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The LOX Got A Tiny Desk Concert, X Celebrates The Yonkers Trio

The LOX had their turn at a Tiny Desk Concert on NPR, and Hip-Hop fans are absolutely loving it if social media reactions are any indication. The Yonkers’ three-headed rap monster of Jadakiss, Sheek Louch and Styles P performed with a live band, and there shouldn’t even be a question that it was fire (see: […]

Bob Boilen announces retirement from NPR

Boilen founded NPR's music show All Songs Considered and its popular Tiny Desk Concert series. Bob Boilen Announces Retirement from NPR Carys Anderson

Juvenile’s NPR Tiny Desk Concert Has Twitter Reminiscing

In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s a solid argument can be made that Juvenile was the hottest artist on Cash Money Records, a label loaded with stars like B.G. and Lil Wayne, and producer Manny Fresh. The New Orleans rapper’s highly anticipated Tiny Desk Concert finally hit the Internet on Friday (June 30) and […]

New NPR Profile Celebrates The Intersection Of Double Dutch And Hip-Hop

Source: China News Service / Getty A new NPR profile this week celebrates the art and legacy of jumping double dutch–the game that came to create and define Black Girl Magic as the artform enters its 50th year as an organized sport.  “Double Dutch is Black girl magic. It came from a union of young girls in their community getting together to socialize, and to engage in each other’s dreams and ambitions,” Lauren Walker, president of the National Double Dutch League told NPR.  In 1973, two New York City policemen, Ulysses Williams and Lauren Walker’s father David A. Walker established Double Dutch as a team sport and got it into schools. The following year, more than 600 people participated in the first New York City tournament. Five years later, four New York d...

New NPR Profile Celebrates The Intersection Of Double Dutch And Hip-Hop

Source: China News Service / Getty A new NPR profile this week celebrates the art and legacy of jumping double dutch–the game that came to create and define Black Girl Magic as the artform enters its 50th year as an organized sport.  “Double Dutch is Black girl magic. It came from a union of young girls in their community getting together to socialize, and to engage in each other’s dreams and ambitions,” Lauren Walker, president of the National Double Dutch League told NPR.  In 1973, two New York City policemen, Ulysses Williams and Lauren Walker’s father David A. Walker established Double Dutch as a team sport and got it into schools. The following year, more than 600 people participated in the first New York City tournament. Five years later, four New York d...

Usher Is ‘Blown Away’ After Becoming The First Featured Artist Of Twitter’s ‘Behind The Memes’ Series

HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Denise Truscello / Getty Never let it be said that Usher Raymond doesn’t have a sense of humor about himself. In fact, the “You Got It Bad” singer appears to be thrilled that he’s the first celebrity to be spotlighted on “Behind the Memes,” which HuffPost described as “a new content series that is a twist on the popular ‘Behind the Tweets’ and highlights viral memes trending on the platform from the originators themselves.” The series was launched Wednesday, Aug. 24 and if features Black Twitter’s brightest and wittiest memes that hit the memes-o-sphere after Usher’s NPR “Tiny Desk” performance in June. “I was blown away. I was shocked. I was in Los Angeles somewhere,” Usher said describing through laughs how he felt when he first learned he was trending....

Dinosaur Jr. Bring the Noise at NPR Tiny Desk (Home) Concert: Watch

Due to the pandemic, NPR has been hosting its beloved Tiny Desk Concert series wherever artists want to film their special contribution. Lots of people have replicated Bob Boilen’s famed office space by sitting behind their own desks, playing acoustic songs, or even recreating a miniature set in their apartment. Dinosaur Jr. are the latest group to film a Tiny Desk (Home) Concert, and they recreated the magic of that iconic NPR room for it by way of dozens of cute tchotchkes and other pieces of pop-culture iconography. Holed up inside an empty Shea Theater in Turners Falls, Massachusetts, Dinosaur Jr. enlisted a few camera operators and lighting assistants to help drag all of their tiny toys onstage. There’s a tiny wooden desk with a miniature laptop propped atop it, a giant stuffed animal...

Mdou Moctar Performs Three-Song NPR Tiny Desk (Home) Concert: Watch

<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-24T20:01:46+00:00“>May 24, 2021 | 4:01pm ET Tuareg psych-rock artist Mdou Moctar is one of the best guitarists of this current era, and now music fans around the world can experience what it’s like to watch him play from the comfort of a front-row seat. NPR just shared Moctar’s contribution to their Tiny Desk (Home) Concert series, and it’s available to watch in full below. For his performance, Moctar broke out three songs from his brand new album, Afrique Victime, while sitting in front of a rose cloth backdrop outside. He opened with the rhythmic track “Ya Habibti” and then moved on to the hypnotic lead single “Tala Tannam”, during which he and his bandmates can be seen sharing...

Rick Ross Performs Atop a Throne During NPR Tiny Desk (Home) Concert: Watch

Rick Ross is the latest artist to appear on NPR’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concert series, which is currently celebrating Black History Month. True to his Boss nickname, he performed a lavish 20-minute set while perched atop a gold-plated throne. According to NPR, the concert marks the Miami rapper’s only second time performing with a live band. During the set, which took place in a gallery space owned by Miami artist Rich B Caliente, the Maybach Music Group label head ran through some of his biggest hits, including “B.M.F. (Blowin’ Money Fast)” and “Aston Martin Music”, as well as fan favorites like “I’m Not a Star” and “Tears of Joy”. Ross’ most recent album was 2019’s Port of Miami 2, the sequel to his breakout 2006 debut. In 2020, he made guest appearances on projects by Freddie Gibbs, Te...

Madlib Talks MF DOOM, New LP ‘Sound Ancestors’ & More

Source: Scott Dudelson / Getty Madlib might be the greatest living producer in Hip-Hop music (and frankly, beyond) today. However, the mysterious beatsmith keeps a low profile but in a new interview, readers will be blessed to learn a bit more about the elusive Beat Konducta. In a new chat with NPR, the Oxnard, Calif. native discusses his new album, Sound Ancestors, which was primarily arranged by British producer and sound engineer, Four Tet. Fans of Madlib are well aware that he has probably produced several thousand hours of music that the larger public will never get to hear. Coupled with the fact that he’s far more than just a beatmaker, Madlib’s vault is the stuff of legend. While the interview centered somewhat on Sound Ancestors, the conservation shifted to the recent news of MF DO...

Dua Lipa Performs First-Ever Tiny Desk (Home) Concert: Watch

Dua Lipa has had a truly breakout year, and she’s riding the wave all the way through to the end: today, the pop star officially made her NPR Tiny Desk debut. Lipa performed a “Home” edition of the long-running concert series that featured stripped-back versions of songs from her Grammy-nominated 2020 album Future Nostalgia . Although these renditions of “Levitating”, “Pretty Please”, “Love Again”, and “Don’t Start Now” are more minimal than the glossy forms they took on Future Nostalgia, the performance was by no means a solo set. Lipa was joined by the six-person backing band that she would’ve been touring the world with if 2020 didn’t turn out the way it did, and they all added a great deal of warmth and color that complements Lipa’s absolutely spot-on singing. In between songs, the 25-...

Spillage Village Takes The World To Church In NPR Tiny Desk Concert [Video]

Source: Alex “Grizz” Loucas / AL Spillage Village might be the most talent-stacked supergroup in Hip-Hop right now having released one of the better albums of 2020 in Spilligion. With much of the world stuck at home, Spillage Village took us all to church by way of their NPR Tiny Desk concert that aired Friday (Oct. 23). The sprawling Spillage Village collective, consisting of J.I.D, EARTHGANG, Mereba, Benji, Jurdan Bryant, Hollywood JB, and 6LACK (who was not present for this event), are all strong acts on their own but together they make a particular brand of magic. That was on display with their confident “at home” set in Atlanta, Ga., backed by live instrumentation and the capable vocals of the entire team. The group opened their four-song set with previously released singles “End of D...

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