GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Vice President Kamala Harris made an unannounced stop at Della Soul Records during her visit to Grand Rapids Thursday.
The Grand Rapids business made history in November by becoming the first Black woman-owned record shop in the city.
“We wanted it to be beautiful, uplifting, colorful, fun, relaxing,” Della Soul Records owner Della Marie Levi said. “During the COVID pandemic, I learned to DJ on vinyl. And so, after that time, I got really into vinyl records and decided to start collecting.”
Levi realized her nine-to-five wasn’t her passion, once her collection started, especially when her pop-up record shop got steady orders online.
“I decided to open a record store,” she said. “There is something special about vinyl, vinyl records, having a physical piece of music. There’s something beautiful about that, being able to see the record spin, actually being able to read the notes about the artist, as well as the music.”
Unannounced stop at „Della Soul Records“ in Grand Rapids: @VP looking at records from Miles Davis and Co. and talks to the owner Della Marie Levi. pic.twitter.com/1PbACCaZ3e
— Juliane Schäuble (@berlin_juliane) February 22, 2024
Vice President Harris also bought a few things at Della Soul Records, including a Miles Davis record.
“VP Harris immediately shared that she had heard about me and my journey and wanted to meet me while she was in town. That’s dope!” the owner of Della Soul Records shared in a Facebook post Thursday after the visit.
"It was awesome. She came in, she bought some records. She talked about Black-owned businesses and how important we are and how a lot of us are basically doing the mom and pop thing, and we're doing it well," Levi told FOX 17.
But to her, the vice president was really just another customer.
"I didn't see her as Vice President Kamala Harris. I saw her as a patron, as a person that was interested in music, interested in Black business and interested in my community," she said.
VP Harris was in town Thursday for a stop on her “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour.
READ MORE: VP Kamala Harris, Michigan state leaders address battle over reproductive rights
