“How much vinyl do you own? You sound like you dig a whole lot!”-Y.T. from the UK

Great question Y.T. My philosophy is quality over quantity. I have between 3500 and 4000 Lp’s and 12″s, and maybe around 1000 45s. This is a small collection compared to others, but because my space is limited here in NYC, for now it’s only in one dedicated room/studio. Over the years I’ve trimmed the fat from my collection though. I use every single record I have, whether for review, for dedicated mixes, or for playing out. It’s a lot easier to find stuff in your shelves if you don’t have a bunch of crap to weed through. I was never the guy who had to have every record made. I basically enjoy a variety of music, but when I started collecting and DJing, I went for the foundations of Hip Hop: Jazz, Funk, Soul, Reggae and built from there. Eventually you discover new music (every day) and you need to get that. I’ve tried to grab everything from Brazilian to Psych to funky Rock, soundtracks and more. I’m fortunate to have a good group of people in the vinyl community to share record knowledge with who turn me on to great music all the time and a wife who enjoys music and records just as much as I do. If my space and funds were unlimited, I’d have a whole house full of vinyl (one day!). That’s not the case currently. I have definitely been able to get a lot of great vinyl over the years. I don’t claim to have the best or largest record collection, I have what I have and enjoy it every day. You should do that with your collection as well. Records are meant to be played, not stored on a shelf for show.

As far as the digging goes, I don’t dig as much as I used to. This is simply because I have two children to take care of, and that takes priority over digging. However, I still manage to dig in my neighborhood about 4 or 5 times a week as well as the rest of the city. Priorities might change, but I will never stop digging. My wife wants to know where I’ll go when the the records fill up my work space. There are creative ways to keep records, so at this point when they hit the ceiling (which they do in some places), I will start building shelves under desks, etc. to keep all the vinyl together. Like I said, my collection small by digging standards, but it’s meaty. I don’t just own records just to say I have them. I want to play, preserve, and spread this music wherever I can.

DJ Prestige runs the site Flea Market Funk, digs for records, chases his kids around, and preserves the music and artists of Funk, Soul, Jazz, Reggae and Hip Hop one record at a time.