Today Sothebys Auction House auctioned off the Hip-Hop classic, “Beat Bop” to benefit The ARChive of Contemporary Music. It was donated by Cory Robbins, the founder of Profile Records.
It sold for $126,000.00
Here’s the dope : Rammellzee vs K-Rob “Beat Bop” (Tartown Record Co., TT001 Vinyl 12″ 45 rpm., 1983). Sealed. Jean Michel Basquiat designed the sleeve and produced the recording. A legendary Hip Hop and artworld rarity of only 500 copies.
You can read the history of this legendary recording, and Cory Robbins involvement here: “Basquiat’s ‘Beat Bop’: An Oral History of One of the Most Valuable Hip-Hop Records of All Time” (Spin, 2013) https://www.spin.com/2013/11/beat-bop-basquiat-k-rob-rammellzee-freak-freak/
BTW – According to Vinyl of the Day + hmv.com (10.6.2019) this is the 6th most expensive 12” ever sold, beating out the Beatles, Yesterday & Today (the Butcher cover). Wiki in August 2020 says the 7th most valuable. So who’s counting? But it’s always something to beat the Beatles (Scritti Politti sorta said that). Maybe I should check to see how much some of the other discs sold for at this auction?
You can see but not touch all the amazing stuff that that was offered at : https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/hip-hop/jean-michel-basquiat-rammellzee-vs-k-rob-beat-bop?locale=en
A big thanks to Cory Robbins and Monica Lynch for making all this possible!
