This Hip-Hop Vinyl Haven Is A Record Store Day Must

Brittany “DJ Red-I” Benton and Samantha “Playne Jayne” Flowers are knowingly inseparable. As members of hip-hop duo FreshProduce and new owners of Hingetown’s Young Kings record store, they are “two unicorns in the same pasture,” as Benton likes to say. Opened in November on West 29th Street, Young Kings is a budding haven for rap, R&B and jazz LPs and 45s. But the pair also wants the store to serve as a musical petri dish by hosting Sunday turntable mixers and monthly “Beat Freak” competition-style open mics at area clubs such as Tremont’s Lava Lounge. FreshProduce’s tiny, minimalist brick-and-mortar extension isn’t just another vinyl, art and T-shirt hawker but a fresh-minded headquarters — especially on its first Record Store Day, April 22 — for all sorts of Cleveland groups hoping to make good sounds. “We want to bring back that feel of that little record shop in your neighborhood,” says Benton. “All ages, ideologies, ethnicities — a store first, then a cultural center, one where people can congregate and share ideas. In essence, we want to be the keepers of the culture.” 1418 W. 29th St., Cleveland, 216-804-3453, beatfreakshop.com