1) Atmosphere The Family Sign CD (Rhymesayers)

The new album from the most successful band in indie rap music expands upon the sound that they built with their live band on "To All My Friends/Blood Makes the Blade Holy.” The result? The Family Sign: A series of daring and memorable songs that take their musicianship to the next level.

These guys have built their fan base from the ground up through years of constant touring, so it's always nice to see them getting the support they rightfully deserve.






2) Del Tha Funky Homosapien Golden Era CD (Council)

Bay Area favorite Del’s new album is probably the best deal you’ll get on a hip hop CD in 2011. The package contains three full length CDs for the price of one, setting Del’s brand new unreleased recording Golden Era next to two albums previously only available in digital formats, Automatik Statik and Funk Man. The two free albums you get in the package are solid in their own right, and Golden Era continues the tradition of quality that Heiroglyphics fans have come to know Del for.

Bay Area hip-hop got much love in the Big Apple over this past weekend when both Andre Nickatina and Zion I & The Grouch (aka Z&G), who headlined concerts at NYC's Highline Ballroom and Knitting Factory respectively, had the packed venues loudly & appreciatively showing much love for the Bay Area.

Sunday night at the Highline, in Manhattan's Chelsea district, longtime San Francisco rapper Andre Nickatina stopped the music and led the packed house in a back-and-forth chant of "Mac Dre, Mac Dre." Throughout the rest of the excellent show, for which up-and-coming SF rapper Roach Gigz opened, he had the supercharged audience (many donning SF Giants hats) singing along to the lyrics of songs such as "Killa Whale." Two nights earlier over in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Zion I & The Grouch similarly had the packed Knitting Factory crowd (many clearly Bay Area transplants) singing along in unison to the Zion I Bay Area hip-hop anthem "The Bay."

"It's like being at a rap show in San Francisco," enthused one Andre Nicatina fan Sunday night in New York as the artist formerly known as Dre Dog launched into one of his newer songs, the title track of his recent album My Middle Name is Crime, a collaborative full-length with The Jacka (with the absent Jacka's verses played back on tape).

1) Atmosphere The Family Sign (Rhymesayers Entertainment)

2) Blueprint Adventures in Counter-Culture (Rhymesayers Entertainment)

3) J-Rocc Some Cold Rock Stuff  (Stones Throw Records)

4) Foreign Legion Night Moves (Quality Control) 

5) E-40 Revenue Retrievin: Overtime Shift (EMI)
 
6) E-40 Revenue Retrivin': Graveyard Shift (EMI) 

7)  Wiz Khalifa Rolling Papers (Atlantic)

8) Zion I & The Grouch are Heroes in the Healing of the Nation (Z&G Music)

9) Equipto & Michael Marshall Keep it Movin' 2 Love Changes (Solidarity Records)

1) Zion I & The Grouch Heroes in the Healing of the Nation (Z&G Music)
 
Not surprisingly, the new Zion I & The Grouch album has become a major seller at Amoeba’s Bay Area locations. Both Zion I & The Grouch command a huge amount of respect in the local scene, largely thanks to their work ethic and the consistent quality of their recordings. They’ve garnered a lot of national attention in recent years, but the Bay continues to remain their greatest supporters.
 
2) Pharoahe Monch W.A.R (We Are Renegades) (Duck Down)

Hot on the heels of the new Zion I & The Grouch album is the latest from Pharoahe Monch, one of the more technically talented MCs in hip-hop as far as voice and cadence go, and who has released a number of great recordings solo and in his group Organized Konfusion. This new one takes Monch back to his indie roots, pitting him against an exciting cast of producers and keeping things progressive in terms of his style and approach.
 
3) Lupe Fiasco Lasers (Atlantic)
 
Holding its major selling position from last week is Lupe’s new one, which continues to receive a large amount of media attention as it walks the fine line between radio friendly pop music and conscious hip-hop.
 
4) E-40 Revenue Retrievin: Overtime Shift (EMI)
 
E-40 is another Bay Area legendwho’s always on his grind, and his recent release of two new albums in the Revenue Retrievin series seems to indicate that he’s not planning on slowing down any time soon. The Overtime Shift of the series features Bay Area favorites J-Stalin, B-Legit and The Click, as well as a guest shot from the one and only Devin the Dude.  The last time E-40 put out two albums simultaneously, they both went through individual periods of selling quickly, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the Revenue Retrivin': Graveyard Shift ends up on one of these lists in the near future as well.

1) Zion I & The Grouch are Heroes in the Healing of the Nation (Z&G Music)

2) Pharoahe Monch W.A.R. (We Are Renegades) (W.A.R. Media/Duck Down Music)

3) Equipto & Michael Marshall Keep it Movin' 2 Love Changes-Solidarity Records

4) Raekwon Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang (Ice H2O Records)

5) Lupe Fiasco Lasers (Atlantic Recording Corp).

Thanks to Luis for this week's Amoeba Hip-Hop Top Five for the San Francisco store where the highly recommended new Zion I & The Grouch's latest collaborative album Zion I & The Grouch are Heroes in the Healing of the Nation is number one after only hitting Amoeba Music's shelves on Tuesday (March 22nd). A sequel to Zion I & The Grouch's similarly themed, successful 2006 collaboration, Heroes in the City of Dope, this latest teaming of hip-hop talent even surpasses that critically acclaimed release. Joining producer Amp Live and emcees Zumbi and The Grouch throughout this release are such guests as Fashawn, Casual, Mystic, Brother Ali, Eric Rachmany, Freeway, Roy Ayers, Jacob Hemphill of Soja, Eligh, Codany Holiday, The R.O.D., and Silk-E, whose soaring vocals elevate the single "Rockit Man," as seen in the brand new video above.