NPR Music's Tiny Desk series will celebrate Black History Month by featuring four weeks of Tiny Desk (home) concerts and playlists by Black artists spanning different genres and generations each week. The lineup includes both emerging and established artists who will be performing a Tiny Desk concert for the first time. This celebration highlights the beautiful cornucopia of Black music and our special way of presenting it. We hope you enjoy.
Nigerian Afrobeats star Davido comes to us from his estate in Lagos with an intimate four-song performance that takes us on a mini-retrospective of his career. He and his band create a sultry vibe with a unique rendition of "Gobe," his smash 2013 single, to open the set.
Davido has long expressed pride in his father's success. He titled his 2012 debut album Omo Baba Olowo, meaning "son of a rich man" in the Yoruba language. In his (home) concert, Davido cites his father as his inspiration in a sweet and tender moment: "A Nigerian American like myself that studied in the States...I went to an HBCU, you know... My dad went to one as well and my dad used to work at Burger King. ... To become what he's become today as a Black man starting off in America has been very, very inspiring to me."
In collaboration with the Alternate Sound band, Davido strips back "Aye," a hit from 2014, with an unfettered rendition showcasing his natural voice devoid of any vocal effects. And the result sounds fantastic.
Like all touring artists, the pandemic forced Davido to spend extended time at his home instead of traveling the world. The last year allowed him to re-center himself in his motherland and inspired his 2020 release, A Better Time. Rounding out this Tiny Desk (home) concert, he concludes with "Jowo," a single from the album that of conjures hope for better times ahead.
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