Christopher N.
Yelp
Its hard to find a record stores in Seattle that has a good hip hop section. In fact, there isn't a store completely dedicated to the genre in the city. I think there was one that closed within the last few years. I heard Macklemore complain about it online. However, I'm not sure it was a good record store if he's cosigning it. No shots! I know how ya'll are defensive of Seattle's finest!
I think the reason is because people like the idea of hip hop music more than they actually like it. I see it a lot with The Wu-Tang Clan. Ask anyone wearing a shirt of theirs what their favorite Wu album is...if they say anything other than Only Built for Cuban Linx, Liquid Swords, or Ironman, chances are they only like ODB, and Shimmy Shimmy Ya...aka pseudo fans.
Its probably smart not to have a shop dedicated only to hip hop too. There's a line in one of Jay's songs that pertains to things like this. My best friend from back home, and I used to say it every time a club opened that played only hip hop. "Grand opening, grand closing!" Anything solely related to hip hop doesn't stand a chance to last past a year. I know from deejaying in these spots, and owning a music store in the past. People just aren't willing to support said ventures...that, and the inevitable shoot out.
With all that said, Jive Time has a decent hip hop section. I've been here a couple of times, and been surprised to find things not in normal Seattle record stores. Everyone has the repressing, but I found some newer limited edition pressings like Smiff-N-Wessuns first lp on double clear records from 2012. I also picked up most of Kanye's last 5 years of work as well, with the Pablo LP being the catch as it was only released overseas. Also copped Raekwon's aforementioned first LP on double purple vinyl from Get On Down Records. The section isn't very large, but it was thoughtfully purchased, and I'm always pleasantly surprised every time I visit.
The rest of the record store has all the regular genre's, and its easy to go through the bins, and you're usually not shoulder to shoulder with people. The people working at the shop are cool, knowledgeable, and nice.
I guess I don't get out to the record stores as frequently as I did in my younger days. Purchasing online is too easy, and you can find mostly anything on Discog, eBay, or the specialty websites. However, when I'm in Fremont I always make a pitstop to spend ten minutes thumbing through the hip hop section. Its one of the better ones in Seattle. Salute!