NE-YO, the acclaimed singer-songwriter, and three-time Grammy Award winner graced NPR’s Tiny Desk with a captivating performance. The intimate set showcased a blend of classics, unreleased gems, and hits he penned for other iconic artists. It featured NE-YO’s dynamic chart-toppers like “So Sick,” “Sexy Love,” “Because of You,” and “Miss Independent.”
Amidst the classics and fan favorites, NE-YO unveiled a touching new unreleased song titled “Two Million Secrets,” offering a glimpse into his vulnerability and emotional depth as an artist.
NE-YO’s Tiny Desk performance was a testament to his enduring influence in the music industry, highlighting his ability to deliver soulful performances that resonate with audiences across generations.
Jeezy has taken over NPR’s Tiny Desk to hold you down at your desk.
Jeezy The Snowman hit the famed NPR desk with a band to perform in front of a crowd of Howard University students. During his set, Sno touched on Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101, performing classics like “Air Forces,” “Standing Ovation,” and more.
Jeezy has an impressive reach both within hip-hop and beyond. That influence was on display when he was invited to perform at a 42 Dugg show last month. The rapper was celebrating his release with a massive homecoming show that featured a star-studded roster of guest performers. Meek Mill, Lil Baby, Yo Gotti, GloRilla, Lil Durk, and of course, Jeezy himself, all made appearances during the concert.
Now he’s got yet another unique performance on the way that fans are hyped for. He’s taking on one of the most unique and sought after venues in all of music, the NPR Tiny Desk. “Let me take y’all on a journey… #tinydesk” he tweeted in a post accompanied by some pictures of him and his band at the titular desk. The post led fans in the comments to speculate on what he might have performed while there. He marks the most recent in a long series of rappers to take the Tin Desk stage. Artists like Saba, Noname, Anderson .Paak, and Chance The Rapper have racked up massive acclaim for their performances in the legendarily small space. Check out the teaser Jeezy shared below.
The biggest story in Jeezy’s life for the past few months has been his divorce from Jeannie Mae. The debate sparked when he was accused of infidelity. Fans dug up a clause in the legal paperwork from their divorce that made it seem like he paid out extra for violating a cheating clause. Despite the evidence fans dug up he completely denied the allegations of any infidelity.
Jeezy also accused Mae of being a “gatekeeper” between him and his daughter. In her response to the accusation she claimed that she was just prioritizing their daughters safety and acting in her best interest with her protective moves. What do you think of Jeezy performing at the NPR Tiny Desk? What songs do you hope he delivered for his performance? Let us know in the comment section below.
Andre 3000 says he once “turned into a panther” during an ayahuasca trip in Hawaii. He recalled the experience while speaking with NPR for a new interview ahead of the release of his upcoming album, New Blue Sun. The Outkast rapper plans to release the project on Friday, November 17.
He references the incident in the title of his song, “That Night In Hawaii When I Turned Into A Panther And Started Making These Low Register Purring Tones That I Couldn’t Control Sh¥t Was Wild.” Speaking with NPR, he explained: “I was actually in Hawaii and it was my second night of the first time I’d ever taken ayahuasca. We did it like a three-night kind of phase. The first night was inviting and beautiful and the most powerful love and connection with all things I’ve ever felt in my life. The second night was different and everybody knows that aya will do you that way. The second night my stomach was hurting, my mouth contorted like a panther and I actually turned into a panther. And I was doing like, ‘GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR’ — like, that kind of thing.”
AUSTIN, TX – OCTOBER 10: Rapper Andre 3000 of Outkast performs on stage during weekend two, day one of Austin City Limits Music Festival at Zilker Park on October 10, 2014 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Rick Kern/WireImage)
He continued: “I actually turned into a panther. It was doing this thing called toning. Toning is another way of purging. And toning is where you make these vibrational noises that you can’t control. It started playing me like an instrument. I started as a panther and then it would make me do these long kind of tones and started changing the notes.” He added that he used that purring noise as an inspiration for the aforementioned track on New Blue Sun.
“So, on the album I’m mimicking [it], but the funny thing in the aya session, I was like, ‘Damn, I wish I had my phone so I can record this ’cause, like, it’d be so dope,’” he explained. Be on the lookout for further updates on Andre 3000’s New Blue Sun in the coming days on HotNewHipHop.
Andre 3000 says that he played his highly-anticipated upcoming album, New Blue Sun, for Frank Ocean and Tyler The Creator. Speaking with NPR about the project, the Outkast rapper recalled taking a trip to Tyler’s house, where Ocean happened to stop by as well.
Andre explained that he wanted to get an idea of how fans would react to the new music, so he went to Tyler. He told NPR: “I wanted to see how a younger audience would perceive it… I reached out to Tyler [the Creator] for him to check it out and I went to his house. Frank [Ocean] just happened to drop by [too]…”
NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 13: Andre 3000 and Dominique Maldonado are seen in Soho on April 13, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Alo Ceballos/GC Images)
From there, he detailed how both artists responded to the album: “Tyler was staring at this thing that he has in his house… he’s a fan of travel suitcases and so he has a wall of like travel suitcases. And he was like, ‘Man, I’ve been trying to figure out how to configure these like Louis suitcases.’ And he was listening to one of the songs and he was like, ‘It sounds like you’re chasing a butterfly through a garden and I figured it out. It helped me to figure out how to do this.’ And I think Frank pointed out one of his favorite tracks out of the three.” He added: “And I was just happy to hear that, ’cause I respect them as musicians. Like new energy; they’re going for it, man. So I really respect their opinions. I play it for my homies. I play it for friends, play it for artists, directors — just to see their reaction more than anything. So I was just happy with what I was getting.”
Andre 3000 Plays His Album For Tyler The Creator & Frank Ocean
André 3000 on playing his new album for Frank Ocean & Tyler, the Creator at Tyler’s house
“I wanted to see how a younger audience would perceive it… I reached out to Tyler [the Creator] for him to check it out and I went to his house. “Frank [Ocean] just happened to drop… pic.twitter.com/39Z5uWVWF1
Andre 3000 is planning to release New Blue Sun on Friday, November 17. Be on the lookout for further updates on the long-awaited solo debut of the Outkast rapper on HotNewHipHop.
NPR‘s Tiny Desk is where artists go to show that with all the theatrics of their performances stripped back, they’re still very talented. Just this year artists like Ab-Soul, Action Bronson, and most recently Post Malone have taken to the stage. The next one to take the iconic stage was Chloe Bailey who is no stranger to dazzling fans with her raw voice. Earlier this year she took to Twitter to share a cover of one of the biggest hit songs of the year. Her version of “fukumean” caught fire online and reminded fans just how gifted of a vocal talent she really is.
She reminded fans once again with her new Tiny Desk performance. For the show, she began with her 2022 single “Surprise” before running through a number of songs from her debut album In Pieces. That included two singles “Body Do” and the title track “In Pieces.” As well as three deep cuts “I Don’t Mind,” “Worried,” and “Cheatback.” The performance featured Chloe’s vocals and 7 other musicians playing guitars, keys, trumpets, and more. You can check out the entire thing below.
While Chloe’s fans ate up her Gunna cover, not everyone was a fan. DJ Akademiks didn’t take it so well, going on a live-streamed rant taking shots at many artists including Chloe. “That sh*t trash” he said in regards to her viral cover. His reaction garnered quite a bit of backlash from R&B fans online.
Chloe is currently on tour supporting her debut solo album In Pieces which dropped earlier this year. While the album has its fans, it made an underwhelming chart debut. Her album sold just 10k copies in its first week and debuted at #119 on the Billboard 200. It’s a pretty far drop off from the numbers she achieved with her sister as the duo Chloe x Halle. What do you think of Chloe Bailey’s new NPR Tiny Desk concert? Let us know in the comment section below.
The NPR Tiny Desk has been home to many memorable performances over the years. Rappers like Anderson .Paak, JID, Chance The Rapper, Freddie Gibbs, and many more have made memorable appearances behind the titular desk in the NPR office. Fans love the series for its intimate format and the novel amusement of seeing such big stars with big personalities size their performances down into such a small space. Earlier today, NPR dropped a new Tiny Desk Concert with one of the biggest stars they’ve had to date.
The newest Tiny Desk episode features Post Malone. The rapper is fresh off the release of his hit new album Austin. The project debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 behind only Travis Scott’s UTOPIA. The album stuck for a second week in the top 10 on the chart, falling to number 7. The album also has three songs in the Hot 100 this week with “Chemical,” “Mourning,” and “Overdrive.” Additionally, Post features on the remix of Noah Kahan’s hit song “Dial Drunk,” which lands in the top 30. While Post doesn’t perform any of those songs in his Tiny Desk Concert, he does bring out some older hits.
Post Malone performed two of his biggest hits “Sunflower” and “Circles” as well as tracks like “I Fall Apart” and “Enough Is Enough.” He performed the acoustic set alongside a number of talented musicians adding sonic detail to his songs. The video already has over 150k views in just a few hours and the comments are full of fans loving what Post did with the format.
Post Malone turned heads a few weeks ago when he spent an astounding $2 million on a single Magic: The Gathering card. The sale marked the most expensive card ever sold from the franchise. It’s one of the many silly headlines that have emerged about Post throughout his career. Where would you rank Post Malone’s tiny desk concert among other rappers’ performances? Let us know in the comment section below.
NOLA artist Juvenile recently took on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series. In the video released today, he’s joined by a full band, including drums, guitar, keys, and bass. The performance also featured a brass section, strings, and backing vocalists. Juvenile’s set was almost 30 minutes long, and featured various hits like “Set It Off,” “Slow Motion,” “Ha,” and more. The highly-requested performance took place after a recent Twitter exchange between Juvenile and fans calling for him to be featured on the concert series.
After Trina put on a memorable show at her recent Tiny Desk Concert, fans suggested that another artist of that era, Juvenile, should appear on the series. The artist weighed in after a fan asked, “Can we please get a Juvenile Tiny Desk?” “Wtf is a tiny desk,” he wrote, “and no.” He later recanted his statement, claiming that he’d do a Tiny Desk show under some conditions. “Ok ok,” he Tweeted, “All Things Considered, 10k retweets and I will RECONSIDER doing @NPR Tiny Desk while drinking an ice cold #JuvieJuice from @UrbanSouthBeer!!!”
Juvenile is also set to put on a show at the 2023 Essence Festival in New Orleans today. After the fest’s lineup came out earlier this month, the artist shared that he was disappointed that Jermaine Dupri failed to include him in his “The South Got Something To Say” set. Other notable performers listed were Big Boi, Gucci Mane, T.I., Ludacris, and more. He shared his thoughts on social media. “How is Essence doing 50 years of hip hop in New Orleans without me???” he asked.
The artist then took to promoting another festival called Donna Fest, urging fans to come see his performance there instead. He boasted the array of food vendors that will be at Donna Fest, as well as the festival’s affordable ticket prices. It was later announced that Juvenile would be playing the festival after all. “Hip-Hop 50 without Juvie? Not a chance. June 30th, NOLA we live!” he wrote on Twitter.
“Tuesday” is one of hip-hop’s most beloved “one-hit wonder” tracks of the 2010s, brought to us by ILOVEMAKONNEN and Drake. Despite the song’s massive success, though, the Los Angeles native recently remarked to NPR Music during an interview how their relationship took a nasty turn. Of course, this isn’t the first time that he’s spoken on this issue, and he actually took some different turns back then compared to his current stance. Still, it’s quite unfortunate if true, considering he left OVO less than two years after signing a record deal. Apparently nothing was the same after the 2015 Wireless Festival.
“That’s when I knew something was weird,” ILOVEMAKONNEN told the outlet. “Just ’cause when I came out on set- and I started losing weight too, right- Drake had made a little joke like, ‘He a little Eric Benét-a** looking n***a.’ You know, like, ha-ha. And then I just started to feel this vibe. As I was supposed to go into my verse [on stage], they just cut it.” Also, he shared that their issues didn’t stem from Makonnen’s sexuality, which many thought had rubbed the Canadian superstar the wrong way.
ILOVEMAKONNEN Pinpoints Where Drake Relationship Soured In NPR Music Convo
In fact, the “SCUSE ME” artist claimed that past tweets of his dissing Drake was what threw a wrench into their camaraderie. “‘Y’all need to drop him because he said your song ‘Practice’ was lame back in 2011,’” ILOVEMAKONNEN remembered one fan writing on social media. “[It’s] our little outlet,” he shared while explaining that he meant no ill will. “That’s our only way of attention. It ain’t nothing personal.” Later on during his NPR Music interview, he theorized that things really solidified themselves into a falling out when he referenced the rumored beef during a Tim Westwood freestyle.
To make matters worse, the 34-year-old spit those bars over Drake instrumentals, putting things further into context. However, back in 2019, he stated that things were “all good” between him and OVO, so maybe this is just him reflecting on water under the bridge. Regardless, it’s a shame that this resulted from misinterpretation, Internet egging, and most importantly making jokes at another’s expense. For the latest news on Drake and ILOVEMAKONNEN, log back into HNHH.
