Record Store Day 2025 falls on April 12 this year. And while we encourage you to visit your own local indie record store to pick up an exclusive, we know not everyone can make it to a brick-and-mortar vinyl emporium.
So shop to your vinyl-loving heart’s desire at Complex Shop. Wait, you did you know Complex sells records, right? Yes, the place that brings you behind the scenes access to artists like Jennie and The Weeknd and Playboi Carti, the home of “Sneaker Shopping” and “Goat Talk” and “360”—that same place is also a record store. It just makes sense.
We’ve got West Coast rap classics and East Coast rap classics; we’ve got white Beatles and Black Beatles and five white dudes some folks think are better than the Beatles and three Black dudes who are objectively better than the Beatles. We’ve got Jeezy and Gaga and Weezy and Larry June and the Chairman of the Godd*mn Board.
It’s a lot. Which is why we’re here to start you off with 10 Classic Albums to Add to Your Vinyl Collection.
Kendrick Lamar — 'good kid, m.A.A.d. city' (2012)
Kendrick Lamar is a three-time winner of Complex’s Best Rapper Alive award, and there’s an argument to be made that every full-length he’s put out deserves to be in the “Classic” section of the store (Complex Shop carries versions of almost every one fwiw). But good kid, m.A.A.d. city is a certified masterpiece with cover art that begs the big screen LP treatment.
50 Cent — 'Get Rich or Die Tryin’' (2003)
It’s easy to forget now that his music is a staple of birthday parties around the world, but when 50 Cent dropped his major label debut in February 2003 he was the most dangerous MC in the world. This two-disc vinyl edition features the aforementioned party anthem “In Da Club” as well as classics like “21 Questions” with Nate Dogg and “Patiently Waiting” with Eminem. Bump this the next time your little nephew comes over and you’ll never have to babysit again.
The Beatles — 'Abbey Road' (1969)
Who cares if they’re not as good as the Migos, the Beatles are a darn good little rock and roll band and everyone should have at least one of their records in their collection.
Abbey Road is the last album the group recorded together (the second-to-last they released) and it features pretty pop gems like “Here Comes the Sun” and off-kilter freakouts like “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” and a 16-song, nine-minute-long medley that sounds like classic rock spun by a short attention span DJ.
Summer Walker — 'Over It' (2019)
Mixing the sonics of late ‘90s R&B with lyrical subject matter befitting our anxiety-ridden present, Summer Walker’s major label debut dropped to critical and commercial acclaim just before the pandemic hit five years ago.
The LP feels timeless already, a testament to Walker’s vision and disarming honesty. You can cop the standard LP, or this deluxe two-disc 5th Anniversary edition featuring instrumentals, live performances, and extended liner notes.
J. Cole — '2014 Forest Hills Drive' (2014)
Triple platinum-plus with nary a feature in sight, 2014 Forest Hills Drive is the album where J. Cole grew up, embracing his place as one of the preeminent artists of his generation and wrestling with the new set of pressures that status entailed.
You can get the standard LP here. But if you’re looking for a version of the LP with a Bone Thugs-N-Harmony feature (!), check out the deluxe two-disc 10th Anniversary edition on blue marble vinyl.
Metro Boomin and Future — 'We Don’t Trust You' (2024)
Yes, this is the album that set off the greatest rap battle of all time; it’s also a collaboration between two titans of the rap pantheon (who also happen to have a decade-plus long history together, and a reminder that Future is still that guy.) This limited edition two-disc edition comes on red vinyl with smoky black hits.
Lana Del Rey — 'Born to Die' (2012)
American gothic for the 21st Century, Born to Die was a release with presaging various dark turns in music as a whole and serving as the soundtrack for the mixture of fear and malaise that’s become a hallmark of modern life. Fun stuff! But for all its bleakness, that’s what great art does, and it’s the perfect contemporary album to put on a record player and let the crackle of the vinyl take you away.
Bob Marley and the Wailers — 'Legend' (1984)
If you’re the type of person who celebrates Record Store Day religiously you might scoff at the inclusion of this dorm room staple greatest hits collection. In which case, please check out this incredible three-disc plus 12” deluxe version of the Wailers stone cold classic Catch a Fire LP or this six-disc edition of the uber greatest hits Songs of Freedom. But if your vinyl mania isn’t especially acute, may we suggest Legend, probably the greatest greatest hits album of all time.
Wiz Khalifa — 'Star Power' (2008)
This first-ever vinyl release of Wiz Khalifa's acclaimed mixtape features two records pressed on “outer space”-themed vinyl, and comes in with a vintage video game packaging. Seventeen years later it’s a project that still holds up, now presented in a deluxe format that is a testament to the wattage of Wiz himself.
Doechii — 'Alligator Bites Never Heal' (2024)
This is, of course, the Grammy-winning record of the moment, available in two limited edition vinyl pressings: “Albino” vinyl or “Translucent Haze.” Cop it now and give it that “lived in” vibe for when it’s a collector’s item in 20 years.