my (tiny but growing) record collection

as a preteen girl in rural jamaica, old men would come to my gate and ask if my parents had any old records they wanted to sell. (i often mistook them for jehovah’s witnesses and hid behind our curtains to avoid the “moment” they would eventually request “to speak about our saviour”). a few times, my parents would say no, but one time, they said yes, and sold off my grandparents’ entire collection of music. we still have their china collection though, and that’s just as beautiful.

my grand uncle always gave those record buyers a strict no when they asked him. uncle derrick still has every record he ever brought to jamaica from england in the 90s, when he returned from a youthful life of work and marriage. he never plays them, because his player doesn’t work, but he protects them. he also protects an old typewriter he has, it doesn’t work, but it’s being preserved.

going to uncle derrick’s house always felt like going to a museum. his records and his typewriter are probably the sole reasons that i value the vintage so much today. i’d tinker with them and think of the journeys each old thing had been through, and what each old thing had gotten my uncle through. my family through. and because i could never hear my uncle’s records, i was even more fascinated with them. i would imagine their sound based on their artwork.

as a young adult, i realised i could very easily purchase a player and get to hear those sounds i used to imagine. and so i did. i now have a collection of a few of my uncle’s records that he’s gifted me, and other ones that i’ve picked up along the way, or been given.

from the legendary bob marley, to acoustic barrington levy, to shabba ranks, to third world’s biggest hits, i couldn’t be any more jamaican in my collection.

the sade fan in me couldn’t help but to get smooth operator on vinyl (but my favourite song of hers is “pearls”). this one is damaged though *frown face*.

i was gifted rihanna’s anti for christmas. the packaging is in braille and it’s really a collector’s dream.

and my favourite way to unwind after a long day – rapture by anita baker. a classic.