Due to the sheer volume of really great new hip-hop dropping these days, this is the second Amoeblog hip-hop round up for this week. Click here to check out part one from Friday, which included the Berkeley Amoeba Music Top Five plus news items on A.G. Cubano, DJ Teeko, Diplo, and NaS.

Meantime, this second part round-up comes complete with my personal top ten hip-hop chart. This chart is song oriented rather than album based. The songs are all new 2008 releases, unless otherwise noted, and are culled from various formats including vinyl, CDs, mixtape CDs, 7" singles, and MP3s. Most should be available at Amoeba Music now or in the very near future. Ask Amoeba's always helpful & informed staff for assistance if you ever have questions on any music.

                    JAMOEBLOG TOP TEN HIP-HOP TRACKS: 08:10:08

1) NaS "Black President" (Def Jam)
2) Jean Grae + 9th Wonder feat K Hill, Edgar Allen Floe, & Joe Scudda "Smashmouth" (Blacksmith)
3) KRS-One "Pick It Up" (KOCH)
4) Rza as Bobby Digital feat. Monk & Thea "Drama" (KOCH)
5) Stacy Epps "Cosmik Dust" (JapanNubianMusic)
6) Keak da Sneak, E40 & Clyde Carson "All I Know" (KOCH)
7) DJ Quest "Killing The Cut" (ZQ Records)
8) Tony Matterhorn "Big Belly Guns" (Mad Decent)
9) dan le sac Vs Scroobius Pip "Look For The Woman" (Strange Famous)
10) Esen "Please Don't Leave Me" (Take A Record)

BERKELEY AMOEBA MUSIC HIP-HOP TOP FIVE: 08:08:08
 
1) Diplo Top Ranking Santogold (Mad Decent)
  
2) NaS Untitled (Def Jam)
  
3) Zo! & Tigallo Love the 80's (Hall of Justus Records)
  
4) Lil Wayne Tha Carter III (Cash Money/Universal)
  
5) The Roots Rising Down (Def Jam)

Just 366 days to 09:09:09. Meantime, happy 08:08:08 and thanks to Tunde at the Berkeley Amoeba Music for this week's hip-hop top five on which the number one album of the week comes care of superstar DJ/producer Diplo who, in keeping with what he did on MIA's Piracy Funds Terrorism mix, delivers the goods with a killer 75 minute mix of Brooklyn female vocal force Santogold mixed with a ton of other sources. Incorporating music off of her recent debut release along with other material, Diplo serves up original blends/mixes of Santogold and other artists' that run the gamut from dubstep to Dirty South. The non-stop, hour and a quarter, 35-track mix, which is heavy on the old school and reggae flavors, includes a refreshingly diverse mix of music that Diplo makes fit perfectly together. Included are Barrington Levy, Three 6 Mafia, Devo, Sir Mix-A-Lot, Sister Nancy, The Clash, and B-52's.

Zo, along with Tigallo (aka Phonte) from Little Brother, have merged forces to record and release this week's chart's number 3 entry: the limited edition (reportedly only 2,500 copies pressed & individually numbered) Love the 80's. A throwback, fun r&b based EP (right down to the cover art), it combines the smooth, slick production by Zo topped with Phonte’s vocal chops as they cover some of their favorite songs from that colorful decade known as The 80's. Also included are remixes by Trackacademicks and Nicolay.

DJ Pierre is a house music legend. The pioneering Chicago DJ/producer/performer, who these days keeps busy DJ'ing round the globe, producing tracks, and running his recently formed Afro Acid Digital label, will always be known as a member of the 80's group Phuture, and as being one of the creators of acid house.

Acid house is a strain of house music that Pierre concocted on the Roland TB 303. He did this in the studio along with his partners in the trio, keyboardist Herb J and producer and Phuture founding member Spanky. In 1987 they unleashed this new sound on the world with the release of their revolutionary EP Acid Trax, which would have a major influence on house music for years to come.

The Roland TB 303 bass line synthesizer was manufactured by the company from '82 to '84 and was originally intended for guitarists to use as a bass accompaniment. Acid House was created almost accidentally by Phuture on the Roland TB 303, when the group was trying to get that unique "squelch" or "wiggly worm" or "funky worm" sound out of it. This sub-genre was particularly influential in the UK, a country that embraced American house music in all its musical mutations much more so than the scene  back in the USA. However, there were always pockets of musical fanatics in the States who embraced the new electronic music, including in San Francisco, where the long gone I-Beam club on Haight Street (not far from where Amoeba SF is now) once hosted a night dedicated solely to playing the acid house sub-genre. Meanwhile, the UK had its big "summer of love" (house music honeymoon) in 1988, and acid was the preferred flavor, with other artists putting their spin on the 303-generated genre and scoring pop hits.

American fans of Simon Pegg and his movies Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz are obviously quite happy now that Spaced, the wonderful British television show that predated and influenced both these big-screen action/comedies, is finally available on DVD as the nicely packaged Spaced: The Complete Series (BBC Video). 

The British TV situation comedy ran for two seasons back in 1999 and 2001 and has more recently been shown in the US on BBC America. The new DVD set is available at each Amoeba Music location, including the Hollywood store where, according to Rigo in the DVD department, "it has been selling briskly since it was released two weeks ago."

Featuring many of the same players in Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz, Spaced was also directed by Edgar Wright, and was written by and stars Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes (formerly known as Jessica Stevenson). Spaced also stars Pegg's movie sidekick Nick Frost, as well as Julia Deacon, Mark Heap, and Katy Carmichael. The witty, fast-paced, sci-fi based comedy TV show that ran for just two seasons -- seven episodes each -- nine and seven years ago, is packed with references from pop culture and movies (including Resident Evil and Star Wars) and is given to veering off into surreal scenes in which its main characters become action movie or video game or comic book style heroes. 

Amoeba Music San Francisco
Hip-Hop Top Five: August 01, 2008

1) NaS Untitled (Def Jam)

2) Jean Grae + 9th Wonder Jeanius
     (Blacksmith)

3) People Under The Stairs The OM Years 
     (OM hip-hop)

4) Husalah & B-Luv Tonka Boyz
    (SMC Records/City Hall)

5) RZA as Bobby Digital Digi Snacks
    (KOCH)

A shout-out to Luis in the hip-hop department at the San Francisco Amoeba Music for this week's Top Five chart, which includes the new Bay Area indie rap release from the rhyme duo Husalah & B-Luv, Tonka Boyz, that features guest spots from such local faves as PSD, Yukmouth, The Jacka, and Dubee. Also charting high this week is the double CD retrospective by People Under The Stairs (PUTS) from OM hip-hop. Disc one is "The OM Years" and includes such crowd pleasers as "San Francisco Knights," "The Cat," and "Jappy Jap," while disc two (my personal fave, since it has some stuff I had not heard before) is titled "B-sides & Rarities."  

Luis admits that he is not really feeling the new RZA as Bobby Digital (Digi Snacks) and I have to fully agree with him.This, the artist's fourth solo record, not only fails to match any of his Wu Tang output, but also falls short of his own previous solo work. However, as is often the case with overall mediocre albums, there are a few great songs to be found on the 15 track Digi Snacks, including "Drama" featuring Monk and Thea and "You Can't Stop Us Now" (feat. fellow Wu warrior Inspectah Deck).