NPR Music Tiny Desk Concerts

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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

Usher Makes A Musical Gumbo With An Instant Classic Tiny Desk Concert

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Usher had literally decades of hits to pull from for his NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert, so it had to be stressful to whittle the options down to an under-30-minute set. Fortunately, that time in the limelight has taught Mr. Raymond a few things about being an entertainer — namely, to play the hits. That’s just what he did, opening the set with his 1997 breakout single, “You Make Me Wanna…,” the lead single from his second album My Way — the project that set him on the road to becoming the superstar that he is today.

Then, inspired by the viral challenge based on his 2004 Confessions smash, he launched into a stunning falsetto rendition of “Superstar.” Even better, he brought along the singer who helped kick off the challenge, Eric Bellinger, who sang backup alongside Vedo (both are stars in their own rights, highlighting just how big Usher really is). Then, bringing out yet another hit, Usher went even further back to 8701 single “U Don’t Have To Call.” With the horns backing the arrangement, the futuristic Neptunes production becomes a funky, jazzy slider.

And speaking of viral moments, there’s a new challenge in which Zoomers ask each other what Usher was doing at 7 o’clock — a clear reference to his My Way single “Nice And Slow” that embarrassingly few young people have gleaned. However, the audience at NPR’s office knew exactly what was going down, turning the song into a full-on singalong, from the first verse to the double-time rapped bridge. Of course, he performs the obligatory “Confessions, Part 2” and then closes out by celebrating the 25th anniversary of the title song from My Way, playing a full-force presentation of Usher’s second top-five hit.

You can watch Usher’s Tiny Desk Concert above.

Denzel Curry Delivers A Flawless Tiny Desk Concert After Just Two Rehearsals

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Denzel Curry‘s riding a career-high at the moment, enjoying the success of his fifth studio album, Melt My Eyez See Your Future. Debuting at No. 51 on the Billboard 200 and receiving widespread critical acclaim, the album is led by soulful singles such as “Walkin,” “Zatoichi,” and “Troubles,” and led to a well-received performance at this year’s Coachella, with an upcoming tour featuring dates alongside Kid Cudi. Curry kept the momentum going with a flawless performance on NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert series, backed by a 10-piece band.

Performing songs from his new album as well as some of his beloved hits, Curry seems astonished that the set goes so well. “We only did this rehearsal twice!” he exclaims between two songs. In addition to performing “Melt Session #1,” “Walkin,” and “Troubles” from Melt My Eyez, Denzel dug into his back catalog for fan favorites like “DIET_” from his 2020 Kenny Beats collaboration Unlocked, “Clout Cobain” from 2018’s Ta13oo, and “Ricky” from his 2019 album Zuu.

Besides having a productive year for himself, Curry has become a go-to featured freelancer for his peers, popping up on songs from IDK (“Dog Food“), Sampa The Great (“Lane“), and Dot Da Genius (“Talk About Me” with Kid Cudi and JID), as well as on the soundtrack for Elvis.

Watch Denzel Curry’s Tiny Desk Concert above.

Ravyn Lenae Delivers Hypnotizing Vocals In Her Emotive NPR Tiny Desk Concert

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It has been a strong first half of 2022 for the R&B genre, and one name that has come up a lot in the conversation of best projects is Ravyn Lenae. It’s one thing to listen to her debut album Hypnos and witness the talent audibly, but she took things to another level visually with today’s (June 22) Tiny Desk Concert as part of NPR’s Black Music Month celebrations.

The Chicago talent was glowing as she took attendees and listeners through a multitude of emotions, opening with her track “Venom” before descending further into the feels with “Skin Tight” and the self-love ballad “Inside Out,” then kicking things up a notch with the closer “Sticky.” In a day and age where R&B is labeled too slow, moody, and not fit for upbeat settings, the 23-year-old firmly displayed she can provide all of those sounds and do so in a live setting.

Three of the four songs performed come from Ravyn Lenae’s aforementioned debut album Hypnos, which was released toward the end of May and features Steve Lacy, Mereba, Smino, and Fousheé. Prior to Hypnos, she released EPs Crush, Midnight Moonlight, and Crush in 2016, 2017, and 2018 respectively.

Watch Lenae’s dazzling Tiny Desk performance above.

FKA Twigs Debuts Her New Song ‘Killer’ In A Charismatic Tiny Desk Concert

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NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert series is celebrating Black Music Month with showcases of Black artists both “at home” and at the titular Tiny Desk. The latest episode features genre-bending English singer-songwriter FKA Twig, performing in a mysterious-looking candlelit church, backed by strings and piano. In addition to singing two of her most beloved ballads, “Home With You” and “Cellophane,” as well as debuting a brand-new song, “Killer.”

FKA Twigs upped her game early this year with the release of her mixtape, Caprisongs. The tape, which featured the singles “Meta Angel,” “Jealousy,” “Bliss,” “Papi Bones,” “Honda,” and “Which Way,” highlighted her eclecticism and improved vocals, as well as featuring a spontaneity that hadn’t yet been heard from the convention-challenging Twigs. In her review, Uproxx’s Caitlin White writes, “… a more relaxed, linear style in the songwriting gives a deeper look into Twigs’ psyche than her past work.”

In addition to promoting her new tape, Twigs is expanding her resume, adding a brand-new acting role to her impressive list of achievements. In May, it was reported that Twigs had been cast in an upcoming remake of the 1994 gothic action movie The Crow — which is a perfect opportunity to showcase her martial arts and dance training.

Watch FKA Twigs’ Tiny Desk Concert above.

FKA Twigs is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

IDK Keeps Things ‘Simple’ In His At-Home Tiny Desk Concert Featuring Mike Dean

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One of the most fun elements of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts has always been the crowd interactions — something that has been missing ever since the series went to an at-home format as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, as restrictions have eased up and vaccination levels increase, it looks like we’ll start to receive something of a hybrid approach whenever it’s possible. IDK’s new Tiny Desk Concert brings back the live audience feel as he invites neighbors and friends to his Los Angeles home to perform new songs from his recently released album Simple.

Opening with the soulful “Puerto Rico,” IDK opts to set the mood with the smooth, melodic gem from USEE4YOURSELF rather than one of his harder-hitting rap tracks, which allows him to present himself as a “sweet guy” and adds to the overall inviting mood. Meanwhile, Kaytranada’s jazzy, house-influenced production from Simple proves to translate beautifully to the stripped-down set, where some synthesized baby grand sets the groove as IDK’s friend thumps out the beat on a coffee table. Mike Dean also makes an appearance to contribute a ripping guitar solo to IDK’s latest single, “Breathe.”

Watch IDK’s Tiny Desk Concert above.

IDK is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Curren$y Drifts Through His Massive Catalog In His 4/20-Themed Tiny Desk Concert

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I don’t know if you’ve noticed yet, but it’s April 20, and I’m sure you know what that means (although what with the traditional festivities endorsed for this unofficial holiday, you’d be forgiven for not knowing what day it is anymore). So it’s only right that for this week’s Tiny Desk Concert debut, NPR has tapped one of hip-hop’s patron saints of the devil’s lettuce, Curren$y, who stops by for an at-home set from a garage alongside one of his many, many cars (this one’s a lifted 1965 Chevy Impala).

Of course, with so much music in his rearview — over seventy projects and counting — the New Orleans native has plenty of product to pull from, opening the set with “Sixty-Seven Turbo Jet” from 2012’s Cigarette Boats with Harry Fraud. Then, it’s “Address” and “Breakfast” from 2010’s Pilot Talk, “Airborne Aquarium” from Pilot Talk II, and finally, “Mary” from 2013’s New Jet City. It’s kind of mind-boggling to think he could have done a ninety-minute set without crossing 2015.

Early in the set, he teases his band for not having their own 4/20-inspired products on them, although he allows that all three members of the trio need both hands to keep the music going.