1) Doomtree No Kings (Lazerbeak)

2) Eligh & Amp Live Therapy At 3 ( Legendary Music/Live Up/Traffic)

3) Grap Luva Neva Done EP (Redefinition Records)

4) Big Quarters Party Like A Young Commie (Big Quarters)

5) Drake Take Care (Cash Money/Universal)

Thanks to E Lit at the Berkeley Amoeba for this latest hip-hop chart and new releases update that includes super-talented Minneapolis duo Big Quarters latest/third album Party Like A Young Commie on which members Brandon Allday and Medium Zach deliver their best work to date (even better than their previous two memorable works - Cost of Living and From The Home of Brown Babies & White Mothers) with some simple but sick beats like htat on the album track "C'mon" (video below). The album's few guest spots include “Humble Servants” featuring Benzilla and the Julian Fairbanks (Audio Perm) produced  “Savings Bonds.” Also new to this week's chart is the long awaited release from Grap Luva AKA The Younger Soul Brother (as in Pete Rock's brother) who, after a decade and a half in the game, the producer/emcee finally releases his own first official solo record. This may only be an EP but it is a great EP featuring collaborations with Kev Brown, Damu The Fudgemunk and Joc Max.

The other chart entries are Eligh & AmpLive's wonderful Therapy At 3  (see "Tattoo Song" video below), Drake's ever popular Take Care and the Mid West's Doomtree collective's collaborative full-length No Kings. Check the recent interview below with the Doomtree family by 89.3 The Current.  Also below is the brand new video from Andre Nickatina for the track "Heelz" that features longtime collaborator / fellow SF rapper Equipto. 

Just came from Amoeba Berkeley where I got to see/hear Blueprint up close and personal. An amazing Amoeba instore set from the Columbus, Ohio emcee/singer/producer, who is one of my favorite current artists and whose new album, Adventures in Counter-Culture, is among the top five best albums of the year to date. Currently on the Family Tour with Atmosphere headlining (they played the Greek Theater in Berkeley last night), Blueprint's set is so good that he has even been upstaging the main act along the way with his unique sound -- an effortless blend of hip-hop, rock and other sounds all engagingly delivered care of a backing duo of a bass player and DJ Rare Groove plus Print's own impressive multi-instrumentation (various keyboard instruments, an effects pedal & computer manipulation).

Two weeks ago when the Family Tour stopped in New York to play the cavernous Terminal 5 venue, I caught the show and was blown away by Blueprint's set. But at that packed, sold-out NYC show I was vying for a good view of the stage stuck behind about 3,000 excited bobbing heads -- not the best scenario. In direct contrast, this afternoon at Amoeba on Telegraph I was right up front with the perfect view and sound.

2) The Madlib Medicine Show 1, Before The Verdict featuring Guilty Simpson (Stones Throw)

3) Oh No Dr. No's Ethiopium (Stones Throw)

4) Thavius Beck Dialogue (Mush)

5) Eligh Gandalf's Beat Machine Level 3 (Legendary Music)

The terms "highly anticipated" and "long overdue" each accurately apply to Lil Wayne's Rebirth on Cash Money / Universal, this week's number one hip-hop album at Amoeba Music San Francisco. However, it seems the term "disappointing" could also apply based on the overall negative review the album has received since its release earlier this week. The artist's seventh studio album and the follow up to his 2008 multi-platinum full-length, Tha Carter III, Rebirth is (as written about here) a repeatedly delayed release that should have come out almost a year ago. Due to one thing or another (many speculate that Lil Wayne's label insisted it needed more work & hence postponed its arrival in stores) the release date for the popular rapper's rock/hip-hop hybrid album (with Carter on the cover posing with electric guitar on lap) had been postponed about a half a dozen times in all. But now that Rebirth is finally available, what is the consensus on the music? Overall not good.