GotWhatULike Records

GotWhatULike Records is a Black-owned, independent record store at 11539 Hickman Mills Drive in south Kansas City, Missouri, founded by Mark Harper in July 2014 and built into a cultural beacon for a musically underserved part of town.¹²³

Description

GotWhatULike Records is an independent record store located at 11539 Hickman Mills Drive in south Kansas City, Missouri.¹ The shop describes itself as “Kansas City’s record and equipment store that puts the music first,” carrying a deep inventory of clean used vinyl alongside audio gear such as turntables and receivers.¹ Its stock spans roughly 12,000 records and 8,000 singles across hip hop, funk, soul, punk, classic rock, blues, jazz, and country.¹

The store is widely described as a cultural beacon in a musically underserved part of the city — a resource for record shoppers in south Kansas City who cannot regularly make the trip to the vinyl shops clustered in Westport and the Crossroads.² It is a Black-owned business and appears in the Buy Black Main Street directory of Black-owned businesses.⁴

GotWhatULike keeps regular retail hours: Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Mondays.³

Ownership and history

GotWhatULike Records was founded by Mark Harper, a south Kansas City native who had been digging through record crates since childhood, beginning with his older brother’s vinyl collection.² Drawn to the atmosphere and community of record stores, Harper formed a relationship with a co-owner of Zebedee’s RPM, who taught him how to grade and price records.²

In July 2014, Harper found the storefront at 11539 Hickman Mills Drive in south Kansas City and opened the shop.² In the years since, the store’s inventory of clean used vinyl has earned it a dedicated following and established it as a community anchor for the area.²

Links

• Official site: https://www.gotwhatulikerecords.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GotWhatULikeRecords/
• Record Store Day: https://recordstoreday.com/Store/23401
• Buy Black Main Street: https://www.buyblackmainstreet.com/listing/got-what-u-like-records/

Sources

Disputes

None at this time.

Footnotes

1. https://www.vinylworld.org/record-shop/gotwhatulike-records/ — asserts: GotWhatULike Records at 11539 Hickman Mills Dr, Kansas City, MO 64134; “Kansas City’s record and equipment store that puts the music first”; ~12,000 records and 8,000 singles across hip hop, funk, soul, punk, classic rock, blues, jazz, country; sells turntables and receivers alongside vinyl. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. https://www.thepitchkc.com/how-got-what-u-like-records-became-a-cultural-beacon-in-south-kansas-city/ — asserts: owner Mark Harper, a south Kansas City native; digging records since childhood starting with his brother’s collection; learned to grade/price records from a co-owner of Zebedee’s RPM; found the 11539 Hickman Mills Dr storefront in July 2014; store described as a cultural beacon in a musically underserved part of town serving shoppers who can’t reach Westport/Crossroads shops. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

3. https://www.gotwhatulikerecords.com/ — asserts: official site; current inventory and operating hours Tue–Sat 11a–6p, Sun 11a–5p, closed Mondays; phone (816) 204-8840 (operating status confirmation). ↩ ↩²

4. https://www.buyblackmainstreet.com/listing/got-what-u-like-records/ — asserts: listed in the Buy Black Main Street directory of Black-owned businesses; address 11601 Hickman Mills Dr, Kansas City, MO 64134. ↩