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Record Carrying Case with artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, by Get On Down. Now Shipping from Rappcats.

This ultra-sturdy and highly practical record case is covered in classic images from the original Tartown Records version of the 1983 classic hip-hop track “Beat Bop,” produced and designed by Jean-Michel Basquiat, featuring MCs Rammellzee and K-Rob.

The box was manufactured by Get On Down in a limited edition of 1,000; holds up to 50 LPs; black leatherette exterior; metal hinges and clasps; plastic corner protectors. The “Beat Bop” images were licensed from the estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Read all about the box here: Beat Bop Box.

Jean-Michel Basquiat gained worldwide fame as a graffiti-inspired painter, whose myth, legend and influence has continued to grow after his early death at age 27 in 1988. For hip-hop heads, Basquiat also earned respect for producing and releasing the 12-inch single, “Beat Bop” (1983) by Rammellzee and K-Rob. The record, which clocked in at only 10 minutes, has been heard by many, but held by few. Only a reputed 500 of the song’s initial run, on Jean-Michel Basquiat’s imprint Tartown Records, were made with jacket cover art by the infinitely influential graphic artist. The record was re-issued – with no picture sleeve – on Profile Records soon after the Tartown pressings, and went on to influence countless MCs, with its minimal, languishing funk beat and Rammellzee’s and K-Rob’s next-level lyricism.

Basquiat’s involvement in the music on “Beat Bop” had been subject to some debate over the years. An oral history of the record, written by Andrew Nosnitsky and published at Spin in 2013, does a fantastic job of setting the story straight. Read: Basquiat’s ‘Beat Bop’: How K-Rob and Rammellzee came to battle it out on 1983′s beautiful, bizarre art-rap classic.

Jean-Michel Basquiat passed away in 1988; Rammellzee, also incredible visual artist in his own right, in 2010. (Rammellzee, Hip-Hop and Graffiti Pioneer, Dies at 49 – NY Times.) With this Beat Box Record Box, Get On Down celebrates and remembers Basquiat’s important contributions to the formative years of hip-hop, visually and on wax.

via Rappcats