1) E40 The Ball Street Journal (Sic Wid It/Warner)

2) San Quinn From A Boy To A Man (SMC/Fontana)

3) Bored Stiff The Sad Truth (SolidarityRecords)

4) Kayne West 808s & Heartbreak (Roc-A-Fella Records)

5) Ludacris Theater of the Mind (Disturbing tha Peace/Def Jam)

Thanks to Luis at the San Francisco Amoeba Music store for this week's Hip-Hop Top Five chart. Three of these five best sellers are homegrown Bay Area rap talent, including E40's anticipated The Ball Street Journal which, according to Luis, has been "selling well since it was released last Tuesday." The other two Bay Area new chart entries are from longtime San Francisco hip-hop acts: the Fillmore's San Quinn, whose latest From A Boy To A Man is selling especially well at the SF Amoeba, and Bored Stiff, whose The Sad Truth features many guests joining the multi-member crew including The Grouch and The Jacka of the Mob Figaz. Check the video interview below with Bored Stiff to learn more about this slept-on longtime local act. 

Regarding the other two new chart entries Luis says he is feeling one more than the other although, he stressed, each are "good in their own right." What does he think of Kayne West's new album 808s & Heartbreak which many, myself included, have been disappointed in? "Yes it is hard to listen to as a whole but if you play certain tracks individually you can see why many people are liking it and buying it. It deserves checking out," insisted Luis. And to his credit Kayne West deserves praise for always trying something new, as well as always sticking to his beliefs. Even if I am not always a fan of the man's music I will forever give him props for his brave outspoken post Hurricane Katrina "George Bush doesn't care about black people" statement.

1) Q-Tip The Renaissance (Motown/Universal)

2) Jurassic 5 11th Anniversary Deluxe Reissue (Decon)

3) Jedi Mind Tricks A History Of Violence (Babygrande)

4)  88 Keys The Death of Adam (Decon)

5) Black Milk Tronic (Fat Beats Records)

Thanks to Luis at the San Francisco Amoeba Music store for this week's Top Five Hip-Hop chart with the number one slot occupied by Q-Tip with his great new album The Renaissance (far superior to his last solo effort), which includes one track produced by the late J-Dilla. Click here to check out Porkchop's review of the A Tribe Called Quest member's recent San Francisco performance at Mezzanine as part of the Bounce Tour last week. In the number two slot is the Jurassic 5 CD & DVD retrospective package on Decon, 11th Anniversary Deluxe Re-Issue, which includes J5's original self-titled album in its entirety plus fifteen unreleased tracks, as well as a DVD of the documentary The Jurassic Period which was directed by Jason Goldwatch.

Fillmore San Francisco hip-hop crew Bored Stiff  who came on the Bay Area scene in the early nineties but who had been out of action for some years return with this new video with lots of shots of SF and a song that addresses the issue of media. What has always made this Frisco crew unique is that they always blurred the line between so-called "rap" and "hip-hop" - meaning that they are street/gangsta but simultaneously distinctly  hip-hop in that they love all the elements such as graffiti - just the way it should be. Look for Bored Stiff's releases including their new one From The Ground Up -as well ones by individual members (inc. Equipto) at Amoeba Music. 

Meantime below check out Fillmore, SF rappers JT the Bigga Figga and Rappin 4-Tay along with Master P, Dangerous Dame, Ray Luv, Lil Ric, King George and the rest of the West Coast Bad Boyz mob in  a video shot in Richmond, CA for the posse single "Peace 2 Da Streets" from the compilation album "West Coast Bad Boyz: Anotha Level of the Game" (No Limit 1994).