By Lenroy James
From the colorful posters and flyers that highlight new album releases, to the boxes of records and CDs that are stacked atop each other, and from the workers busily engaging themselves with chores at the warehouse and retail outlet of VP Records on Jamaica Avenue, it is pretty obvious that a thriving business is still growing.
In his moderate office on the upper floor, VP Records’ main voice and vice president of marketing, Randy Chin, is calm and composed, a far cry from the happenings in motion downstairs – in the largest independent reggae record company in the world.
Some achievement, one might say, considering the company’s humble beginnings. “Well, it wasn’t always like this,” said Chin, referring to the label’s iconic stature molded over the years.
It all started in Kingston, Jamaica, in an era when reggae wasn’t around yet and the popular sound coming out of the island nation was defined as “mento bordering on ska.” The year was 1956.
“My father and mother started this little record shop, called Randy’s,” recalled Chin. The shop would, over the years, play host to some of reggae’s luminaries, including the biggest act of all – Bob Marley. “Even Bob used to hang out there,” said Chin, speaking as if he has told this story a thousand times before.
In the early 1960s, as the music evolved from ska to a more riveting sound called rock steady, so did the business practices and approach towards marketing it. It was not until 1979, long after reggae was developed, that the family decided New York would be their home, and likewise the skills they honed selling vinyl in their native Jamaica could be practiced in the United States.
They first set up operation at 170-03 Jamaica Ave., selling vinyl records mainly to Jamaicans, not only those in the five boroughs, but those living all around the country who found it difficult to access new releases.
“My parents had the contacts, so they used that to their advantage,” said Chin. And with the new business flourishing, which had primarily been a retail shop, VP expanded into a wholesale store, supplying other music shops with records.
In the 1980s, the store relocated to its new location up the street, at 170-21 Jamaica Ave., where all operations were conducted. The store by that time was under the name VP Records, named after Chin’s parents, Vincent and Patricia. “We started experiencing problems with records not arriving on time, and this was not good for business, so we had to license and outsource our own material,” Chin recalled. Since then, VP Records has grown immensely, signing numerous artists to their label; purchased a warehouse staffed by 60 workers to distribute their product; and built a solid reputation for being the main source for reggae music this side of the globe.
They have also established auxiliary distributing outlets in Florida, and England, according to Chin, “to deal with the Europe.”
The impact VP has made is evident in the numerous awards it has gleaned, and its status as a staple for Caribbean music, not only restricted to reggae, but calypso, and soca as well.
However, it is with the indigenous sounds of his native Jamaica that Chin has vied six times for a Grammy award. Included among those honors are this year’s double nomination, from two reggae stalwarts, namely, “Music is Life,” by Beres Hammond, and “New Day,” by Luciano. Although, the label has not copped any of the awards, it remains optimistic its time will come. To date, VP’s most successful breakthrough act has been contemporary dancehall act Beenie Man, who scored a couple years ago with his monster cross-over hit, “Who Am I.” On its way racking up a decent number of sales for VP, the song brought a refreshing dimension to the way the highly touted genre “dancehall” was marketed. Earlier acts who passed through the VP experience and later made it to Grammy status included the booming-voiced Shabba Ranks.
At the main retail store, one can find not only reggae music, but a wide array of other music forms, including the latest releases of top selling rhythm and blues acts.
Chin said he would like to see his company get more involved in merchandising, as this is one area he hopes to target in the near future. So far, as an independent record label, VP has contributed to the development one way or another to the most popular sound coming out of the Caribbean.
“So far, this formula has worked, and we’ll continue to stick to it, taking on a global approach,” he said. “We are hoping to be the global source for reggae music.”
