Above is the Strive Films produced video for the new track "Dope" by underrated Bay Area hip-hop crew BPos which is dedicated to the late great Dub Star (aka Rick Flare/Kwanz/K-Dub) of Bored Stiff fame (fellow Bored Stiff member Equipto is among the many folks making cameos in the above video). "Dope" is the first of a series of music videos off of the San Francisco group's' brand new album Pos Tapes Vol. II. It is available as a free download but the crew's Vincente Goodword tell the Amoeblog that. "We will have some 45's in Amoeba for it in a couple months." And on Sunday, July 17th, BPos will be performing at Clux Six (60 6th st (@ Mission St.) at Hip-Hop, Hope & Harmony - the official SF AIDS Walk after-party! The $10 door ticket gets you both entrance to the event a copy of the benefit CD with proceeds going to SF AIDS Walk Foundation. General club info & ticket info for event and for general info on BPos including how to download latest free mix album.

Serengeti's anticipated new album, Family & Friends on Anticon, had its release date pushed back to August 9th when both CD and vinyl versions of this excellent album will arrive in Amoeba. Look for an Amoeblog interview with the unique Chicago area emcee on that same date. Also coming next month is a hot new collaborative project called Flash Bang Grenada which is the combined forces of LA alternative MC Busdriver and Low End Theory MC Nocando. Their 10 track album 10 Haters will drop August 23rd and should be a popular item with fans of underground hip-hop. As well as production from such Low End regulars like Nosaj Thing, Free The Robots, and Shlohmo there will be guest mic spots from Del the Funky Homosapien and Open Mike Eagle.

Twenty years ago this month, Amoeba Berkeley opened its doors and we began this mystical journey that continues and has spread over the years to San Francisco, Hollywood and around the world! For the next few weeks, we will be celebrating here on the blog with various posts -- an interview with one of the store's owners, Marc, about opening Amoeba; pics of the Berkeley store while it was still under construction and in its first year; special top 10 lists from the employees who have been with us the longest; highlights of some of our most memorable instores; and today, we kick things off with testimonials from various fabulous customers -- including Adam from Doseone, Good Word of BPos, Yoni Wolf from Why? and more!

Read on and check back for more additions over the next few weeks! To get info about the Anniversary Events scheduled at the Berkeley store on Nov 13 & 14 with DJs, live performances from Foxtails Brigade, and Lyrics Born and prize giveaways, click here! You can also get involved by entering our contest -- share your own Amoeba story for a chance to win a shopping spree and more! Read about it here. You can also read Part 2 of this Anniversary series, an interview with co-owner Marc Weinstein about getting the Berkeley store up and running, what Amoeba means to him and more right here!
 

Yoni Wolf of Why?

1) Rick Ross Teflon Don (Def Jam)

2) Eminem Recovery (Aftermath, Interscope, Shady)

3) Big Boi Sir Lucious Left Foot... The Son of Chico Dusty (Def Jam)

4) The Roots How I Got Over (Def Jam)

5) Drake Thank Me Later (Cash Money Records)

Special thanks to Marques at the Hollywood Amoeba Music store for this week's in-person Top Five Hip-Hop Chart (scroll down to see video clip) from the Sunset Blvd. store where I spent much of Wednesday and Thursday this week soaking in all the loveliness of being surrounded by so much music Damn but the huge, cavernous two-level Hollywood Amoeba is just so vast that you seriously need to pace yourself if you go shopping there. The hip-hop section alone, where I stumbled upon records and DVDs that I had never even seen before, is worth the trip.

Besides crate digging and talking music with a slew of impressively knowledgeable Hollywood Amoebites, I also had the honor of moderating Wednesday evening's Q&A session with The Teacha himself, Hip Hop legend KRS ONE, who, in support of his latest book, The Gospel of Hip Hop, came for an exclusive Amoeba Hollywood instore that involved him talking about his unique hip-hop history-meets- life- manual publication, and also responding to questions from myself and some Amoeba customers who had bought the KRS book. One such customer was General Jeff (pictured above with KRS) from the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, who had a great question about homeless youth -- something that KRS, as a former homeless youth himself, enthusiastically responded to in enlightening detail.

1) Lil Jon Crunk Rock (Lil Jon/Universal Republic)

2) Yukmouth Free At Last (Smoke-A-Lot)

3) Plies Goon Affiliated (Atlantic/Slip N' Slide)

4) Chali 2Nal Fish Market (One Records)

5) Tie between two titles:

Nas + Damian Marley Distant Relatives  (Republic Univesal)
           
Reflection Eternal Revolutions Per Minute (Blacksmith/Rawkus/Warner Brothers)

After being absent from the spotlight for what seems like an eternity, Lil Jon is back with a bang! The rapper/producer and King of Crunk is known for his shouts of "OK" and "YEAH!" (something that comic Dave Chappelle had so much fun imitating back around the time period he released his last album, six years ago). He was omnipresent at the VH1 Hip-Hop Honors The Dirty South broadcast earlier this week and his new album, Crunk Rock, released through Universal Republic on Tuesday, shot to number one on the latest Amoeba Music HIp-Hop Top Five Chart, and no doubt on other charts too.

With so much popular hip-hop these days veering toward the more negative, mean mugging, and macho posturing end of the rap spectrum, it is refreshing to encounter an alternately positive crew like the San Francisco hip-hop trio BPos, whose name literally stands for "Be Positive" and whose attitude follows suit. Their mantra is, "To be positive is not to miss the facts and see the downside -- not being blind to it, but to work toward a brighter side."

In support of their just released debut album, The Upside (One League), this Bay Area group, comprised of Goodword, D-Wiz, and DJ Johnny Venetti, are performing both tonight (Thursday, June 10th) at Element Lounge in San Francisco and tomorrow for free at 6pm at Amoeba Music Berkeley.

Earlier today I caught up with emcee Goodword of the crew to ask him if he felt that BPos was a kind of reaction to aforementioned negativity so dominant in hip-hop these days? "It's more a reaction to all the negativity in the world," he replied. "It started as a way to keep us, as individuals, grounded and focused on a goal. You know, speaking for myself, every time I see the name it reminds me of what we set out to accomplish and that acts as a guideline for me in my life outside of hip-hop. It's like no matter how much negative shit is going on around me in my everyday life, BPos reminds me that there is always something positive to take from every situation."