When I first went to Rough House, it was known as NY King Jammy$, but when the name changed the crew stayed the same, Beardie running the store, veteran DJ General Jah Mikey running the dubplate studio downstairs. Singer, Trevor African was the man behind the counter. They always had some different 45′s that the other stores didn’t have. When Delroy took over the shop he took it to a different level. He quietly amassed a huge selection of 45′s that stacked in piles leaning to impossible angles on his narrow counter. God help you if you ever tipped one over. Delroy became legendary for his unique approach to customer service. He was as feisty as he was knowledgeable. People either loved him or hated him. Regardless of what you thought of him, everyone would have to agree, Delroy is a music fanatic. He could argue for hours about a particular song, artist, producer, etc. Even if he was wrong, he could win any argument by perseverance. As the market for reggae vinyl started to dwindle and shops started closing, Rough House showed little signs of following this trend. Delroy continued stocking and presumably selling at basically the same rate as he ever did. As other stores moved away from vinyl, rough house stayed firm, and really became one of the last places to get new release 45′s. The end of Rough House arrived not because of the decline of music sales, but a more traditional NY retail story of a conflict between partners, landlords, etc. Delroy, has never given up, and still buys and sells records among his friends and long time customers. He plans to open up a new retail store, and when this happens, expect a full update right here. Rough House, R.I.P.