35 Times Hip-Hop Connected With NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert Series
As an avid hip-hop fan, there's no experience quite like catching your favorite rapper live at a concert, giving a performance of the very songs that initially made you a fan. From finding out what date an artist is going to be hitting your town and determining what you'll wear, to entering the venue and taking in the crowd and scenery, the whole process is one that every rap fan should experience at least once in their lifetime.
Taking in the sights and sounds of a performance in the flesh and in real time may be the best option of witnessing the showmanship of your artist of choice, but imagine having them show up to your office and do an impromptu set, right in front of your cubicle? NPR's Tiny Desk concert series does just that, bringing today's critically-acclaimed artists into an intimate setting to have an-all out jam session of beats, rhymes and life. The premise of the visual series is to showcase an act and have them perform live from the NPR offices, an innovative and unconventional twist on a concert.
Although the Tiny Desk concerts initially tapped artists from genres like folk, R&B, rock, country and jazz, hip-hop has been embraced more with every year that passes, and looks to continue that trend going forward. D.R.A.M., Gucci Mane and Run The Jewels are just a few of the rappers showcasing their skills for the series.
We've scoured through the NPR vaults and handpicked the most memorable instance in which hip-hop and the Tiny Desk concert series collided.
K'Naan
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
The Foreign Exchange
T-Pain
Oddisee
Rapsody
Anderson .Paak
Common
Gucci Mane
D.R.A.M.
Run The Jewels
Noname
The Roots
Tyler, The Creator
Masta Ace
August Greene
Big K.R.I.T.
Nick Grant
Big Daddy Kane
Wyclef Jean
O.C.
Open Mike Eagle
Goldlink
Rakim
GZA
Aminé
Mac Miller
T.I.
Tech N9ne and Krizz Kaliko
Saba
Smif-N-Wessun
Big Boi
Chance The Rapper
DJ Premier
Jidenna