Drag Racing, Records and Rhymes

The Spilt Milk crew picks our favorites for the week, including YG, Rick Ross and his gang, Odonis Odonis, Tinariwen, Record Store Day, a Drag Battle, and lots of comedy.

Friday: YG, 8 p.m., House of Blues: With the success of My Krazy Life, YG has skyrocketed to the top of the hip-hop scene, mixing party beats with lyrics about Compton gang life and making it big (tickets); Also on Friday: Uptown Get Down feat. Chicken George, Quickie Mart, Unicorn Fukr and more, 10:30 p.m., Tipitina’s (tickets); Happy Talk Band, 9 p.m., Chickie Wah Wah; Helen Gillet, 9 p.m., Carrollton Station; Cuttin Class: A Night with The Cut, 10 p.m., One Eyed Jacks (tickets); Gristle Candy,10 p.m., d.b.a.

Saturday: Rick Ross, Meek Milli, Yo Gotti, Lil’ Boosie, 8 p.m., UNO Lakefront Arena: The Teflon Don brings an all-star hip-hop crew to New Orleans, along with a new album, Mastermind (tickets); Also on Saturday: Mystikal, YMCMB, Flow, G Unit’s Kidd Kidd, 3D Na’Tee, 5th Ward Weebie, 9:30 p.m., The Howlin’ Wolf (tickets); Swampgrease, John Lisi and Delta Funk, 10 p.m., (tickets); Suicideyear, Young Hedons, Erlbot, 9 p.m., (tickets); Suplecs, The Weakness, I Ain’t …, 10 p.m., Siberia (tickets)

Sunday: Odonis Odonis, Spacebros 3, 10 p.m., Circle Bar: Odonis Odonis import more lo-fi, noise-pop from Toronto on their second album, Hard Boiled Soft Boiled. Also on Sunday: Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, 9 p.m., Gasa Gasa (tickets); Todd Snider, 8:30 p.m., Tipitina’s (tickets); Eric Hutchinson, 8 p.m., House of Blues’ Parish (tickets); Happy Talk Band, 10 p.m., Chickie Wah Wah; Helen Gillet’s Wazozo Zochestra, 10 p.m., d.b.a.

Tuesday: Pinkish Black, Solid Giant, Sunrise: Sunset, 10 p.m., Siberia: The metal crew with no-wave and electronica influences bring their dark, eclectic sound to Siberia (tickets); Also on Tuesday: Devin the Dude, Berner, Potluck, Cool Nutz, J. Hornay, 9 p.m., House of Blues (tickets); Seryn, John and Jacob, 10 p.m., One Eyed Jacks (tickets)

Wednesday: Dick Dale, High and The Unnaturals, 10 p.m., The Howlin’ Wolf: The King of Surf Guitar brings his custom amps and fast-picking tunes to the Howlin' Wolf (tickets).

Thursday: Tinariwen, Bombino, 9 p.m., House of Blues: The Grammy Award-winning group of Tuareg musicians, who have been called "music's true rebels," perform Thursday night with fellow Tuareg guitar hero Bombino opening (tickets); Also on Thursday: Terry McDermott and The Bonfires, 7 p.m., One Eyed Jacks (tickets); Cloud Nothings, Ryley Walker, Donovan Wolfington, 9 p.m., Gasa Gasa (tickets); The Chainsmokers, C-LAB, Michael Medina, Eduk8, Warde vs. Kao$ (tag team set), 10 p.m., The Republic (tickets); Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Spy Boy All-Stars, 10 p.m., Tipitina’s (tickets); Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Trio, 9 p.m., Chickie Wah Wah; Slightly Stoopid, 8 p.m., Joy Theater (tickets); King James and The Special Men, 10 p.m., d.b.a.

Other Stuff:

The Renaissance man of comedy Mike Birbiglia, known for his award winning standup performances and one-man show Sleepwalk with Me, tells some new jokes Friday night at the Civic (tickets).

Parks and Rec star Aziz Ansari takes on the mess that is modern-day dating with his latest Modern Romance Tour, Monday night at the Mahalia Jackson (tickets).

The reality TV show that embarks on the search for "America's next drag superstar" takes the stage with RuPaul’s Drag Race: Battle of the Seasons, Wednesday at the Civic Theatre.

Celebrate the comeback of vinyl and the reopening of Euclid Records during this year's Record Store Day this Saturday. Deals and special-release parties can be found in stores throughout the city, including Louisiana Music Factory, Peaches Records, The Mushroom, Skully's Recordz, and Juan Le Ger Records.