You already know I can't start this off without saying RIP to a legend of b-boying, the beloved Wayne "Frosty Freeze" Frost of the almighty Rock Steady Crew. If you ever peeped Style Wars or Flashdance, then you saw his groundbreaking work. Seattle's floor rockers all honor you. Rest in peace.

If I told you the dirty South ain't all gRiLLz and crunk juice, I wouldn't be blowing your mind, right? I hope not. I respect you enough to think you'd shoot me back a hearty "no shit, Sherlock," just like I expect you to know that there's more to Seattle than grunge, Starbucks, Microsoft, and Boeing. (Dumb rappers/dumber writers: This is a dead-ass cliché, okay?) With that, it should come as no surprise that there's some brilliant underground hiphop from the former Confederacy (nyah nyah!)—case in point, Lexington, Kentucky's CunninLynguists. Having the distinction of probably being the most popular slept-on crew in the U.S., Deacon, Natti, and Kno are six albums deep (if you count the two Sloppy Seconds mixtapes, which you should) and they show no signs of slowing down.

There are two camps that the 'Lynguists always get compared to, and that's 'cause it makes perfect sense: They really do sound like the love child of Little Brother and the Dungeon Family conglomerate. This is, of course, driven home by the smoky late-night vibe-out of "Yellow Lines" off of 2007's dope Dirty Acres, which features LB's own Phonte and the perennially slept-on Dungeon Famster Witchdoctor. Like their thematic and sonic antecedents, CunninLynguists proudly and capably advance the notion of intelligent, honest hiphop from the South, and have a devoted fan base that fiends for the QN5 (that's the 'Lynguists label/crew) to touch down in their hometown. So I'm sure they'll all be out in force for CunninLynguists' Friday, April 18, show at Chop Suey, along with QN5 Music's Substantial and Tacoma's (hey, that's kind of South) own Can-U. If this sounds like your particular cup of lean (no Lil Wayne), you should be there, too.

That is, if you didn't shoot your figurative wad partying out at Nectar the night before: Thursday, April 17, finds Fremont's hiphop HQ rocking with Inglewood, California's least gangster MC, Pigeon John, as well as Lightheaded coconspirators Braille and Ohmega Watts. If the (wait for it) "Christian rap" tag throws you off of any of these guys, you're sleeping: Pidge's last album, And the Summertime Pool Party, was a damn good time, just as readily paired with sunshine as the title implies. Ohmega Watts is roundly celebrated through the Northwest and far, far beyond as a helluva producer and MC. And his man Braille will, by the time you read this, have just released his newest album, The IV Edition. Dudes are nice—and nice—not to mention not beating in your head with the JC, so stop tripping. There's little hope for you or me anyway, buddy, so just you enjoy the rap music. recommended

hiphop@thestranger.com