Melissa Czarnik w/ Kid Millions, Kid Cut Up and DJ Deadbeat

Melissa Czarnik's first forays with rap were freestyling at high school and college parties, where she'd sometimes do battle with unwitting male opponents when one of their boasts struck her as overly misogynistic, but these days Czarnik's act is more introspective than confrontational. She now writes down almost all of her raps, which she delivers with the imperturbable flow and calm, unexaggerated confidence of a spoken-word poet or her icon, Lauryn Hill. Czarnik's boyfriend, Eric Mirewhose band she also performs withhandles her production, composing beats rich with piano and acoustic guitar. His buoyant grooves lend to the chilled-out repose of Czarnik's debut album, Strawberry Cadillac. Also on tonight’s bill is Milwaukee rapper Kid Millions, who scored a summertime jam last year with his single “Victim to the Beat,” off his third album, Recession Proof Rap.