In the 1990s, Brooklyn pulsed with basslines that seemed to come from every corner—sound clashes in basements, block parties on summer nights, and dancehalls that carried the energy of Kingston straight into New York. This was a golden decade for reggae and dancehall in the city, and at the heart of it all were the record shops.
Far more than retail spaces, these shops were cultural institutions. They were where selectors stocked up on the latest riddims, where aspiring DJs got their first break, and where the Caribbean community gathered to stay connected to home. Among them, a few legendary spots stood out, leaving a legacy that still echoes through the culture today.
Super Power Records: The Crown Jewel of Fulton Street
If you talk to anyone who lived through Brooklyn’s reggae scene in the ’90s, one name will always come up: Super Power Records. Founded by Louie Grant, this shop on Fulton Street wasn’t just a record store—it was the heartbeat of reggae and dancehall in New York.
Super Power was the headquarters of the powerful Super Power Sound System, one of the most respected in America during the late ’80s and ’90s. Inside, crates of vinyl and walls of 7-inch singles held the hottest music straight out of Jamaica. The latest Shabba Ranks, Ninjaman, Super Cat, Buju Banton, and Bounty Killer cuts often landed at Super Power before they reached anywhere else in New York.
Selectors from across the city would line up to get their hands on exclusive pressings, many of which were flown in directly from Kingston. For young DJs, even stepping into Super Power felt like an initiation into the culture—watching established selectors flip through crates, overhearing debates about the best riddim of the week, and catching snippets of unreleased dubplates.
Super Power didn’t just sell music—it distributed it. Louie Grant’s operation helped bring reggae and dancehall to audiences far beyond Brooklyn, making the shop a key player in the genre’s international expansion. For many, Fulton Street was a direct bridge to Kingston’s music industry.
Charlie’s Records: Church Avenue’s Caribbean Connection
While Super Power was the mecca of dancehall, Charlie’s Records on Church Avenue served as another hub for Brooklyn’s Caribbean community. Best known for its role in distributing soca and calypso, Charlie’s also played a part in reggae’s growth by supplying DJs and selectors with a wide range of island music.
It was a place where cultures collided—selectors would grab the latest dancehall riddims, then throw in soca tracks for the Labor Day Parade. This blending of sounds is part of what gave Brooklyn’s reggae-dancehall scene its unique New York flavor.
Moodies Records: The Bronx Connection That Fed Brooklyn
Though physically based in the Bronx, Moodies Records had a heavy influence in Brooklyn. Moodies was legendary for pressing dubplates and supplying sound systems with one-of-a-kind specials. Many Brooklyn selectors made the trip uptown just to secure these exclusives, knowing that a single dub from Moodies could decide the outcome of a sound clash.
In the 1990s, sound clashes were everything. Crews like Stone Love, Saxon, King Addies, and Bodyguard dominated the culture, and Brooklyn was often the battleground. Record shops like Moodies and Super Power armed selectors with the tracks and exclusives that fueled these late-night battles.
VP Records: Queens’ Giant With Brooklyn Roots
Though not in Brooklyn, VP Records in Queens loomed large over the entire New York reggae market. VP was one of the biggest reggae distributors in the world, and its catalog was unmatched. Brooklyn selectors, promoters, and fans often made the trek to Jamaica Avenue to grab new imports, knowing VP could supply riddims that might not surface anywhere else for weeks.
The rise of VP in the 1990s was part of reggae’s globalization, and Brooklyn played a huge role in keeping that pipeline alive.
The Cultural Impact: More Than Music
What made these record shops so powerful wasn’t just the vinyl—it was the community they created.
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For selectors, they were lifelines. Shops like Super Power were where you got the ammunition for a Friday night dance or a Saturday sound clash. Having the right record could make or break your reputation.
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For artists, they were gateways. Brooklyn record shops were often the first stop for Jamaican artists coming to New York. Super Power in particular became a hangout spot where artists connected with fans, promoters, and DJs who could push their music into new markets.
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For the community, they were cultural anchors. Walking into a record shop in the 1990s meant more than shopping—it meant reconnecting with home. It was where older immigrants found familiar sounds and where the younger generation learned the soundtrack of their heritage.
The impact of these stores rippled beyond music. They helped reggae and dancehall infiltrate mainstream American culture, paving the way for artists like Shabba Ranks, who won two Grammys in the early ’90s, and Super Cat, who collaborated with hip-hop stars during the same era. Brooklyn’s record shops were part of the infrastructure that made those leaps possible.
Legacy of the 1990s Shops
By the late 1990s and early 2000s, the shift to CDs and eventually digital streaming began to weaken the dominance of physical record shops. Many closed their doors, but their legacy remains.
For those who lived it, the memories are still vivid—flipping through 7-inches at Super Power, running into your favorite selector at Charlie’s, or carrying home a stack of records that would set the dancehall on fire that weekend.
These shops were more than businesses. They were cultural beacons, shaping not just the sound of Brooklyn but the sound of reggae worldwide. Without them, reggae’s global journey in the 1990s would have looked very different.
Brooklyn’s record shops of the 1990s remind us that culture doesn’t just happen—it’s built, nurtured, and sustained in community spaces. For reggae and dancehall, those spaces were the record shops that turned vinyl into history.
