I wasn't. Because I ain't never scared. Dude. Remember to keep your head up to the sky. Shit is mad real, And if your still reading this, my bad for wasting 6 seconds of your life."

- Alchemist 

There was a whole bunch of hit ups, graffiti, stickers and what not in the back office of Fat Beats Los Angeles. A lot of famous/known artist and d.j's  left their mark in the back office. But this one passage stood out the most, it caught my attention. I wonder how long this has been back there.

Fat Beats interview coming soon..  FYI.

In Xzibit's final words "Fat Beats you ain't never going anywhere cause you are right here with us." The legacy of hip hop carries on.

West Coast in da house...for the final days of L.A. hip hop institution Fat Beats that helped launch so many careers.

A BIG thank you to Randy, Joe, HouseShoes, Rhettmatic from Fat Beats for accomodating people like me who were here to document some of it. Thanks to the cops for not shutting the house down... they waited until Sunday night. It was an insane evening that left us wanting for more.

These last few days at Fat Beats have been epic - I'm still on a high- and here's a classic moment of West Coast hip hop that went down on Friday. Ft. Prince Po, Planet Asia, Ras Kass, Xzibit, Mykill Miers, Phil Da Agony. Come through today LAST DAY at Fat Beats, with some of the finest DJs the city has to offer.

Photo courtesy of Kiwamu Omae

Watch out for the killer footage as well.

"The Last Stop for HIP-HOP"

-photo by kasey stokes

We were just given Fat Beats LA's tentative performance schedule:

Sept 4th, Saturday - DJ Lord Ron, The Chosen, Logic, Blame One, LMNO, 2 Mex, Charli 2na
Sept 6th, Monday - Up-Words & Jo-E the MasterMind Hyphenate, Futuristic
Sept 10th, Friday - Sunni Ali Ber, Freestyle Fellowship, Artifacts, Freddie Gibbs
Sept 11th, Saturday - Shane Eli, Luminaries, Sahtyre, Cadalack Ron,Verbs,Tenacity, Malkovich, Chris Clarke, Otherwize, Pudge
Sept 12th, Sunday - J Bizness Showcase
Sept 14th, Tuesday - Percee P, CookBook/L.A. Symphony, Versis, Montage One,Trek Life
Sept 16th, Thursday - Producer Showcase: Rhettmatic, HouseShoes, PUDGE, Exile, Aspect1, Shafiyq, Dibiase/Nas Rockwell
Sept 17th, Friday - Funkdoobiest, Prince Po, Planet Asia, Ahmad, Ras Kass,Chino XL, Dilated Peoples, Erule, Volume 10, Kurupt, Strong arm Steady
Sept 19th, Sunday - DJ Showcase (TBA)

Slots are currently available. Call (323)655-8997 for more information.

Please note that this schedule is subject to change.

Above photo taken from Fat Beats LA MySpace Page

Wow...

For 16 years, a long list of our favorite emcees, DJs and beatmakers passed through the doors of Fat Beats LA to make musical magic. And now this legendary establishment is closing its doors next month.

After standing strong for so long in the midst of mega record stores shutting down and this everchanging digital age, I thought LA Beats would always survive.

Stereo heads, feel free to share your favorite memory of Fat Beats.

- photography by kasey stokes.