REMERTON — The sounds of jazz musician Yusef Lateef permeated the atmosphere at Vibes and Stuff Record Shop, a quaint storefront in Remerton with an appreciation for vinyl. 

An old-school record player sits to the left of the cash register, just off the entrance, while the likes of Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Black Sabbath and Nirvana in rare form grace the walls to the right of the front door.

Le’Shawn Taylor, who has always had a fondness for hip-hop, opened his store Sept. 1. A Tribe Called Quest song, “Vibes and Stuff,” inspired the name.

A 2017 Valdosta State University graduate, the store opening comes one year post-college for Taylor.

Examining the roots of hip-hop was intriguing to a young Taylor, who absorbed the genre’s history and its originality.

“Once I get caught on to something, I obsess over it, and I have to learn everything about it like what are the roots of it,” he said.

By opening Vibes and Stuff, Taylor agreed he’s setting his own roots here in Valdosta.

“I think so because there’s not a lot of places ran by young black people around here,” he said.

The 25-year-old entrepreneur began collecting records in 2012 after viewing musician Questlove’s collection in a YouTube video.

Learning about old-school hip-hop set him apart from his peers while in high school, Taylor said.

He called himself a rebel, explaining he didn’t listen to the modern-day artists as others were doing. He prefers artists such as Q-Tip and Mos Def.

While producing music in 2013, Taylor began sampling old-school jazz music and would frequent businesses such as Red Door Records and Arrow’s Aim Records in Gainesville, Fla.

One of Taylor’s hotspots for records, Red Door is no longer open as of late 2017, leaving Taylor to scout another location to purchase his records.

“I was like, man, nobody’s opening up a record store; I guess I’ll do it,” he said.

Following Red Door’s closure, Taylor visited a record shop in another state where he said a fellow patron dared him to open his own store.

“He was, hey, like, you might as well open up a store so I can buy you out eventually; pretty much to see me fail,” he said.

Taylor said even though the idea wasn’t actually in his mind at the time, it was a long-term dream. After spending time as a case manager, he decided to act on his passion.

But in what seems to be a digital universe, why sell vinyl?

Taylor, who owns about 1,000 records, said vinyl is more valuable than CDs.

“Vinyl, it goes through traditional hip-hop. That’s what you use to scratch with,” he said. “Back in the ‘90s, I guess that’s the time that I mostly drawn on, where I get my inspiration from.”

Taylor would buy and trade records through bargaining, a practice that aided him in gathering inventory for his new business.

“I’m a terrible person to go on trips with because I want to stop at every mom-and-pop shop because you never know what’s in there; it could have records in there for a penny,” he said.

Taylor said there seems to be a new interest in vinyl, a revival even.

“It’s so many stories, you can just look on the internet, talking about the resurgence of vinyl or vinyl’s making a comeback. I never cared about that stuff. It was just what I was into at the time,” he said.

Jimi Hendrix, Chaka Khan and Led Zeppelin are among the artists on the stands at Vibes and Stuff Record Shop, 1825 Plum St.

Amanda Usher is a reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times. She can be contacted at 229-244-3400 ext.1274.