Hey Milwaukeeans, I have some sad news to report. Award-winning club DJ – and half of The MadKids Show – Kid Cut Up is flying the coop for the West Coast.
This Tuesday may mark the end of Kid Cut Up's presence on The MadKids Show – the Tuesday night hip-hop show on 91.7 WMSE that has been in the 9 p.m.-midnight slot for three years since the decade-long Late Night Hype Show retired. But just because KCU is leaving TMK and Milwaukee doesn't mean he's done with us completely.
Kid told me that he'd still find his way back to Milwaukee every now and again to visit friends and family and to spin a gig or two on occasion.
This move, in some people's minds, is long overdue as Kid Cut Up has consistently been one of the Midwest's best mix DJs and is the type of guy that could really fare well in the club/DJ culture Los Angeles has. Cut Up hopes for the same result, but is more realistic about the challenge of the move.
"Well, first off, I hope I AM successful out in L.A. I know I'm leaving a lot of awesome things behind by leaving Milwaukee. I've been a part of a ton of great and successful events and had the chance to work with a lot of great people here. Moving to L.A. is like starting all over."
Kid Cut Up is one of the nicest guys in the Milwaukee music scene and he'll always give you his honest opinion if you ask for it. He's championed Milwaukee music whenever he was given the chance and he worked up from the basement to work in some of the best bars and clubs in Milwaukee. It's that hard work and dues paid in Milwaukee that led Cut Up to give Los Angeles a shot, he says.
"I am confident that my time in Milwaukee has trained me well and prepared me to take on anywhere. Doing art in Milwaukee is a challenge because there isn't a large audience for art and music here. There are a lot of good artists doing a wide variety of things, but too often they are overlooked by a general populace that doesn't appreciate it.
"So, if you can make it happen in Milwaukee, you can make it happen anywhere and I guess I'll find out if that's true. Either way, I'm ready to put it to the test."
Though he's not moving this Tuesday, treat his final The Mad Kids Show as a gigantic going away party. Tune in, flood the station with phone calls, stop down to the studios and tell him thanks and good luck for all he has done in and for Milwaukee. Hell, make your pitch to DJ Bizzon on why you'd make a great new co-host for the show.
If you can't tune in to the show on your radio dial, tune in via WMSE's website from 9 p.m.-midnight. As always, all shows are available for streaming after the fact in the archives.
Born in Milwaukee and raised in the Milwaukee suburb of Brown Deer, Concordia University Wisconsin alumnus Poppe has spent the majority of his life in or around the city and county of Milwaukee.
As an advocate of Milwaukee's hip-hop community Poppe began popular local music blog Milwaukee UP in March 2010. Check out the archived entries here.
Though heavy on the hip-hop, Poppe writes about other genres of music and occasionally about food, culture or sports, and is always ready to show his pride in Milwaukee and Wisconsin.
