1) J. Cole Cole World: The Sideline Story (Roc Nation)

2) Evidence Cats & Dogs (Rhymesayers Ent.)

3) 9th Wonder The Wonder Years (It's A Wonderful World Music Group)

4) Madlib No.12-Raw Medicine-Madlib Remixes (Stones Throw)

5) Blu Open (Nature Sounds)

Thanks for this week's Amoeba Hollywood hip-hop chart go to hip-hop recording artist & recent dad Ray Ricky Rivera (aka RRR) who really looks quite well rested (as you can see in above video) despite his sleep patterns been drastically altered of late -ever since he and his wife Lily had their young son Diego born a little over two months ago. Again congrats man! As RRR mentions the number one album at Amoeba, which is also the number one top selling album (of all genres) in the country this week, is the brand new J. Cole album Cole World: The Sideline Story on Roc Nation. In close second is supertalented LA hip-hop artist Evidence who came to fame as part of Dilated Peoples and is now down with the revered Rhymesayers crew with whom he was touring recently and who just released his recommended new album Cats And Dogs which also comes in a vinyl format. Another LA hip-hop treasure, Madlib, is among the other entrants in this week's Top Five (with Medicine Show #12) which is rounded out by releases from both 9th Wonder (The Wonder Years) and Blu (Open).

1) Kanye West
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam)
  
2) Cee Lo Green
The Lady Killer (Elektra Records)

3) Kid Cudi Man On The Moon 2: The Legend of Mr Roger (Universal/Motown)

4) Nicki Minaj Pink Friday (Cash Money/Universal)

5) (tie) Eligh Grey Crow (Legendary/Alpha Pup)
   Damu The Fudgemunk Supply For Demand (Redefinition Records)

If you only go to one benefit concert event this year it should be one to benefit the unfortunate victims of the recent devastating earthquake in Haiti. And if you are in the Bay Area tonight there is such an event taking place. Rebound in downtown San Francisco tonight will be featuring none other than Rob Garza of Thievery Corporation fame, along with several local artists / DJs, including J-Boogie. The benefit starts at 7pm this evening (Monday, January 18th) at Vessel in San Francisco. The goal of the event is to raise as much money as possible for the World Food Programme to go directly to Haiti.

What is significant about this evening's appearance by Thievery Corp's Garza is that as a part of that popular group he is used to playing large venues (I saw them in a sold-out show at the Greek Theater in Berkeley two summers ago). But to do his part to benefit the Haitian earthquake victims, he has volunteered his time to play at an intimate SF venue. All the performers are also donating their time for this very worthy cause. Others on the bill tonight include J Bowman, Chris Clouse, Gordon Waze, and David Harness, who will not be DJing but instead will be the host of the evening. At 930pm Haiti quake survivor Angelo Viard is scheduled to speak.

Vessal is located at 85 Campton Place, San Francisco, CA 94108. More info here.

Further proving that old saying that nothing good lasts forever, the wonderful, long-running KUSF radio weekly hip-hop show Beatsauce will air its last ever broadcast on 90/3FM this weekend.

The show, which hosts/DJs J-Boogie, Raw-B, and DJ Wisdom (formerly known as Winnie B) have been tirelessly producing since 1994 on Sunday evenings from 6PM to 8PM, was a staple for local hip-hop fans to tune in to every weekend to hear all the latest quality hip-hop releases, great DJ mixes, and interviews with a long list of hip-hop acts both local and national. Recently a fourth DJ/host, DJ Diversify, joined the Beatsauce fold. The good news is that while Beatsauce will no longer be broadcast live weekly on KUSF, it will continue in another format, as a bi-monthly podcast hosted by Brooklynradio.

During its fourteen year tenure on KUSF 90.3FM, Beatsauce gained a devoted following, threw parties and events, and won both a SF Bay Guardian’s “Goldie Award” and a SF Weekly “Best Hip-Hop Radio Show” award. During that same time its countless hip-hop guests (many busting out freestyles or doing DJ sets) included the likes of Peanut Butter Wolf, Rob Swift, KRS-One, Jay-Z, DJ Quest, Common, Eminem, Black Eyed Peas, Gang Starr, EPMD, Outkast, Jurassic 5, Jungle Brothers, Zion I, Mobb Deep, Lyrics Born, Blackalicious, Company Flow, Slick Rick, Conceit, J-Live, Jeru the Damaja, Prince Paul, Hieroglyphics, Bas-1, Bored Stiff, Crown City Rockers, Breakestra, Brown Fellinis, and Dre Dog (before he became Andre Nickatina), to name but a handful.