1315 E Pine St, 320-1111

Mon–Thurs noon–8 pm; Fri–Sat noon to 9 pm; Sun noon–7 pm.

A neighborhood that doesn't have a store dedicated to hiphop vinyl is less than urban. On Capitol Hill, the store most dedicated to the second-most-urban music to come out of the end of the 20th century (the first is techno) is Respect Records. The store is small and neatly packed. Some of the LPs for sale are very old, others are very new, all are fairly priced. Along the end of the store's west wall there are shelves containing CDs by the best and most creative of hiphop artists, such as Pete Rock, Madlib, and local rapper Framework. But the main substance of Respect Records is vinyl.

When I visited the store recently, I had an African moment. Not only was the store attendant spinning vintage Hugh Masekela (a South African jazz trumpeter), but while browsing records lined along the end of the east wall, I came across a recent reissue of Zimbabwe Legit's Brothers from the Mother. I personally knew the rappers of this crew (Akim and Dumi—they're brothers) back in the day (the '80s) when I lived in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. Akim and Dumi lived in the richest neighborhood, Gunhill (their father owned a whole school), and they had access to the latest hiphop. They released Brothers from the Mother in 1992, and it contained a now-famous mix by the then-unknown DJ Shadow, "Shadow's Legitimate Mix." A big world can be found in this small record store. CHARLES MUDEDE