Submitted by The Runaway aka Jon Corbin (Current Album: A Brief Word - Prophetic Poetic Productions)

1. Relic It's All Relative

A self-produced hip-hop record from my man Relic in Brampton, Ontario. This one has been several years in the making and has been creating quite a buzz online. So few hip-hop records can offer dope beats and rhymes the whole way through. Here, both are outstanding.

In 2005, Deepspace 5's The Listener embarked on a unique tour that found him in very odd - and relatively small - places. Dubbed "Listener's Tour of Homes," the venture consisted of a number of small concerts in attics, living rooms, front yards, and back yards - as well as larger spots like skate parks, art galleries and amphitheatres.

"We had such an amazing time," says an unnamed 2005 Tour of Homes attendee in a recent edition of Listener's e-mail newsletter. "It's the kind of DIY touring and music making we love to do, and you guys [the fans] have done a fantastic job of making us household names in a ton of households."

With the arrival of his third album, Graduation, Kanye West teeters on the edge of this chasm.

The Runaway has been nominated alongside heavy-hitting Canuck Manafest in the Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year category of this year's Covenant Awards, a show similar to the United States' GMA Awards and administered by Gospel Music Association Canada (GMA Canada).

Kanye West appears to be winning his head-to-head battle with 50 Cent for record sales supremacy, but both rappers are likely to move fewer units than they did with their previous albums.

This is the verdict of a Reuters news article that cites Billboard magazine as saying West is projected to sell between 575,000 and 700,000 copies of his new album Graduation, while 50 is likely to sell between 500,000 and 600,000 of his new offering, Curtis.

It won't exactly be a battle of wits, but the rumoured debate between 50 Cent and Kanye West is apparently a go. The two will face off Tuesday on BET to argue the merits of their respective albums - Curtis and Graduation -- according to the Associated Press.

A few years back we had a Canadian dude named Jon (alias: "The Runaway") handling our hip-hop section. Though some of us were (and are) fans of this type of music, we lacked the depth of understanding and intelligence Jon brought to appraising albums of the type. In late May, he broke in with his first full-length offering as a producer and emcee, titled A Brief Word. Here are the details, straight from the man himself.

Our old buddy The Runaway, known to cMusicWeb.com readers as hip-hop reviewer Jon Corbin, is set to release his debut album as an emcee on May 1. Titled A Brief Word, the album features guest spots from Deepspace 5's Sivion, respected Ontarian spitter Shad K, as well as Titus, N.I.F.T.Y. and ILL Seer. The album also features production from N.I.F.T.Y. along with beats from Tony Stone, Theory Hazit, Relic, and Run himself.

Submitted by Terrence Dove, a.k.a. "SouL" (Editor-in-Chief of the late, great, FEED magazine)

1. Supastition: Chain Letters

Not since '93 have I heard an album that was flawless from beginning to end, both in production and lyricism. Hip hop has a quiet but deadly demigod in this emcee. His inner egos run the gamut from battle emcee ("Ain't Goin' Out") to hip hop culture aficionado ("Nickeled Needles"), from life teacher ("Yesterday, Everyday") to underdog advocate ("Hate My Face"). There are no lulling moments in this listen. If given the chance and the light, Supa would be a reckoning force in the 21st century. He made it into my top ten emcees of all time--easy.

Submitted by Flynn Adam (solo artist and L.A. Symphony member)

1. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere

Ever since the release of "Crazy" I think just about anyone and everyone was sucked into the intrigue and brilliance behind the Gnarls Barkley project... to say the least it's definitely one of the more progressive and artistic releases of 2006 and I definitely have enjoyed the music, videos and comedy behind even their press / publicity... It's hip hop meets Motown meets a bit of rock meets a bit of crazy (for lack of better word/pun)...