Hip-hop Core Highlights

Well as the nation drags itself from the despair of winter and into the alleged joys of spring there's only one major talking point of the hip-hop calendar this March. Yep, Soundcrash in association with Mixed Bizness & Ballers Social Club have seen fit to bring us the dream double-team of Wu Tang founder member Method Man and childhood friend/Def Jam labelmate Redman to the Carling Academy on 29 Mar at 7pm. We can look forward to a Redman solo spot, Meth main set and then a promised two-man tag-team extravaganza, no doubt breaking out some tracks from their joint
1999 album, Blackout! Support comes from locals LuckyMe featuring Hudson Mohawke, Rustie, Dom-Sum & Nadsroic. Since this gig was announced, reports have been coming in of a dramatic crash in Buckfast sales as Scottish hip-hop fans try to scrape together £25 plus booking fee. Ticket price includes entry to the after-party (venue TBC), which promises to be something of a home-grown hip-hop fest in itself, with a set from Edinburgh's own Underling and DJs MK and Dema keeping it going on the dancefloor.

Also at the Carling Academy on Sunday 9 Mar (£25), Philadelphia rnb legends Boys II Men return to belt out some more of their reassuringly schmoove soul harmonies and make our romance-starved Scottish ladies go all funny. If you're looking for some evening entertainment, stand-out hip-hop can be found in the form of breaks, ska and boom bap from DJs Bankrupt Europeans at Bar 10, Mitchell Lane, weekly Mondays from 8.30pm-midnight. On Thursdays, the ever-reliable Freakmenoovers team show how it's done upstairs at the Glasgow School of Art, for a set of guaranteed hip-hop belters, eclectic soul and, apparently, intergalactic booty bass. Free entry for GSA students before midnight, £1/£3/£4 after. Saturday nights see Glasgow's first regular Asian music night at Strathclyde Student Union, John Street, featuring a mix of bhangra, hip-hop, Bollywood and rnb from DJs Bobby B, Jay Jagpal and Shandy (10pm-3am).

Meanwhile, on the East Coast, Thursdays nights at Massa (Market Street) see new night Chocolate Kiss, with DJ Tony TNT laying out some rnb, Motown and urban beats. To round this up, on 28 Mar Uk soulster Eska Mtungwazi and her seven piece band drop their hip-hop, folk and jazz influences onto Departure Lounge's baying crowds at the Caves (10pm-3am, £tbc).