Recently ran into Mista B at Amoeba Music San Francisco (as pictured left) as the famed turntablist and member of SF's 4OneFunk crew (with Teeko, B.Cause, Max Kane) was dropping off copies of his tight new independently released CD SonicSoulSpace.

This latest production by  Mista B comes hot on the heels of his collaborative mix CD with fellow 4OneFunk'er B.Cause titled Record Haterz. That ol skool Bay Area rap mix dug deep in the vinyl crates to deliver a flawless mix punctuated by forgotten gems by such bygone Bay rap greats as Totally  Insane, 415 (feat. RIchie RIch), and 11/5.

Mista B will be flying out to New York in a couple of weeks to represent the Bay Area in the 2009 DMC US Finals Battle - the legendary DJ battle where skilled turntablists from all over, usually with endless hours upon hours of practice, converge in a heated battle that only last minutes but whose results go down in the history books forever. This will be Mista B's fifth time to enter a DMC battle.  "I have mixed feelings upon competing again. Usually, DJs compete just once and [then] they're done.  For me, it's not just about the competition but it's about sharing this so called art of turntabilism," he told me. "I feel that DJ battles are one of very few platforms to showcase the art.  So with me, I still practice because I like to work on my craft, my skill if you will.  Specifically beat juggling for me.  I don't do it to be better than the next guy, but to be better than what I was yesterday and to show how graceful sounding this art is" Always pushing himself to improve and to innovate the SF who has been honing his diligently DJ'ng since 1993, told me that.  "I took a class in college and a professor came up with the concept, "sound art." That concept stuck with me since so I like to consider what I do "turntable sound art."  So now I just look for a medium to showcase the art.  So here I am again, competing on a high level versus the country's best DJs, The DMC USA Finals again."

Today, June 30th 2009, Fillmore San Francisco rapper Big Rich releases his latest album Heart Of The City on his own local independently owned & operated label 3 Story Muzik/Street Cred Music Group. Available at Amoeba Music San Francisco today, Luis in the hip-hop department at the Haight Street store commented, "We're very excited to have a new project by Fillmore's finest. We always sell out of everything he does."

Three years ago the hometown hero burst on the scene with the critically acclaimed, E40 presented debut Block Tested Hood Approved released on the New York based KOCH Records. Last year he followed up with both the album San Francisco Anthem as part of the All City crew, and the underground slim-jewel case CD release Get Down Or Lay Down Vol 2. And now today he unleashes the album Heart Of The City which sticks close to the script that the Bay Area artist developed on those previous releases.

Of the lyrical content of the new 17 track Heart Of The City (see exact tracking below) Big Rich says that, "I'm talking about issues happening in every city on a daily basis. I'm trying to capture the mood of rolling through your city and seeing different things going on in your everyday life. I'm telling my story through the eyes of a hustler's lifestyle: not a gangsta, a drug dealer, a politician, but a person who once struggled and now enjoys the journey after the fact,"  Heart Of The City features some of the finest local acts making cameos including Glasses Malone, The Jacka, Dem Hoodstarz, and 3 Story Gang. Meanwhile production is handled by 3 Story's own in-house producer D-Animals, Automattik and M.A..

1) Brother Ali The Truth Is Here (Rhymesayers)

2) Zion I The TakeOver (Gold Dust Media)

3) Beastie Boys Paul's Boutique (Capitol/Reissue)

4) V/A Fly Girls! B-Boys Beware: Revenge Of The Super Female Rappers! (Soul Jazz)

5) K'NAAN Troubadour (A&M/Octone Records)
 
Thanks to Tunde at the Berkeley Amoeba Music store for this week's hip-hop top five chart. All of the same five titles are likewise selling very well at all the Amoeba stores. On the list is Bay Area duo Zion I's critically acclaimed sixth release The TakeOver; the wonderful Soul Jazz female rap retrospective Fly Girls! B-Boys Beware: Revenge Of The Super Female Rappers!; the Rhymesayers collective's Brother Ali's tight new CD/DVD set The Truth Is Here; Somalian artist K'NAAN, who plays at Winter Music Conference this weekend (details below); and the reissue of the Beastie Boys' landmark hip-hop album Paul's Boutique.

Recently re-released to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of its initial 1989 release, the reissue of the Beatie Boys' acclaimed Paul's Boutique by Capitol Records comes in both CD and vinyl versions. The LP reissue version is on 180 gram vinyl, which comes in a two-sided, four-panel gatefold sleeve. It also includes a digital download card to access bonus audio band commentary. The album, which was produced by the Dust Brothers and recorded in both Los Angeles and Brooklyn, may not have been as commercially successful as Licensed To Ill, but it was a far greater quality recording and one that truly stands the test of time as proven by such tracks as "High Plains Drifter," "Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun," "Car Thief," "Shadrach," and "Get On The Mic."

Meanwhile, the track "59 Chrystie Street" was titled in a nod to an early residence of the Beastie Boys, back earlier in the 80's when they were young punkers about to morph into fulltime hip-hoppers. That early collective living/recording space address in the Lower East Side of Manhattan was what Mike D once described in an interview as "a floor in this Chinese Sweatshop building on Chrystie Street."