1) J Dilla Rebirth of Detroit (Yancey Music Group)

2) Psycho Realm Presents Sick Jacken & Cyni In Terror Tapes 2 (Mb Recordings)

3) Nicki Ninaj Pink Friday Roman Reloaded (Cash Money)

4) The Pharcyde Bizarre Ride II: The Pharcyde [Expanded Edition] (Delicious Vinyl)

5) Aesop Rock Skelethon (Rhyemsayers Ent.)

Thanks to Ray Ricky Rivera at the Hollywood Amoeba store for this latest Hip-Hop Top Five chart that includes such new or recent releases as J Dilla's posthumous, emcee guest heavy Rebirth of Detroit, Psycho Realm's Presents Sick Jacken & Cyni In Terror Tapes 2 - Sick Jacken with Street Platoon artist Cynik which is another, refreshingly hardcore rap presentation from the no-holds-barred Psycho Realm who never fail to disappoint (check out down below the party-hard video for the album track "I'm Gone" Recordings), and
Aesop Rock's Skelethon just released by Rhyemsayers Entertainment - his killer return that, as witnessed by the turnout & crowd reaction at his Amoeba San Francisco in-store earlier this week is a universally crowd favorite.

Maybe it's because this is a leap year that Black History Month 2012, which ended two days ago, seemed a little out of whack. Or maybe it was because it was a Black History Month that started on a really bad note when, on the morning of Feb 1st, the tragic news that Don Cornelius of Soul Train fame had taken his own life was the first thing we were to read about. That was bad enough but this tragic news came hot on the heels of the world losing a string of other black music/cultural icons, including in just the preceding two weeks both Etta James and JImmy Castor.  And then, of course, ten days later, on the eve of the Grammys, the whole world was taken aback with the shocking news that Whitney Houston had died at age 48. Not exactly a great time to joyously celebrate black history!

Dubbed as both the Operation Skid Row Music Festival and the Occupy Skid Row Music Festival, on January 15th Chuck D and Public Enemy along with a dozen or more (mostly old school LA) hip-hop acts will put on a free concert for the down-on-their-luck residents of Los Angeles' desolate Skid Row district. The list of other performers for this wonderful free all afternoon event, that will also be open for free to anyone from anywhere who wishes to attend, includes Cypress Hill, Kurupt from the Dogg Pound, Mellow Man Ace and Zzyzzx, King T, Rapper's Rapp Group, Sir Jinx and General Population, OG Kid Frost, L.A. Posse, and the Egyptian Lover. What makes this concert significant is that all of these artists have agreed to perform for free as a an unselfish token in this new year for the homeless population of LA's famed Skid Row area which contains one of the largest stable populations of homeless persons in the USA. A 2011 study estimated that Skid Row's population was at over 4300 people!

As with so many of the worthy events and happenings associated with Skid Row that I hear about this one too is also linked directly back to General Jeff - the longtime LA hip-hop figure, friend of Amoeba, hip-hop golden age recording artist, & community activist/tireless supporter of the rights of LA's Skid Row community. General Jeff (real name Jeff Page) is Resident Director for Central City East/ Skid Row & is on the Board of Directors for the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council as well as being VP of Outreach and Communications and is always down to volunteer his time, skills, and endless energy to the worthy residents of Skid Row with whom he has worked on behalf of for years. This morning I caught with General Jeff, who was up early busy at work while listening (he informed me) to the late great LA hip-hop artist Mausberg's Non-Fiction album.

POP/ROX (Noise Pop + Roxie Theater) present a screening of the rockumentary N.A.S.A.:The Spirit of Apollo at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco on November 16th at 7:30pm and again at 9:30pm.

The filmmakers and the band will be there in person for a post-show party DJ-ed by N.A.S.A.!!! 

A look behind the making of N.A.S.A.’s globetrotting debut album, The Spirit of Apollo, featuring a truly staggering array of talent: David Byrne, Karen O, Tom Waits, Kool Keith, Nick Zinner, Lykke Li, M.I.A., Kanye West, George Clinton, Chuck D, Seu Jorge, and the RZA. The movie features design and animation collaborations by Syd Garon, Shepard Fairey, Splunny, Sage Vaughn, Marcel Dzama, The Date Farmers, Logan, Didiu Rio Branco, Three Legged Legs and Lorenzo Fonda.

1) Michael Franti The Sound of Sunshine (Capitol)

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

3) TIE: 
  Ski Beatz 24 Hour Karate School (Def Jam)
  Curren$y Pilot Talk (Def Jam)

4) Ice Cube I Am The West (Lench Mob Records)

5) Black Milk Album of the Year (Fat Beats)

Michael Franti & Spearhead, who last month produced and headlined their 12th annual Power To The Peaceful Festival in San Francisco, shot to number one on the new Amoeba Hip-Hop Top Five chart at the Berkeley store with The Sound of Silence on Capitol Records. Nationally, the new album, which is the group's seventh album to date, also did well, debuting at #17 on the Billboard album chart and making it the highest chart entry yet for the Oakland, CA artist and his group. This latest debut even surpassed the debut of 2008’s All Rebel Rockers, which came in at #39. On The Sound of Sunshine Franti and crew reunite with Sly & Robbie in Jamaica for parts of the new album. Even though it is charting on the hip-hop album list, the record is really a lot less hip-hop and a lot more of that upbeat, hook-driven, positive-message, sunshine-y (pun intended) reggae that has helped Franti win over so many fans around the globe. The album's title track follows.