Toki Wright
Between stints as an NYU-endorsed hip-hop educator, Emmy- and CLIO-award-winning TV music maker, KFAI radio host, music journalist and activist, the veteran north Minneapolis rapper — a man on the scene since his teens — has been producing a series of experimental recordings with an exciting new producer/beatmaker: himself. His slow-stewing, psychedelic, Afrofuturism-tinged new EP, "At the Speed of Life V. 3," was produced under the moniker Mamadu, a name given to him in Sierra Leone. He's returning from gigs in Croatia for a release party with the Lioness, Myc Dazzle & Faith Reigns, DJ Snuggles and others. (10 p.m. Sat., Nomad Pub, 501 Cedar Av. S., Mpls., $12.)
Chris Riemenschneider
Tina & the B Sides
When Tina Schlieske was emerging on the Twin Cities music scene, there was no "American Idol" or "The Voice" to give regional singers a national platform. But she and her band found their way to a major label. In fact, they made two albums for Sire Records before the label was sold and Schlieske moved to California and went solo. But she often returns to Minnesota to work with her cover band, Lola and the Red Hots, or Tina & the B Sides. The latter group is returning to First Avenue to remind fans that there was a new album, "Barricade," in 2014 plus some winners from the 1990s — and that Tina has never lost her standing as the best female rocker to emerge from the Twin Cities. (9 p.m. Sat. First Avenue, Mpls., $20, etix.com.)
Jon Bream
