Rik Rude (whom you know from, among other things, Fresh Espresso) and OC Notes (whom you might remember from the far-flung planet of Awesome) are at last blessing y'all (via the good folks at Out for Stardom) with the rightfully long-anticipated Metal Chocolates album. (Everybody mad at the righteous black space opera that's in such abundance lately should probably go listen to, like, Termanology or something right about now.)

Rik, heeding the call of Notes' Madlib- esque opium-den hypnofunk, spits a pimpishly poetic fine wine, conjuring a low-eyed Sidney Poitier. OC Notes' underrated MCing owes to Oxnard's Madliberator as well—a mumbly, blissed-out stream of funny asides and sticky nugs of stoney profundity. Metal Chocolates' sumptuousness is perhaps the best showcase yet for both talents, and while it's considerably less showy, if all is right in the world, this project will draw all the accolades of Rik's other band. All that said, the release party for Chocolates goes down at Neumos on April Fools' Day—no foolin'—with Truckasauras, Viper Creek Club, and DJs Darwin and 100proof.

Now, I've been an advocate for Mister Avatar Young Blaze for a long time; his Brillo-throated Chopper District savagery is the real thing, however you wanna take that, however you slice it. He's only now getting his props around here, and he's been steady dropping high-quality mixtapes (and one official album) full of thorough, thoughtful gangsta rap for the last, what, five years? That's criminal—so it's kind of fitting, I guess. He's celebrating the release of his latest tape, Danny Darko, with a party at HG Lodge on April 1, with no less a personage than Dipset's MPC murderer Araab Muzik (who's Latino); if you've never seen Araab's insane live MPC beasting, educate yourself. Oh, plus the world-famous work of DJ Topspin? OWWWWW.

But WHOA, skrrrrt—on April 2, down at the Crocodile, it's the 20th freakin' anniversary of Coolout! Georgio Brown and company have been documenting this scene for most of its lifespan; I absolutely believe in their mission, that of the curator, the historian. If we don't know the roots of our local culture, then we could surely lose it, just like that. I maintain that all this town pride we're awash in is because of, among other things, the sense of scene history that a new generation is developing (even if it's sometimes woefully inaccurate—don't grumble, OGs, share your knowledge). So bop down, one and all, to Belltown and catch just some of the treasures captured by Georgio's lens over the last two decades.

Slaughterhouse's LA rep Crooked I is at Nectar on April 3, with three NW talents in Jay Barz (420 Experienced coming soon), AD (don't sleep on The Leftovers, out now), and Havi Blaze (Purple & Gold mixtape out now). I gotta go with Killer Mike (one of the hardest out for a minute now), bloggers' choice Pac Div, and food/car–metaphor master Young Dro at the Croc that same night, though. You got options, too.