Raphael Saadiq NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Watch Raphael Saadiq play at the Tiny Desk This Tiny Desk concert was part of Tiny Desk Fest a four-night series of extended concerts performed in front of a live audience and streamed live on YouTube Twitter and Facebook More from NPR Music Tiny Desk Concerts a https 3A 2F 2Fwww npr org 2Ftinydesk a Twitter a https 3A 2F 2Ftwitter com 2Fnprmusic a Instagram a https 3A 2F 2Fwww instagram com 2Fnprmusic a Dec 5 2019 Rodney Carmichael -- The first time Raphael Saadiq played Tiny Desk it was really a tiny desk And honestly we were kinda complaining about it Saadiq laughs recalling that performance in 2009 back when hosting intimate little concerts behind Bob Boilen's desk was still a fledgling idea at NPR Music Like we kinda didn't wanna do it he admits in hindsight It wasn't until the video-taped version of his set hit the Internet and began picking up views that the lightbulb went off for Saadiq too It's like probably the biggest streaming I ever had so it's kinda good to be back not kinda good it's really good to be back As he tells this story exactly one decade later Saadiq's return to a slightly bigger Tiny Desk to close out NPR's live-streamed Tiny Desk Fest coincides with the biggest record of his career Named for one of three brothers who succumbed to addiction Jimmy Lee is his most personal most vulnerable most fearless work yet and it comes at a point more than 30 years into his career when Saadiq has nothing left to prove or lose This is the same man after all who lit the fuse for soul's popular revival as the lead for Tony Toni Tone at a time when black bands bordered near-extinction Then he led an entire generation of artists to the well and made them drink In addition to a solo discography that cakewalks backward through the latter half of 20th-century funk and soul his production credits read like a score card of black music MVPs over the last 20 years D'Angelo Erykah Badu Mary J Blige Ledisi John Legend Solange If he's made it look effortless that's because sometimes it has been Take the time when he was walking around the East Village in New York one day out of the blue I was like let me see where can I get a joint from as he recalls during our post-performance conversation The thought led him to Electric Lady Studios where D'Angelo had taken up residence while working on his second solo album I rung the bell 'Is D'Angelo here ' He opens the door He's like 'What's up ' I said 'You got a joint ' 'Hell yeah I got a joint ' He's like 'Can we do a song ' I'm like 'Yeah whatever ' Needless to say the two already had history together they'd co-written and co-produced Lady D'Angelo's biggest hit until that point and they were about to make more We walk in and we do Untitled How Does It Feel in maybe like two hours he says True to form Saadiq is still a talent magnet For his Tiny Desk Fest set recorded on Halloween which explains the costumed crowd he's joined by rising soul singer and songwriter Lucky Daye who released his Grammy-nominated debut album Painted and made his own Tiny Desk debut this year Daye performs two songs from that album in addition to backing Saadiq who also brought along a sousaphone player for his Instant Vintage classic Still Ray His collaborative performance with Daye is yet another testament to Saadiq's widespread influence which remains something of an open secret to those in the know Meanwhile Jimmy Lee continues to garner Saadiq the kind of attention typically reserved for newer artists After a career spent contributing so much of his genius behind the scenes and painting over the dark spots in his past with bright ecstatic strokes his latest feat feels like a revelation I'm really just shocked about my whole career he says People say Raphael Saadiq is the most slept-on artist I think I slept on myself too I would read this all the time and go 'Slept on I'm slept on Cause I ain't Kanye Cause I ain't talking loud ' Naw they know Indeed we always have SET LIST I'm Feeling Love Be Here This World Is Drunk Love You Too Much Lucky Daye Call Lucky Daye Still Ray MUSICIANS Raphael Saadiq vocals guitar Lucky Daye vocals Rob Bacon guitar vocals Alvin Ford drums DaQuantae Q Johnson bass Daniel Crawford keys Brent Gossett sousaphone CREDITS Producers Abby O'Neill Bobby Carter Morgan Noelle Smith Creative director Bob Boilen Audio engineers Josh Rogosin Natasha Branch Videographers Morgan Noelle Smith Tsering Bista Kara Frame CJ Riculan Jack Corbett Production assistant Zemoria Mathis Executive producer Lauren Onkey VP programming Anya Grundmann Photo Mhari Shaw NPR

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