NPR Music Tiny Desk Concerts

Jeezy Took The Tiny Desk Crowd To The Trap In His Motivational Tiny Desk Concert

by

NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts have run the gamut from folk-pop to trap rap, so it’s little surprise to see one of the latter genre’s original pioneers stop by the station’s Washington, DC office to deliver a motivational show. Jeezy has worn a lot of hats in recent years — New York Times bestselling author, talk show host, therapy advocate — but he’s still best known for slanging metaphorical snowstorms of aspirational street raps.

That’s exactly what he did during his set, playing his signature, game-changing hits backed by a string quartet, along with live drums, keys, and bass — all decked out in Jeezy’s Snoman shirts. Between songs, he paused to address the audience, telling the stories behind the tracks and introducing his band, and encouraged the crowd to sing along. He even did his best to sing the chorus of “Everythang” from his 2008 album TM:103 Hustlerz Ambition through his gravelly rasp, all while prominently showing off the cover of his autobiography Adversity for Sale: Ya Gotta Believe. The set was a chest-thumping walk down memory lane, and you can see the full setlist below.

Jeezy’s Tiny Desk Concert Setlist

“Standing Ovation”
“Air Forces”
“Bottom Of The Map”
“And Then What”
“Go Crazy”
“Everythang”

Watch Jeezy’s Tiny Desk Concert above.

Noname’s Tiny Desk Concert Was As Just Radical As It Was Groovy, Featuring Guest Appearances From Smino & Saba

by

Today (November 10) was all about the 2024 Grammy Award nominations. However, nothing could stop Noname’s triumphant return to NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series. It’s been five years since her striking first appearance. With the Sundial Tour coming to a close soon, her cameo served as a treat to longtime supporters who couldn’t snag tickets to show near their city. Noname’s latest Tiny Desk concert performance was just as radical as it was groovy, featuring guest appearances by Smino and Saba for a brief Ghetto Sage reunion.

With musicians Greg Paul (drummer), Brooke Skye (bassist), Cisco Swank (keyboardist and supporting vocalist), and David Otis (saxophonist), Noname tackled her poignant album’s standout tracks, including “Namesake” and “Hold Me Down.” Background vocalists Kamilah and Claudia Abena provided the much-needed layering to help amplify its track’s messaging.

Ayoni also made a surprise appearance during Noname’s set so that they could perform their track “Boom Boom.” Ghetto Sage reunion revealed an unreleased track titled “Kush And Love Songs.” Before she closed with “Balloons,” in which Jay Electronic is featured, Noname took a trip down memory lane. Noname couldn’t leave out her older records. Room 25′s “Don’t Forget About Me” made the final setlist as the sole older track.

Sundial is out now via Noname. Find more information here.

Watch Noname’s latest Tiny Desk concert above.

Chlöe Reminded Us Of Her Unstoppable Star Power During Her Debut Solo Tiny Desk Concert

by

Chloe Bailey is killing it in her solo era. This year, she released her debut album In Pieces and embarked on a solo tour. She and her sister, Halle, also released a line of activewear, and they teased that they will be hitting the studio to work on their third studio album as Chloe X Halle.

Today (September 5), Tiny Desk has dropped a special performance featuring Chloe Bailey, who performs solo as Chlöe.

During her Tiny Desk debut, Chlöe performed with an acoustic band, delivering some of her solo cuts.

She opened with “Surprise,” her sexy standalone single from 2022. She made a slight nod to Janet Jackson shortly after, saying “My name is Chlöe, Miss Bailey if you nasty,” making a smooth transition into the In Pieces fan favorite, “Body Do.”

Continuing with her momentum, she then performed “I Don’t Mind.” She slowed it down a bit with the performances on “In Pieces,” the title track from her solo debut album, which was co-written with Mikky Ekko.

While both of the Bailey sisters can guarantee us solid albums, their live performances always prove to be worth a watch. The work they put into their performances is unmatched by their peers, and promises longevity in the years to come.

You can see the performance above.

Post Malone Delivers A Charming Tiny Desk Concert Including ‘Circles,’ ‘Sunflower,’ And More

by

In the three weeks since the release of his fifth studio album, Austin, Post Malone has had some pretty memorable moments, including buying a one-of-one Magic: The Gathering card for a reported $2 million, giving a fan in Tampa his shirt, socks, and a guitar, and meeting Allen Iverson in real life after starting his career with the viral hit “White Iverson.” His latest memory-making moment, though, might be the one that impresses fans the most: He stopped by NPR world headquarters in Washington, DC for a Tiny Desk Concert, making him one of the biggest stars to perform one yet.

Opening up with an acoustic version of “Sunflower” with Americana flourishes, Post strummed his guitar alongside a grand piano a string quartet and a blended bunch of backup singers who really complemented the stripped-down versions of Post’s hits. He followed up his intro with a stirring rendition of “I Fall Apart” and a “go Cowboys,” which he joked might have been out of place in Commanders territory. Then, it was time for “Circles,” his 2019 megahit, again with the assistance of strings. Finally, after joking around about getting lost on the chords of that song, he played “Enough Is Enough” from the new album (“or attempt to,” as he put it). The concert is a perfect display of all the elements that make Post Malone such a star, including his humble charm and willingness to poke fun at himself.

Watch Post Malone’s NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert above.

Juvenile’s Much-Anticipated Tiny Desk Concert Has Arrived And It’s Glorious

by

“Cash Money Records takin’ over for the ’99 and the 2000” are words every millennial knows. The reaction is darn near Pavlovian at this point. You know it’s about to go down. When Juvenile pulls up at the NPR offices to perform his long-awaited Tiny Desk Concert, the reaction is such that he performs the song not just once, but twice. As soon as he finishes, the audience clamors for more, bringing the whole band back for an encore that spills over into the crowd.

The New Orleans legend performs for nearly 30 minutes with not just keys, drums, bass, and guitar, but brings along a full-fledged second line and strings to flesh out his set, which features backup from in-house Cash Money producer Mannie Fresh (of course)”R and runs through classics like “Bling Bling,” “Ha,” “Set It Off,” “Slow Motion,” “Rodeo,” “Nolia Clap,” “I Need A Hot Girl,” “Project Chick,” and OF COURSE “Back That Azz Up.” If this don’t make you move, check your pulse.

This Tiny Desk was one of the more anticipated ones in a while, thanks to an immaculate roll out by Juvie the Great, who has certainly grasped his stature as a rap elder statesman and keeps a sense of humor about it. More artists should promote their Tiny Desk Concerts like this — it’s an honor to perform but it should also be fun for everyone. This one certainly is.

Watch Juvenile’s NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert above.

Fousheé’s Tiny Desk Concert Solo Debut Is A Whirlwind Of Emotions, And Yes, She’s Still ‘Single AF’

by

Fousheé is without question one of alternative music’s rising stars. Having collaborated with artists such as Lil Wayne, Lil Yachty, Vince Staples, Lil Uzi Vert, and Steve Lacy, there is no denying she is a fresh creative force. The singer, rapper, songwriter, and guitarist blends together several sonic elements into some painfully related music. Her 12-track sophomore project, softCORE, is the perfect showing how her musical genius.

Having already appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk [At Home] Concert series as a guest of her friend, Vince Staples, the New Jersey native is finally making her solo debut in person at the network’s DC office. Fousheé wastes no time jumping start into “Spend The Money,” which originally features Lil Uzi Vert as her band, guitarist Lilly Graves (who also serves as the musical director), bassist Jake Strade, and drummer Tobias Kelly provides additional support.

Before transitioning to the next song of her setlist, Fousheé takes moment to acknowledge her joy in being there. She shares that it was a long day of traveling from Los Angeles, where she now resides, to NPR’s corporate office, but as she said, “I was raised on the East coast, so it feels good to be back on my home coast.”

Fousheé and her band then transition into her single, “I’m Fine.” The track is a melting pot of alternative r&b and metal as Fousheé graciously flows between her delicate yet endearing vocals to a scary, deeply projected scream. As the song ends, she tells the crowd, “Maybe I’m not fine, but are any of us,” before adding, “And it’s OK to not be fine. It’s all about balance.”

Next on the docket is her breakout song, “Single AF,” and in case anyone is curious, the singer confirms that even though she wrote the song years ago inside of her fourth-floor Harlem walkup, her relationship status remains single as f*ck. Fousheé reluctantly concludes her performance with the track “Candy Grapes.”

Watch the full performance above.

Kenny Beats Steps Into The Spotlight In His Soulful Tiny Desk Concert

by

Usually, when you think of NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concerts, you tend to think of rappers, singers, and other vocalists. Although it’s a live band music series, the focus is usually on the frontmen, women, and people, rather than on the musicians that make up the band or the producers who create the music.

However, that doesn’t mean there’s no place for producers at the forefront. Kenny Beats, who is best known for providing pounding hip-hop bangers to rappers like Denzel Curry, Rico Nasty, and Vince Staples (who he previously played a Tiny Desk with), sits on the backline for his Tiny Desk performance, but there’s no doubt that he and the soulful production from his debut solo album Louie are the stars of the show.

In a pretty cool flip of the usual dynamic, Kenny plays the backbeat on drums while his backup singers soulfully reproduce the samples that populate the album. Kenny also brings in a few guest performers, including Jpegmafia, who raps on “Still” and Remi Wolf, who sings on “Last Words.” Nami closes out the set with “Rotten.”

Kenny’s album is dedicated to his dad, and he addresses the complexity of making music for your family. “This is an album about family I made with my friends,” he explains. “Usually, music about familly is about how much you love them, how much you care about them… everybody knows family is a much more difficult thing to explain in 2-3 minutes.”

Watch Kenny’s Tiny Desk performance above.

Westside Boogie Brings A Team Of Tiny Superheroes To His Tiny Desk Concert

by

After a relatively quiet few years, emotive Compton rapper Westside Boogie made his return with the therapeutic album More Black Superheroes this June. A criminally overlooked project, More Black Superheroes finds Boogie once again ruminating on his own toxic tendencies while advocating for a more positive future.

To that end, he brought his own squad of superheroes to the NPR offices for his Tiny Desk Concert. Backed by costumed children for the finale performance of “Silent Ride,” Boogie makes a nod to the themes (and cover) of his new album. The MCU this isn’t, but then again, maybe that’s the point. The powered heroes in Marvel’s movies might be able to lift buses, but he’s on a mission to lift spirits and set some positive examples for a community that could frankly always use a few more.

During the performance, Boogie delivers soulful renditions of signature tracks from the album like “Stuck” and “Nonchalant,” employing “Float” vocalist Mamii to provide an angelic counterpoint to his sinful rhymes.

Boogie has done a lot of growing up since bursting onto the scene in 2015 with “Oh My.” He attributed at least a little bit of that growth to mentor Eminem, who advised him to slow down on reading his press. “He talked to me about not taking everything personal from blogs, ’cause it’s hard for me because my music is so genuine to me,” he said in a July interview. “So not seeing good responses sometimes frustrates me ’cause I know how much I put into it, but I think that’s every artist. Plus, coming from a neighborhood where we can’t let nobody punk us [and] gotta stand up for ourselves, when somebody come for me crazy on the internet, it’s always hard to not reply.”

Watch Westside Boogie’s Tiny Desk Concert above.

JID Turns His Tiny Desk Concert Into A Black Music History Exhibition

by

Remember around this time last week when I wrote that JID is the best rapper of his generation? Well, here’s his NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert to help hammer that point home. Adding a jazzy, soulful live band only enhances the JID experience, but make no mistake; JID is the star of this show, and everything he does earns that distinction. His charisma is on full display here, as is his impressive breath control, wit, and wordplay as he runs through selections from his new album The Forever Story.

The 31-year-old Dreamville rapper’s star has been on the rise since dropping his 2018 album DiCaprio 2 and his appearance on the 2018 XXL Freshman list. In the years between then and now, he has utterly stolen the show on Dreamville’s compilation album Revenge Of The Dreamers III, earning his first platinum plaque in the process, led his group, Spillage Village, on their inspiring group album Spilligion, and has run rampant on a string of guest appearances on songs like Conway The Machine’s “Scatter Brain,” Imagine Dragons’ “Enemy,” John Legend’s “Dope,” and many, many more. The hard work has paid off: The Forever Story’s No. 12 debut on the Billboard 200 makes it the highest-charting Dreamville debut outside of J. Cole and marks a 29-spot jump from DiCaprio’s No. 41 debut. In the words of JID’s Dreamville team captain J. Cole, a star is born.

Domi & JD Beck Literally Get Their Flowers On Their NPR Tiny Desk Concert

by

One of our favorite emerging acts of the year, Domi & JD Beck have been on a tear since their debut album, Not Tight, came out last month. Jointly released via Anderson .Paak’s Apeshit Records along with Blue Note Records, the album features appearances from Anderson .Paak, Snoop Dogg, Herbie Hancock, Thundercat, and more. And now for the jazzy hip-hop instrumentalist pair’s latest trick, they’ve delivered a rousing NPR Tiny Desk Concert, where they quite literally, get their flowers.

Recorded in NPR’s Washington D.C. studio (as opposed to the “at home” Tiny Desk variety that’s become popular in the post-COVID era), Bob Boilen’s desk is adorned with an array of colorful flowers that are surrounding Domi on the keys and JD Beck on the drums. Beck drapes a towel over his snare to muffle the sound a bit and make it come across more intimately. Domi plays a double-stacked Nord keyboard setup as they course through “Not Tight,” “Smile,” “What Up,” and even flash their vocal chops on “U Don’t Have To Rob Me.”

And it’s not just their dexterous instrumentals that are once again on full display in this session. But the pair’s quirky disposition is too. “Thank you for coming to our Tiny Desk. It’s pretty sick to be here,” Domi says with a giggle. The rest is pure heat.

Watch Domi & JD Beck’s NPR Tiny Desk Concert above.