Published by Margaret Wiltshire
Filled under: Business, Entertainment

Black Star Music & Videos

“Pop”
Business Owner|Black Star Video
Harlem Native

PROFILE
Passion: music and black film
Occupation: retail business owner specializing in black: music, film, books, magazines (commercial and underground)
Hometown: Harlem
Current Address: Harlem

Favorite Smell: Liz Clairborne for Women
Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Book: Durango Street
Favorite Quote: I just wanna work
Favorite Word: Sacrifice
Favorite Song: The Stakes Is High
Favorite Artist: De La Soul (their music reflects me)
Favorite Restaurant in Harlem and dish: It use to be Reliables //Copelands // smothered , that chicken, but it closed down!
Favorite Place to Hangout in Harlem: Black Star Video
Favorite thing to do in Harlem: Get Money

MW: What do you love about Harlem?
POP: Ah… I just love Harlem. The history of it, the homely feeling of it. Anywhere I go and when I come back and I hit Harlem, I know I’m home. It’s no feeling like knowing that you’re back home.

MW: What do u think of what’s going on in Harlem today?
POP: I don’t really get down with it. Im old school. All this shit now is a bubble, nobody can rent anything, nobody can sell anything, nobody has any money, so it’s like all for nothing. They could have kept it the way it was for people on the street, amongst each other the way it’s always been. They took that away.

MW: How is business in Harlem for you today?
POP: Tsss… I don’t worry about business I know how to make money. If I see one area getting slow, u ain’t gonna catch me slippin. I take care of people, I employ people. I take care of my brother and his family everybody gotta eat, so what am I gonna do, fold? We try to be different from like Blockbuster, that’s a video store, here it’s like “Yo, I been hearing bout this place!” It’s an event to come here, you know what I’m sayin! I do a lot to keep this going. But we doing alright. Now, if you would have asked me this a couple of months ago, I would have said we were doing F*#ked up! The summer, oh man, I was about to fire one of my employees, man! But I’m doing alright now! It’s always back and forth, but know it’s looking up!