1) Black C Still Ruthless (Rightway)

2) Kendrick Lamar Good Kid M.A.A.D City  (Aftermath)

3) E40 & Too $hort History: Mob Music (Heavy On The Grindl)

4) Macklemore & Ryan Lewis The Heist (Macklemore LLC)

5) Wu-Block Wu-Block (Entertainment One)

Thanks to Michelle at the Haight Street store for the above latest Amoeba Music San Francisco Hip-Hop Top Five chart which features in the number one slot the brand new release from longtime hometown rap hero Black C of RBL Posse fame whose new solo album is Still Ruthless on Rightway Productions. As you know RBL Posse, who hailed from the Hunters Point district of San Francisco, released some popular rap albums back in the nineties including their 1992 debut A Lesson To Be Learned on In-A-Minute featuring the hit and future dank anthem "Don't Gimme No Bammer" (Black C's brand new video below for the new album track "I Smoke" is a kind of sequel to that classic even referencing its lyrics), and RBL Posse's second album Ruthless By Law" on In-A-Minute in 1994. Their next album, An Eye For An Eye on Big Beat came out in 1997, a year after Black C's partner in rhyme Mr Cee was shot and killed in cold blood on New Year's Day 1996.

As anyone who has spent even a small amount of time in Daly City will confirm odds are that, regardless of whatever season of the year it might be, that the weather in this suburb south of San Francisco will  undoubtedly be foggy or overcast. But to everyone's pleasant surprise on Saturday, October 13th, seemingly in honor of the legacy of Cue's Records  the Weather Gods graciously lifted back every trace of fog and bestowed nothing but blue skies and glorious sunshine all day long!

That lucky weather break from the norm provided the perfect backdrop to the hip-hop reunion at Gellert Park in honor of Cue's Records Daly City store that closed a dozen years ago.

"I haven't seen most of these guys since the store closed back in 2000," commented Joe Quixx echoing a sentiment uttered many times on Saturday. Quixx was just one of the many Bay Area hip-hop DJs in attendance on Saturday with direct ties to the much missed record store/hip-hop meeting place. He was also just one of the countless DJs to jump on one of the four DJ set ups Saturday to spin and/or cut up some classic hip-hop.

Other DJs flexing their skills included DJ Quest (who also provided the big booming sound system), Quest's teenaged son DJ Train, Mista B, Shortkut, the Midnite Cru's DJ Chill and DJ Chino, DJ Marz, Kool DJ Rize, Myke One (Almighty DJs), DnZ, DJ Deeandroid, and VinRoc to name but some of the DJs who collectively played nothing but incredible music all day long (lots of old school electro and a sick ass Bay Area 90's set by Myke One). Add to all that great music, good food, special T-shirts for the reunion, live art by BIZR68, REBUKER, and HERMS (who did the cover art work for DJ Quest's last two albums),  and nothing but good vibes and conversation and you had one memorable Bay Area hip-hop reunion. One of the many highlights of the day was when DJ Shortkut, who later that night was DJing at Somar in Oakland to celebrate his birthday, stopped by with his young daughter in tow. Soon after arriving the Beat Junkies/Invisibl Skratch Piklz DJ proceeded to do a killer impromptu scratch routine all the while with his daughter happily sitting on his shoulders swaying back and forth to the beat. (see pic right)

1) Madlib Medicine Show #11: Low-Budget Hi-Fi Music (Stones Throw)

2) Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam)
 
3) Nicki Minaj Pink Friday (Cash Money/Universal)

4) Ghostface Killah Apollo Kids (Def Jam)

5) Cee Lo Green The Lady Killer (Elektra Records)
 
This week's Hip-Hop Top Five Chart from the Hollywood Amoeba store comes to you at this generally quiet time in the music business right before all the new year's first crop of releases drop. Hence, we have many of the same titles from the past few weeks represented here, including the unstoppable Kanye West, Nicki Minaj (whose new video "Moment 4 Life (feat Drake)" premiered yesterday, Wu-Tang Clan's super-gifted Ghostface Killah, and Cee Lo Green. Cee Lo Green had a most successful and high profile past year and it looks like 2011 will repeat that pattern for the artist, who first rose to fame as a member of the Goodie Mob and then as one half of Gnarls Barkley (with Danger Mouse), and who enjoyed phenomenal global success in 2010 with the song "Fuck You" from his current album The Lady Killer. Cee Lo has been busy performing and recording including, as reported in the past week, a duet with controversial UK singer Amy Winehouse. The track will likely will appear on her comeback album slated for release later this year. According to the UK magazine NME, "The two recorded the song when Green visited Winehouse's house in St. Lucia."

Senselessly gunned down and killed during a random street robbery on San Pablo Avenue in Oakland ten years ago this month, Bay Area graffiti legend Mike "DREAM" Francisco's legacy has grown exponentially in the decade since his tragic murder. And tomorrow, Friday, Feb 5th friends, family, fans, along with those who never even met the late artist but who were somehow touched by his life, his work, and/or his spirit, will congregate en masse for the big annual DREAM DAY.

The sure to be packed event, which takes place at the New Parish on 18th Street near San Pablo in Oakland, will feature graffiti artists, DJs, b-boys and emcees all celebrating, through their respective elements of hip-hop culture, the life and legacy of the man known to many as King DREAM.

As well as graffiti art by DREAM's graffiti collective, the TDK CREW, there will be music provided by a long list, including F.A.M.E., emcee Equipto, DJ Apollo, Shortkut, Fuze, Myke One, Sake One, The Bangerz, and DJ Platurn. Former Amoeba Music Berkeley employee DJ Platurn is among those who actually never met DREAM but whose life was impacted by DREAM's work. "The first time I heard of Mike Dream was through Saafir's Boxcar Sessions. Not only did his art grace the cover but his voice on the record resonated with community and a sense of pride in his craft," Platurn commented earlier today. "I never knew the man personally, being a recent L.A. transplant around that time, but he was always someone that I knew to be a hero and legend in the Bay Area hip-hop game and I'm proud to honor his legacy in any way that I can."

1) BlakRoc Blakroc (V2/Cooperative)

2) Black Eyed Peas The E.N.D. (Interscope)

3) Jay Z Blueprint 3 (Roc Nation/Atlantic)

4) Fashawn Boy Meets World (Loud)

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

If the newest Amoeba Music Hollywood hip-hop chart above looks similar to the SoCal store's chart from three weeks ago, well, that's because it is exactly the same. All the top selling hip-hop releases from the past few weeks' weekly charts at the Hollywood store have been consistently selling well and hence holding steady in their respective chart slots at the Sunset Blvd. store. Both Jay-Z and the Black Eyed Peas' now months-old 2009 releases continue to sell phenomenally well, and not just at Amoeba but across the nation also. They are still simultaneously holding down spots on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart, ranking at #9 and #31 respectively on the national sales based chart. Meantime, instrumental versions of seven of the great tracks off the recommended self-titled BlakRoc album, composed and performed by The Black Keys for the emcees Mos Def, Raekwon, Pharoahe Monch, Ludacris, etc etc, were unveiled this week on the website The Black Keys Fan Lounge.