1) El-P Cancer4Cure (Fat Possum)

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

3) Killer MIke R.A.P. Music (William Street)

4) House Shoes Time EP (Tres Records)

5) Odd Future The Of Tape Vol. 2  (Odd Future)

Lots of great new releases on the brand new Amoeba Hip-Hop Top Five chart from the Hollywood Amoeba store this week including in the number one slot El-P's welcome return, after 5 years with no new releases, with his all killer, twelve track album Cancer4Cure (aka C4C which is avail in both CD and LP formats) via the Fat Possum record company (he folded his Def Jux record label a while back). The Amoeba website store calls this latest El-P release "his strongest work since his debut, Fantastic Damage" and praising the supertalented East Coast producer/emcee for sounding "as energized as he did on that decade-old debut, matching Killer Mike (whose own excellent R.A.P. Music also recently came out and was produced by El-P) rhyme for rhyme on standout “Tougher Colder Killer,” also featuring fellow Def Jux alumnus Despot."

           


1) I Self Devine The Sound of Low Class America (Rhymesayers)

2) Big K.R.I.T. Return of 4Eva (Greenstreet Ent)

3) ) Death Grips The Money Store (Epic)

4) B.O.B. Strange Clouds (Atlantic)

5) KA Grief Pedigree (Iron works)

Good to catch up with my man E-Lit again over at the Berkeley Amoeba Music store where the tireless ambassador of underground, indie hip-hop brings his vast knowledge and shared a run down (in video above) of all the new releases available at Amoeba - with the new chart topper being from Rhymesayers crew veteran member I Self Devine and his brand new album The Sound of Low Class America which includes a great track with Brother Ali. Other new chart entries include ones from the ever popular B.O.B. (Strange Clouds), Big K.R.I.T. who is readying for his official major label release next month, and the beautifully twisted rap/rock hybrid  Death Grips' The Money Store - the Sacramento crew's lo-fi major label masterpiece on Epic.

         

For the past decade the Bay Area half-hour, hip-hop TV show Distortion 2 Static (D2S) has been diligently covering the wide world of hip-hop with an emphasis on both homegrown and national hip-hop, from each element of the genre and providing viewers with a steady stream of talent. Additionally, as its website states, it "offers an intimate perspective into a progressive Hip Hop culture by highlighting the current events within the community and profiling those who are committed to advancing its art forms. The D2S brand also extends itself into fashion, music, and nightlife entertainment." But this week, after one long decade, D2S will call it quits (ten years is "the perfect time to move on" they say) and rather than mourn will celebrate the departure of the show that began in 2001 with a big party on Friday night (Black Friday 11/25) at club Mighty, 199 Utah Street in San Francisco in a farewell party that they are dubbing All Black Everything: Celebrating 10 Years of D2S. that will include sets by DJ Neil Armstrong.

What I personally liked about D2S, which aired on the WB channel in SF, whenever I caught it, (and I watched it mainly in the first half of its decade run on TV and online in clips for the second half of its run) was its genuine love of hip-hop culture in all its elements from graffiti to b-boying and DJing and rapping: and how it lovingly covered so many areas from classic underground 1990's hip-hop videos to (then) new hyphy artists - and amazingly managed to squeeze it all into a half hour show with commercial breaks. The impressive list of artists who appeared on the show is so long that it might be easier to list those who did not grace the screen of D2S. Even more impressive to me was how, despite its budget restrictions, the hard working folks behind D2S did a super slick job on editing and graphics etc. etc.  I have talked to many other fans of the show over the years who similarly thought highly of its commitment to hip-hop's legacy with many comparing it to Yo! MTV Raps back in its early days. Clearly the show was a labor of love with its makers going out of their way to make a quality show for little or no profit.

Geographically the Fillmore District of San Francisco may not be that large an area but, in terms of its influence on, and contribution to the Bay Area's rich rap/hip-hop legacy, it has played a major role. Since the late 1980's when rappers such as Hugh EMC and Rappin 4 Tay from the Fillmore (aka Fillmoe, or The MOE, or Filthy Moe) first broke on the Bay hip-hop scene, there has been a non-stop steady flow of rap talents coming out of this SF hood (check back in two days on the Amoeblog for Jim Browskee's list of Fillmore rap acts), which have included such notables over the years as San Quinn, JT The Bigga Figga, Andre Nickatina (formerly Dre Dog), Equipto, Big Rich, Roach Gigz, and the subject of this Amoeblog, DaVinci who has deservedly been winning accolades everywhere he goes of late including last year when KMEL radio voted him part of their prestigious Bay Area Freshman 10 list.

Since beginning his career less than a decade ago this super-gifted lyricist has released a series of singles/videos that have gotten play and props all over. Just recently DaVinci wound up production on his soon to drop Feast Or Famine EP. This EP release, which will include such winning tracks as "Pangea," will be the prequel to his forthcoming & highly anticipated, next "real" album The MOEna Lisa whose title is a loving nod to his SF neighborhood.  In fact, as a few listens to any of his music will quickly attest, the Fillmore is never far from DaVinci's heart or his thoughts, nor his lyrics. For example on last year's album The Day the Turf Stood Still  on songs such as "What You Finna Do?," which included a sample culled from a PBS documentary on the SF district, he lyrically examines the negative impact of the gradual gentrification of the area he grew up in. He accurately notes how, over the past few decades, longtime African American residents of the Fillmore are systematically being relocated to outer Bay Area suburbs - only to be replaced by more upscale, typically white, residents. "Down the corner of the street used to be the spot/Till they replaced all the liquor stores with coffee shops," raps DaVinci in the song - just one of many that focuses on his beloved Fillmore hood. I recently sat down with DaVinci to talk about San Francisco and his promising rap career. That interview follows below.

         
Care of the always self-effacinging funny rap duo of Foreign Legion (witty & talented Oakland emcees Prozack Turner and Marc Stretch) comes the above latest extended version video for "Travel Lite" from the pair's recommended current album Night Moves - on Hunger Strike Records/Quality Control and available at Amoeba Music.

Without even trying Marc and Zack are just naturally funny and, unlike so much of hip-hop these days, do not take themselves seriously by any means as they trade quips, one liners, and so corny they're funny jokes.  Included in the deliberately silly (including canned laughter) clip are such jokes as Stewardess: "Have you ever been in the Navy?"  Prozack: "Well.. I used to work at Old Navy." Ba-da-boom!

And below is the brand new video for "The Hex" by Random Axe, the latest outing from the rap supergroup comprised of Sean Price, Black Milk, and Guilty Simpson. The song is one of the many audio treats found on the new fifteen track CD simply titled Random Axe that is available at Amoeba and is featured in the new Hip-Hop Top Five found immediately below the video