NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert series is doing it up big for Black Music Month. All June, Tiny Desk will feature Black women artists and give them their flowers. Kicking off the month of special programming is Nigerian soul sister Tems.
This appearance on Tiny Desk was a return engagement for Tems, who performed a Tiny Desk (Home) Concert during the pandemic in 2021. Now, with her long-awaited debut album Born In The Wild scheduled for release this Friday (June 7th), Tems focused the majority of her performance at NPR’s D.C. headquarters on brand-new material.
Comfortably seated in front of her five-man band, which included the maestro Daniel Crawford on keys, and three background vocalists, Tems began her set with “Me & U.” She received hearty applause from the in-office audience after singing the lead single from Born In The Wild that introduced us to the project this past October before it even had a name.
The humble superstar smiled and hid behind her hands at one point, saying, “Wow, I’m feeling so shy.” She masked her jitters like a pro, though, jumping right into the track “Ice T” from her first EP For Broken Ears. She kept the surprises coming with not one but two exclusives for Tiny Desk with the world premiere of Born In The Wild cuts “Unfortunate” and “Forever.” She completed her rousing mini-concert with her current single “Love Me JeJe” and got the party started with some crowd participation.
Tems leads a robust lineup of women from across the spectrum of Black music appearing on Tiny Desk this month. Upcoming performers include Chaka Khan, SWV, Kierra Sheard, Flo Milli, Meshel Ndegeocello, Tierra Whack, Brittney Spencer and Lakecia Benjamin. Before the next episode drops, enjoy Tems’ sneak preview of Born In The Wild on her Tiny Desk Concert right here.
