First off, I wanna wish a bon voyage to my dudes JFK and Onry Ozzborn, who as you read this are headed off to Europe 'til May. Grayskul is always an international incident waiting to happen.

Meanwhile, Pearl Dragon, Sir Thomas Gray, and DJ Gajamagic—the men of Champagne Champagne—are fresh off SXSW, increasing international awareness of their fight for your right to fuck it up. The struggle continues, and if you come to Nectar on April 16, you'll be on the front lines, along with Champagne, Weekend (the big-voiced Ryann Donnelly from Schoolyard Heroes plus Mr. Gajamagic), They Live! (which as you know, are me and Bruce Illest), the slapadelic Linda and Ron's Dad (which are Tyler Swan of Foscil/Truckasauras and Derek Bourcier of Ghostbait), and Darwin (DJ for those battling bantams Mad Rad). (Speaking of "teh Rad," they're playing at the Bit Saloon in Ballard, which I've noticed has been booking some hiphop, on April 22 with Fresh Espresso and DJs Swervewon, 100 Proof, and Darwin.) This is not like whoa, it's just whoa.

Okay, so I know I told y'all about that Yo, Son! reunion going down at Chop Suey back in December; however, that snowy blanket of cold white oppression we got hit with at the time shut that shit the fuck down. But you just can't keep "Low Class Hiphop, Turntablism & Bad Taste" out the game, so on Sunday, April 19, if you got a goddamn brain in your triple-thick skull, you'll be at Chop Suey to rage to the selections of Yo, Son! OGs DJ Scene and DV One as they take you back to the night's halcyon days of 2003. The long-standing ban on trucker hats might even be lifted for an evening to commemorate this once in a lifetime event!

The next morning, drink some water and chomp some strawberries (they're packed with electrolytes, dawg), or perhaps choose a more appropriate hangover remedy for 4/20 (try Jah love). Whatever your twist, you're definitely getting lifted at Neumos that night, where the one and only Mr. Lif will be rocking the dogshit outta that stage, along with Willie Evans Jr., Nite Owls, and Grieves. Boomfiya! But really though, that Willie Evans (of the Alias Brothers crew, aka Asamov) cat has some terminally ill rap tunes on his MySpace player, player—what the hell is in the water in Jacksonville these days? Evans, Astronautalis, and Rob Roy have all been recently infiltrating my headphones with some next. I just caught Astro's set at Nectar and was fully captivated by his fully committed, self-consciously witty Tom Waits/pirate-chantey/indie/shoegaze-infused rap. He calls Seattle his home now, so when he gets back to town and you see him coolin' at the Redwood, buy the man a bourbon sweet tea. They're good!