1) The Roots Undun (MCA)

2) Common The Dreamer, The Believer (Warner)

3) Drake Take Care (Cash Money/Universal)

4) Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa  Mac & Devin Go to High School (Atlantic)

5) Wax Tailor Tales of The Forgotten Melodies (Le Plan Music/Decon)

Even though there are lots of new 2012 hip-hop releases dropping as we get further into this new year
there are still many late 2011 releases still selling and charting well at Amoeba San Francisco including recommended  The Roots' recommended  Undun on MCA, Chicago emcee/actor Common's latest album on Warner Brothers The Dreamer, The Believer, and the unstoppably popular Drake's latest/second album Take Care (Cash Money/Universal). The other two releases on this week's Hip-Hop Top Five from the Haight Street Amoeba are the new Wiz/Snoop movie soundtrack (another late 2011 release), and Wax Tailor's album Tales of The Forgotten Melodies which is a much older, albeit amazing, release from the French producer/turntablist. Born Jean-Christophe Le Saoût Wax Tailor has a gift, through his unique layering of sounds and samples and turntable manipulations, of creating these incredible moods. This album was first released in France in 2005 and later picked up in the States by Decon.

In what could easily be called the ultimate stoner duo, two of hip-hop's most outspoken weed advocates (one an OG and one a relative newcomer) Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa team up on the new album Mac & Devin Go to High School on Atlantic which is a soundtrack to the movie that they both star in. or rather it is technically a companion piece to the film with music from and inspired by the movie of the same name in which the two tokers go to High School (think How High - the 2001 stoner comedy film with Method Man and Redman). If you can't believe you somehow missed seeing this new film listed at your local movie theater, you didn't as this is a straight to DVD movie. Meanwhile this soundtrack is a real broad mix of various hip-hop styles that should appeal to fans of both artists. For the twelve track album, which features such party tracks as "Smokin On," "You Can Put It in a Zag, I'mma Put It in a Blunt," and the ever-popular "Young, Wild, and Free (feat Bruno Mars)" that preceded the album's release (video below), Wiz and Snoop have inducted about ten different producers to supply their richly diverse backdrop of beats which, truth be told, is the album's highlight. These producers include Warren G, Jake One, Exile, Drumma Boy, and Cardo. 

1) Big RIch & Ya Boy Guns & Roses EP (Black Card Music)

Amoeba Music San Francisco
Hip-Hop Top Five: August 01, 2008

1) NaS Untitled (Def Jam)

2) Jean Grae + 9th Wonder Jeanius
     (Blacksmith)

3) People Under The Stairs The OM Years 
     (OM hip-hop)

4) Husalah & B-Luv Tonka Boyz
    (SMC Records/City Hall)

5) RZA as Bobby Digital Digi Snacks
    (KOCH)

A shout-out to Luis in the hip-hop department at the San Francisco Amoeba Music for this week's Top Five chart, which includes the new Bay Area indie rap release from the rhyme duo Husalah & B-Luv, Tonka Boyz, that features guest spots from such local faves as PSD, Yukmouth, The Jacka, and Dubee. Also charting high this week is the double CD retrospective by People Under The Stairs (PUTS) from OM hip-hop. Disc one is "The OM Years" and includes such crowd pleasers as "San Francisco Knights," "The Cat," and "Jappy Jap," while disc two (my personal fave, since it has some stuff I had not heard before) is titled "B-sides & Rarities."  

Luis admits that he is not really feeling the new RZA as Bobby Digital (Digi Snacks) and I have to fully agree with him.This, the artist's fourth solo record, not only fails to match any of his Wu Tang output, but also falls short of his own previous solo work. However, as is often the case with overall mediocre albums, there are a few great songs to be found on the 15 track Digi Snacks, including "Drama" featuring Monk and Thea and "You Can't Stop Us Now" (feat. fellow Wu warrior Inspectah Deck).

Not to be confused with the East Bay based Hieroglyphics' producer of the same name, Domino the SoCal rapper with the Southern drawl that betrayed his real roots, who arrived in the rap world in late 1993, was the pop-rap artist who scored hits with "Ghetto Jam" and "Sweet Potato Pie." He was signed to Outburst but was picked up by RAL (Rush Associated Labels). Despite his LBC claimed roots and his Snoop Dogg affiliations, he sported a delivery that was less gangsta and leaned more toward the pop/RnB spectrum of hip-hop music -- a catchy sing-song style, I guess you could call it. Not too long after he arrived in December 1993 he scored his first hit, "Ghetto Jam," which garnered Gold status after six straight weeks atop the Billboard maxi-single charts. It was followed up soon after with an even bigger hit -- "Sweet Potato Pie" (see video above). The album's groove-laden production came care of AMG and Battlecat and would prove to be Domino's only real hit. His delayed sophomore follow-up album, 1996's Physical Funk, and subsequent releases, including 1997's Dominology and 2001's "D-Freaked It" all fell short of the mark.