Few musical commodities are quite so lucrative as a massive summertime hit, and just about this time of year, contenders begin doing the rounds of hip-hop-radio-station festivals to make their pitch. The acts hitting Jam’n 94.5’s annual SummerJam on Sunday at the Tweeter Center (617-931-2000) in Mansfield range from established hitmakers — producer-turned-solo-smash Kanye West, ubiquitous thug crooner Ja Rule — to hot up-and-comers like speed-rap phenom Twista, whose "Overnight Celebrity" has crossed over to the pop charts, and Trackboyz protégé J-Kwon, the St. Louis teenager behind the inebriated club banger "Tipsy." It’s certain that Mario Winans will sing his smash "I Don’t Wanna Know"; it’s at least possible that the identical-twin-sister act Nina Sky will sing their answer to it, "Time To Go," though the reason for their appearance is "Move Your Body," an irresistible dancehall-riddim hit that has the inside track on becoming this summer’s answer to Lumidee’s "I’ll Never Leave." Only a fool would miss the Ying Yang Twins, the flamboyant duo whose guest spot on Lil Jon’s "Get Low" landed them the appointment of crunk’s ambassadors to pop, through a guest slot on Britney Spears’s "I Got That Boom-Boom." Murphy Lee, Beenie Man, Akon, Ryan Duarte, and Cassidy are also on the bill.

If sex and cred counted for as much as everyone seems to think, the Demolition Doll Rods should’ve been an easy sell during the Motor City rock renaissance: guitarist/singer Danny Doll Rod was a founder of Detroit’s most influential garage-punk band, the Gories, and the two women in his band usually take the stage in bikini bottoms and pasties, or less. If the Doll Rods remain Detroit’s best-kept secret, that’s partly because Danny wears the pasties too, and because the band’s primordial stomp remains several grades rawer than anything you’ll find on a White Stripes disc. Their incendiary third album, On (Swami), begins with songs titled "Take It Off" and "Get It On" and gets hotter from there. Danny and Margaret Doll Rod trade barbs like Ike and Tina, and Margaret’s raunchy rasp channels the primitive thump, grind, and moan of Howlin’ Wolf and Bo Diddley — albeit through the world’s loudest, crappiest amps. The current Doll Rods tour gets only as close as Ralph’s Diner (508-753-9543) in Worcester on Friday.

Now that Rob Halford has rejoined Judas Priest, Ripper Owens fans — are there any? — will have to settle for seeing him front Florida metal classicists Iced Earth, who show up with Massachusetts thrash revivalists Beyond the Embrace at Lupo’s at the Strand (401-331-5876) in Providence on Wednesday. All-ages hardcore faves Stretch Arm Strong, Terror (who recently departed Massachusetts’s Bridge 9 imprint for Trustkill) and Between the Buried and Me hit the Palladium (800-477-6849) in Worcester on Friday. And Darker My Love, who’re signed to the Explosion’s Tarantulas imprint, play DJ Mark Vieira’s interstate "Blackout Bar" gigs at Bill’s Bar (617-421-9678) tonight (June 10) and at the Green Room (401-351-7665) in Providence on Sunday.