1) Wale Ambition (Warner Bros.)

2) Black Milk & Danny Brown Black and Brown (Fat Beats)

3) Lateef The Truthspeaker Firewire (Quannum)

4) People Under The Stairs Highlighter (Piecelock 70)

5) Mac Miller Blue Slide Park (Ingrooves)

Thanks to my man E-Lit at Amoeba Berkeley for taking time out of his day in video above to run down all the new and recent hip-hop releases for this week's Hip-Hop Rap Up which includes longtime Oakland emcee & Solesides/Quannum star Lateef The Truthspeaker's first solo outing: the star-studded Firewire on Quannum which includes such Bay Area hip-hop greats (and longtime collaborators) as DJ Shadow, Dan The Automator, Lyrics Born (his partner in Latryx), The Grouch, Del the Funky Homosapien, Headnodic, and Chief Xcel (who handles production). The new Lateef the Truthspeaker album track "Oakland" that features Del The Funky Homosapien & The Grouch and appears below in audio play mode, I predict will soon become the new Oakland anthem.

1) Freestyle Fellowship The Promise (Decon)

2) Idle Warship (Talib Kweli & Res) Habits of the Heart (Element 9/Blacksmith Records)

3) M.E.D. Classic (Stones Throw)

4) Wale Ambition (Warner Bros.)

5) Statik Selektah Population Control (Duck Down)

6) Dessa Castor the Twin (Doomtree)

Special thanks to Luis F. Soria (aka Lou) at the Amoeba San Francisco store for this week's top six chart which sadly will be Lou's final contribution to this Amoeblog and to Amoeba Music too since he has just announced that he is moving on from Amoeba for good to focus all his time and energies on the other worthwhile projects he has going in his life. Like so many of his co-workers at the Haight Street store, who counted on Lou for not just music knowledge, but genuine friendship and support when things troubled them (he's one of that rare breed that actually give a damn about his fellow humans), I always enjoyed dealing with Lou. Whenever we spoke we would talk at length and in great detail about something we both love, hip-hop music. And it is that genuine love and passion for hip-hop by Lou, who is also a DJ, that will be missed the most. If it were not for Lou the hip-hop isles at Amoeba on Haight Street would not have showcased so many amazing (often well under the radar) hip-hop releases. And of all the regions represented none got more love from Lou than San Francisco and the Bay Area. Responsible for getting in so many homegrown hip-hop acts into Amoeba Lou will be missed not just by his co-workers at Amoeba Music on Haight but by the Bay Area hip-hop community at large. Good luck in all you do Lou and thank-you for being you! And please stop by Amoeba Music from time.

1) Wale Attention Deficit (Interscope Records/Allido Records)

2) FELT FELT 3: A Tribute to Rosie Perez (Rhymesayers)

3) Wu-Tang Meet the Indie Culture, Vol. 2: Enter The Dubstep... (Ihiphop Distribution)

4) Gift of Gab Escape 2 Mars (Cornerstone/RAS)

5) Wyclef Jean From The Hut, To The Projects To The Mansion  (R.E.D. Distribution)

It may seem like Washington DC rapper Wale has been around for quite a while already and that he should be up to his third or at least second album by now, but in actuality the justifiably hyped emcee is only just now releasing his debut, Attention Deficit on Allido via Interscope. The album has been much anticipated and has numerous big name collaborators (particularly production), including Mark Ronson, Cool & Dre, The Neptunes, 9th Wonder, and Green Lantern, and Lady Gaga, who lends her MIA inflected vocals to the single "Chillin" (already out many months and a big hit -- see video below), which seems to be everyone's favorite new hip-hop release. Since it dropped last week, Attention Deficit has been selling really well everywhere, including at the Berkeley Amoeba Music store, where it shot to number one with a bullet on the latest Weekly Hip-Hop chart. The album, which distinctly packs much crossover appeal, features Wale tackling many topics, including feelings of insecurity ("Contemplate"), the trials & tribulations of the everyday grind for a hard working rapper ("World Tour" featuring Jazmine Sullivan -- another already released single, one that revisits A Tribe Called Quest's song of the same name), and the reality of reality shows ("TV in the Radio").

Kanye West's well publicized little outburst at Sunday night's MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), in which he bum-rushed the stage during country singing teen Taylor Swift's acceptance speech to grab her mic and offer his uninvited opinion on how unfair he felt it was that Beyonce didn't win in the Best Female Video category, gave the media some fodder complete with a good headline for their report on the otherwise ho-hum awards show. And the fact that there suspiciously was no security whatsoever to stop West from storming the stage merely proved what many have long speculated: that MTV's producers secretly encourage any kind of controversy to spice up and give some edge to their show.

But by now Kanye's attention grabbing stunts are beyond tired. On Sunday night, even Beyonce, whose honor he somehow believed he was defending, wasn't impressed by his rude gesture. Neither was anyone else it seemed. And why should they be? Beyond the disrespectful act itself, it's not like he was sticking up for some totally underrated, slept-on artist. It was Beyonce -- one of the world's biggest stars, who a little bit later on in the same show would be bestowed with the Video Of The Year award. If Kanye is going to bum rush the stage and grab someone's mic, he should use the opportunity to say something of substance or worth.  Here are five suggestions for Kanye of what he could have said instead:

1) Talk about something really important or of social/political relevance like he did four years ago in his infamous post-Katrina "George Bush doesn't care about black people" comment (see video below). Or take the opportunity to comment on the growing thinly veiled tide of racism towards Barack Obama, or question why a FOX News host is getting away with calling the president "a racist." Or how about offering some opinion on health care? Note that even the host of the evening, Russell Brand, addressed this issue. However, like everything else that this English host-with-an-acquired-taste uttered throughout the long evening, it simply didn't register with the VMA audience.

1) Murs/9th Wonder Sweet Lord
(Record Collection)

2) Atmosphere God Loves Ugly (Rhymesayers)

3) Dälek Gutter Tactics (Ipecac)

4) X-Clan Mainstream Outlawz
(Suburban Noize)

5) Cappadonna Slang Prostitution
(ChamberMusik Records)

Thanks to Luis at Amoeba Music San Francisco for supplying this week's Hip-Hop Top FIve chart of the best selling albums of the week at the Haight Street store where the new number one is the album Sweet Lord by Murs and 9th Wonder. It was recorded about two years ago by the Los Angeles emcee and the North Carolina producer but not first released until a few months when it was made available as a digital download only; the album is only just now available to buy on CD. 9th Wonder, who is one of the best and most in-demand hip-hop producers today, and Murs, who is among the brightest and most gifted lyricists in the genre, have worked together before. Most recently they collaborated on a few tracks off of Murs' major label debut Murs For President, released on Warner in late September. In the studio they have a wonderful chemistry. As Murs raps on the Sweet Lord track "Are You Ready?" -- "Welcome ye'all to the 9th Wonder, Murs' dream. Ghetto music with a purpose..two of the world's most respected musicians are now at work. I suggest you listen."

The rest of the ten track album is really, really good (you wouldn't expect less from the talented duo) and features such other standout songs as "Free," "It's For Real," and "Nina Ross." "Nina Ross," which is a very clever song, is one of those great hip-hop tracks that draws you in thinking it is (yet) another tale of a hip-hop guy scamming on girls or (in this case) on the one girl, Nina Ross. Instead Murs flips things up in this engaging tale. And as the story unfolds it turns out that Nina is the one in control of the situation and that the guy is the one been taken advantage of -- or rather being taught a lesson for his past sexist & explloitive attitudes & deeds towards women.