Some of the rarest vinyl in The Real Vinyl Guru’s collection wasn’t made in big studios. It came from garages, community halls, or small-run pressings by local producers. These records are raw, real, and often undocumented outside Jimmy’s crates.

Each label tells a story. One pressing might be from a one-hit band that never recorded again. Another might feature a typo, a remix, or a banned political lyric. Jimmy has found gospel records with funk beats, wedding songs turned club hits, and radio jingles pressed for DJs.

Many of these records were nearly lost to time—only a few copies ever made, and even fewer survived. Rugami’s obsession with preserving them turns his shop into a kind of music archaeology site. He’s pieced together music history others forgot.

Ask nicely, and Jimmy will tell you the backstory behind any record you hold. Some tales are funny, others tragic—but all reveal Nairobi’s deep, rich musical past still spinning in the present