The legendary Nile Rodgers brought a whole lot of funk to the NPR office for the latest iteration of their Tiny Desk Concert series.
Rodgers’ six-song setlist serves as a useful reminder of just how ubiquitous his music is. He and his CHIC bandmates kicked things off with their 1978 disco classic “Le Freak,” the whoops and hollers of the vocalists meshing with those from the equally-energized audience.
“Obviously, every song we’re gonna play today is a song I wrote,” Rodgers said between songs with a smile, laughing off the braggadocio of the statement. But bragging is absolutely called for when you’ve written tunes like Diana Ross’ “I’m Coming Out,” Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family,” and Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky,” all of which Rodgers also performed at the Tiny Desk.
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Rogers and company then played the CHIC song “Good Times,” further proving his massive influence by incorporating a portion of a song that samples it, Sugarhill Gang’s hip hop classic “Rapper’s Delight.” Lastly, the set finished out with David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance,” and the entire room accepted the invitation to groove along. It just might be one of the most fun Tiny Desk Concerts ever.
Watch Nile Rodgers and CHIC’s Tiny Desk Concert below.
More recently, Rodgers featured on Duran Duran’s single “Black Moonlight.”
