L.A. Celebrates Fat Beats' Final Day

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The shuttering of Fat Beats, L.A.'s leading source for underground hip-hop of the last 14 years, could not go down without a mighty farewell from the many patrons who regularly trawled through its music and attended its in-store performances.

To celebrate the Melrose location's closing, the store hosted a week-long goodbye celebration of sales and live shows. Its grand finale and final day as the spot for hard to find hip-hop in this town took place on Sunday, its final moments of operation prompted by a visit from two cops who arrived at 9pm to shut it down.  The hours leading up to the official closure saw dozens of people who came through the upstairs Melrose shop to drink and soak up the last bits of Fat Beats' existence and enjoy the turntable stylings of the DJs performing throughout the day.  But it was not without a bit of sadness for the loss of the music shop customers have held held dear in their hearts over the years.

With the "now leasing" and "closing sale" signs displayed across the storefront, it was hard to forget why everyone was there, but didn't stop the crowd from making the best of the last hurrah for yet another casualty of the digital age.  And with that, L.A. toasted the shops 14-year run said goodbye to the last of the Fat Beats stores.