Join us at UCLA's Intramural Field on May 27th and 28th for the JazzReggae Festival -- the largest, entirely student-produced and run event of its kind on the West Coast! Enjoy live performances from The Roots, Booker T. Jones, Gary Clark Jr, Shaggy, Don Carlos, and more! And look for the Amoeba booth on Sunday!

Jam Day - Sunday, May 27	Reggae Day - Monday, May 28
The Roots Gary Clark, Jr. Thundercat Booker T. Jones Selah Sue Sonnymoon	Shaggy Tarrus Riley Collie Buddz Alison Hinds Don Carlos Cris Cab

UPDATE: Amoeba Hollywood is sold out of JazzReggae Fest passes, but tickets should be available at the gates on Sunday and Monday.

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For many artists it is often their first album or their second album that puts them on the map and becomes their career's finest work. But for longtime Philly crew The Roots their breakthrough album came a dozen years after they had first formed (and gone through some personnel changes in the interim) in the form of their fourth album, Things Fall Apart. The album, which was released in 1999 by MCA, was as much of a critical as a commercial success for the group. Additionally its recording overlapped with several others by members of the extended Soulquarians collective that included Erykah Badu and Common - both of whom made memorable contributions to Things, as did others such as Mos Def, Ursula Rucker, and J-Dilla (a.k.a. Jay Dee). See the music video for the Erykah Badu featured album track "You Got Me" below.

        

While Things Fall Apart was unmistakably The Roots' breakthrough album, it is just one of many must-have releases by the ever-prolific group whose many late night TV viewers have come to know as the Jimmy Fallon house band. Others include The Roots Come Alive and all the ones released just over the past couple of years by the group. These include 2010's How I Got Over (Island/Def Jam) and the excellent concept album released late in 2011, Undun. The Roots also collaborated with both John Legend on Wake Up and with Betty Wright for Betty Wright and the Roots: The Movie.  Additionally, there is great compilation of the Roots' tracks that dropped four months ago -- the J. Period & Black Thought presented Best Of The Roots.

         



                           Amoeba Music Berkeley Hip-Hop Top Five Week Ending 01:13:12


1) The Roots Undun (MCA)

2) Common The Dreamer/The Believer (Warner)

3) Pac Div The Div (RBC)

4) Onra Chino Series Pt 2 (All City)

5) Thirsty Fish Watergate (Mush)

Thanks to my man E-Lit for both the above latest top five hip-hop chart and the video interview in which the diehard Berkeley Amoeba employee/ hip-hop fanatic gives a nice run down of both brand new releases and some upcoming 2012 hip-hop releases that we should keep an eye out for. As E-Lit says and I fully agree 2012 looks like it is going to be a really exciting year for new hip-hop. E-Lit mentions some of the upcoming 2012 releases in the video clip above. I also mentioned some, including Gift of Gab's sure to be dope forthcoming 2012 album The Next Logical Progression, in last week's Amoeblog Weekly Rap Up and again in a recent Amoeblog on both Pep Love's forthcoming Rigmarole album on the Hiero label. Other upcoming 2012 releases to keep an eye out for include a new one from Blacastan and a DJ Premier produced joint by Big Shug that features guest spots from both M.O.P. and Fat Joe.

         

                           Amoeba Music Hollywood Hip-Hop Top Five Week Ending 12:16:11


1) The Roots Undun (MCA)

2) Drake Take Care (Cash Money/Universal)

3) Pusha T Fear of God II: Let Us Pray (Fontana)

4) Eligh & Amp Live Therapy At 3 ( Legendary Music/Live Up/Traffic)

5) J Cole Cole World (Columbia)

Special thanks to Ray Ricky Rivera at the Amoeba Music Hollywood store for this week's Amoeba Hip Hop Chart which includes staples of the past few weeks Drake's Take Care on Cash Money/Universal, J Cole's Cole World on Columbia Records, Pusha T's Fear of God II: Let Us Pray Fontana, and Eligh & Amp Live's Therapy At 3 via Legendary Music/Live Up/Traffic. Meantime the number one hip-hop seller is the brand new album from The Roots Undun which was released last week (December 6th). Undun is the Roots' eleventh studio album but it is their first concept album. As outlined in the Undun preview video above that concept follows the life and times of the fictional young Redford Stephens - "a kid who becomes criminal, but wasn't born criminal" and who is "neither victim nor hero."  As the online Amoeba reviewer accurately wrote of Undun: "Don’t let their spot as Jimmy Fallon’s house band fool you — The Roots haven’t softened one bit. Their latest release is a concept album about a youth drawn into street life until it results in his death, told in reverse. Despite all the inherent bleakness that would imply, lyrically, musically Undun is not so dour, buoyed by vibrant soul and touched by flourishes both electronic and orchestral that suggest how far the Roots have come as a band and as conductors of a sound they alone seem to inhabit.

Special thanks to my man Rickey "Uhuru Maggot" Vincent for supplying the Amoeblog with his enlightening Top Ten Funk Sessions of 2010 list that includes the likes of Bernie Worrell's SociaLybrium, Nick Rosen, and Punk Funk Mob. In addition to his Top Ten, Vincent has included some "also digging" additional picks.

Rickey Vincent, who was interviewed about his favorite topic here last year, literally wrote the book on funk music.
Vincent's acclaimed music history book Funk: The Music, the People, and the Rhythm of The One (St. Martin's Press), which won the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award, is the ultimate guide to funk music and its rich history.

Rickey Vincent, who many know from his long-running, popular KPFA 94.1FM radio show The History of Funk (10pm-midnight Fridays) knows more about funk than anyone I know. Not surprisingly, as well as being an author & journalist, he is also an educator on the subject and has taught classes at both City College of San Francisco and SF State University.

Vincent's 2010 Top Ten follows:



Another year and another wide ranging collection of funky discs have come my way, and I’m going to share my favorite ones from the year. The best criteria I can give is that these discs have been playing in my iPod nonstop since they came out. Simple as that.