1) Cee-Lo Green
The Lady Killer (Elektra Records)

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

3) Eligh Grey Crow (Legendary Music/ Alpha Pup)

4) Eminem Recovery (Aftermath, Interscope, Shady)

5)  Drake Thank Me Later (Young Money, Cash Money/Universal)

As Cee-Lo Green's runaway hit of a new album The Lady Killer (Elektra Records) continues to dominate charts all over the globe, including the latest hip-hop top five from Amoeba Music Hollywood this week, radio DJs everywhere debate whether playing the sanitized / FCC friendly version of the album's popular online song and video "Fuck You" is worth playing at all. As you know, in its airplay-ready version it becomes "Forget You" with all swear words getting changed or edited. So is it worth playing? I say a good song is a good song, and "Forget You" is a great song. And if you had never heard the other (real) version you would enjoy it thoroughly. It reminds me of back in '94 when listeners heard "Mack Of The Year" by Dru Down being played on KMEL long before they heard the original, much nastier version, "Pimp Of The Year," by the Oakland rapper. However, once you have heard the original Cee -Lo song, the radio version sounds like it is missing the main ingredient. Below are both versions for you to be the judge of. Please post your opinion in comments below. Thanks!

1) Black Eyed Peas The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies) (Interscope)

2) Souls Of Mischief Montezuma's Revenge (Clear Label Records)

3) Slum Village Fan-Tas-Tic, Vol. 1 (Barak Records)

4) Ludacris Battle Of The Sexes (DTP Recordings/Def Jam)

5) Wu Tang Clan Wu-Tang Meet the Indie Culture, Vol. 2 (Enter The Dub Step)
(Ihiphop Distribution) 

Somehow the phenomenally popular Black Eyed Peas' (BEP) current singles-driven album The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies) on Interscope continues to sell well everywhere, including at Amoeba Berkeley where it returns to the number one slot (based on sales) a full nine and a half months after its initial release date. The album's continual slew of hit singles of course helps the BEP stay on top, combined with such other factors as their successful ongoing world tour which arrives in California next week with two shows in LA at the Staples Center (March 29 & 30) and one show in San Jose at the HP Pavilion next Friday (April 2nd). On April 3rd they play San Diego's Sports Arena and on April 7th they play ARCO Arena in Sacramento, Additionally, on Tuesday of next week the group's tour movie The Black Eyed Peas: The E.N.D. World Tour arrives in movie theaters on 500 screens. No doubt this will only further fuel their popularity. For more BEP tour and event info click here.
 
Inti, who supplied this week's Amoeba Music Berkeley hip-hop chart, reports that a lot of older hip-hop albums never seem to go out of style with customers and that Pete Rock & CL Smooth's 1992 album Mecca And The Soul Brother is one of those classic hip-hop albums that people continue to buy as if it was a new release. As for Inti's favorite recent releases? He says he is feeling a lot of the instrumental hip-hop coming out lately including Mike Slott's Lucky 9teen that was released on the LuckyMe label three months ago.

Born and raised in Queens, New York, longtime KZSU DJ Kevin "Kevvy Kev" Montague first moved to (and never left) the Bay Area back in the early eighties to attend Stanford University. It was there that, along with his (Members Only) hip-hop crew, Montague began broadcasting what would become the world's longest running hip-hop radio show, The Drum, which airs every Sunday on KZSU from 6PM to 9PM. Several years ago, in celebration of this unique radio program, Kevvy Kev began throwing the annual Bang The Drum hip-hop festival. The festival's eager participants have included Big Daddy Kane, CL Smooth, Smif & Wessun, Das EFX  (who performed at the most recent Bang The Drum in August), Canibus, Ras Kass, Saafir, Money B, Special Ed, Camp Lo, J-Live, Blackalicious, Mr. Lif, Rasco, Planet Asia, Hieroglyphics, Peanutbutter Wolf, The Lifesavas, and Kutmasta Kurt. 

Kutmasta Kurt was once a member of The Drum radio show crew. Others have included Mike Nice. The current weekly lineup includes DJ Felix the Friendly Traveler, Raymundo, and Jimbrowski with rotating DJs including Amp Live and D-Sharp. The very original lineup was born out of the 1980's Bay Area Members Only crew which, in addition to Kevvy Kev, was Jonathan Brown, Richard "Rich D" Dwyer, Louis "Easy Lou" Carr, Todd "Todd T" Hosein, Mark "Rockmaster Markski" Hosein and human beatbox Bruce "Casual B" Richardson. This 1980's hip-hop crew built a name for the hip-hop parties they threw. The Members Only crew also put out a record, the twelve-inch single "You're Not Down."