Special thanks to my man Luis (above video) at the San Francisco Amoeba Music store for doing a nice in-depth run-down of the new and noteworthy hip-hop CDs and vinyl releases, including reissues, at the Haight Street store this week. As the ever knowledgeable hip-hop buyer (and DJ) notes, right now is a perfect time to stop by Amoeba SF and dig for vinyl in the vast hip-hop section of the store.

As with the Hollywood and Berkeley Amoebas, the new releases from Big Boi, Eminem, Drake, Nas + Damian Marley, Madlib, and The Roots are all in demand in San Francisco. And as noted by Luis, Phonte, who guests on the new Roots album How I Got Over, will be at the San Francisco Amoeba in one week when his group Foreign Exchange plays a free instore next Friday, July 23rd at 6pm.The critically acclaimed group (rapper/singer/songwriter Phonte + producer Nicolay), whose still in-production third album Authenticity is scheduled for an October release, play Yoshis SF later that night as well as the previous night (July 22nd) when they are billed to play with YahZarah, Darien Brockington, Zo! and live band.

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

2) Strong Arm Steady In Search of Stoney Jackson (Stones Throw)

3) Slum Village Fan-Tas-Tic Vol. 2.10  (Barak Records)

4) Mathematics Presents Return Of The Wu And Friends (Gold Dust Media)

5) DJ Green Lanern & Styles P The Green Ghost Project (Invasion Music Group)

New releases on the latest hip-hop chart from Amoeba Music Hollywood include the Slum Village reissue by Barak Records of  Fan-Tas-Tic Vol. 2.10 (in a two CD set), and also the equally recommended producer DJ Green Lantern and rapper Styles P collaboration The Green Ghost Project which features cameos from Styles P's fellow D-Block cohorts Jadakiss, and Sheek Louch, as well as guest shots from M.O.P, N.O.R.E, Uncle Murda, and Junior Reid. Appearing on DJ Green Lantern's label, the renowned mix DJ, who initially built his rep as the main DJ for Eminem's Shady Records label, shares production credits here with the Alchemist, Scram Jones, and Statik Selektah, a great combination of two of the best. Also new but not recommended, unless you don't have a lot of Wu Tang in your collection already, is the Feb 16th release Mathematics Presents Return Of The Wu And Friends, which really offers little new to the true Wu fan, with re-released tracks and some slightly modified/remixed ones, as the website HipHopDX so accurately pointed out. The tracks "It’s What it Is” and “Iron God Chamber” both appeared on Masta Killa’s album Made In Brooklyn four years ago, while the songs “Strawberries & Cream” and “Rush” are scooped straight from DJ Mathematics’ very own 2005 album, The Problem. It is not that this is a bad album by any means, but rather it is slightly misleading in its presentation, which implies it is chock-a-block with fresh new material.

Welcome to another installment in the Amoeblog Hip-Hop History series that takes a look back at rap/hip-hop album and singles charts from previous decades. Last month's Hip-Hop History chart showcased a Top 30 Hip-Hop Singles chart from February/March 1993. This time we flashback to a year earlier, March 1992, for both a Top 15 Hip-Hop Albums Chart and a Top 15 Hip-Hop Singles Chart both courtesy of The Source magazine's March '92 issue.

Considering the delayed turnaround period for magazines (from writing to actual publishing/street date) and the fact that many records stay on the charts for several weeks or even months (especially back then), you may notice that some of these March 1992 chart entries such as Ice Cube or Black Sheep were actually released in late 1991. You will also notice, as with the previous chart, which also hailed from the so-called "golden age" of hip-hop, that damn near every release on each chart is a quality one that has stood the test of time. The charts were based on a combination of sales and the tastes of the editorial staff and some of its writers (which included myself) at the time.

2009 was another good year for Bay Area rap/hip-hop, with a string of new releases dropping over the past twelve months, including the thirty four full-length releases listed below. Appearing in no particular order, these choices are based mainly on releases culled from the Amoeba Music San Francisco Weekly Hip-Hop charts compiled by Luis at the Haight Street store over the past year. Not every single Bay Area hip-hop release is included here (feel free to nominate any worthy omissions in the comments below), but many of them are, and they give a good sense of the vibrant Bay Area music scene for the year of 2009.

Three albums appeared on early 2009 Amoeba Hip-Hop charts but did not make the list below since they technically were each 2008 releases (released late last year):  E40's The Ball Street Journal, released on Sic Wid It and distributed through Warner Brothers; San Quinn's From A Boy To A Man (SMC/Fontana); and Keak da Sneak & San Quinn's Welcome To Scokland on Ehustl, which combined the best of "the Sco" (San Francisco) with the "O" (Oakland) on an album that was extremely popular in the Bay in '09.

North Oakland rapper Mistah F.A.B. may not have released a new solo album in 2009 but he did pop up on countless other artists' releases over the past year, including most recently on The Grouch's just released Three Eyes Off The Time. Mistah F.A.B  appears on the CD track "Already" with hella popular Fresno emcee Fashawn. F.A.B. also appeared on Fashawn's critically & commercially acclaimed official debut album, following a string of mixtapes, Boy Meets World on Loud, which was a hit at all three Amoebas. Mistah F.A.B. also released joint full-length projects in 2009 with both the Alchemist and Glasses Malone, with whom he unleashed The Sideshow CD.

Back in '88, during hip-hop's so-called 'golden age,' for some magnificant reason damn near every rap release that came out was an instant classic: records like Marley Marl's "The Symphony," Eric B & Rakim's "Follow The Leader," EPMD's "Strictly Business," Too Short's "Life Is...Too Short," and of course Sir-Mix-a-Lot's "Posse on Broadway." 

A single off the famed Seattle rapper's debut album Swass on Nastymix Records, Sir Mix-a-Lot's song struck a nerve with rap fans everywhere at the time firstly because of the great lyrics and the track's 808 kick-drum fueled sick beat, and secondly because listeners made the song lyrics relate to their own town's Broadway -- whether they were in New York or San Francisco or wherever.

Of course, the Broadway in "Posse On Broadway" was the one in Mix-a-Lot's (born Anthony Ray) own hometown of Seattle in the Capitol Hill district, the one were they "stopped at Taco Bell for some Mexican eatin' But Taco Bell was closed, The girls was on my tip. They said go back the other way we'll stop and eat at Dick's. Dick's is the place where the cool hang out. The Swass like to play and the rich flaunt clout. Posse to he burger stand so big we walk in twos." (Scroll down to see full song lyrics.)