It’s finally here: Kehlani’s “Tiny Desk Concerts” debut. The singer stopped into NPR’s office on Wednesday, July 31, to perform a live version of their greatest songs.
The singer-songwriter began with the excellent song “Nights Like This” from 2019’s While We Wait and then transitioned into “Distraction” from SweetSexySavage, their debut album. After that, with the assistance of their support vocalists, Karyn Porter, Chelsea West, and Jasmine Patton, they transitioned to a soul-infused remix of “The Way.”
The Bay Area musician stopped after performing “Can I” to make a statement, saying, “I want to take a second to say free Palestine.” Liberated Congo. Liberate Sudan. Liberate Yemen. Liberate Hawaii. Liberate Guam. Later, they pleaded, “We need the occupation to end; we need to go beyond the ceasefire.” It goes beyond this. I’m asking everyone in attendance and those in the audience to raise their voices.
Kehlani’s final song was “After Hours,” which is on their most recent album, CRASH. See the entire video down below.
Social media users expressed their opinions online shortly after the concert aired. Many fans wondered why the R&B star’s set, which lasted just under 15 minutes, couldn’t have been longer given their enormous discography. One Twitter user commented, “I’ll settle for the shortness, but I wanted [it] to be an hour.”
Even though Kehlani was obviously anxious, they still sounded amazing. Indeed, this is my preferred “Tiny Desk,” as someone else mentioned. “I’m gonna need a Kehlani ‘Tiny Desk’ every month with new versions of every song from now on,” someone wrote with enthusiasm somewhere else. Scroll down to see what other people have to say.
Anycia and FLO will accompany Kehlani on their “CRASH WORLD TOUR” when it kicks off in September.
Additionally, the performer is scheduled to appear on Jordan Adetunji’s “KEHLANI (REMIX)” this Friday, August 2. Earlier in the month, the original song debuted at No. 70 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and has since received over 23 million views on YouTube.
