Produced by Keneil knight
Draco Muziq
#blicky #chroniclaw

Official music video of IHAME by Shaffy ft Kivumbi
Audio Credits :
Producer : @kennyvibz
Writers : me, @kivumbi_the_1st, @kennyvibz

Video credits :
Director : @eazy.cuts
Assistant Dir. : @oskados_oskar1
Director of Photography : @chico__berry
Drone Pilot : @ayomerci
Editor : @topsaintstudio
Colorist : @coin_____1
Vfx : @jish0_lord
Video Producer @____fiston

Mitra I. Arthur | August 18, 2025
Whether through his recordings, live in concert or at the Tiny Desk, South African pianist and Zulu healer Nduduzo Makhathini has the ability to transfix an audience with his deeply meditative and engaging music. His work is lush with ancestral invocation, meditations on Blackness and spiritual exploration.

Here, Makhathini presents a cross-section of his works that he has dubbed for the Tiny Desk as the Ntu Sonicities Devotion Suite in Five Movements. His notes on the suite shared with the Tiny Desk team illuminate a thoughtful intentionality that is a hallmark of Makhathini's work.

Movement One: “Kuzodlula” is a meditation on stillness, an inward invitation towards emptiness and the ability to leave behind the denseness of life.

Movement Two: “Omnyama” is an invocation of “Blackness” through the incarnations of various African deities and divinities.

Movement Three: “Equidistant Passage” is a short reflection on Black aesthetics through three strategies: ritual, an ongoing rehearsal and study.

Movement Four: “Izinkonjana” is a song of grace and transcendence. It launches into a space of “zero gravity” like birds fly effortlessly through the clouds.

Movement Five: “Imvunge” is a protest, a song of victory, it celebrates conquest.

The performance from Makhathini, bassist Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere and drummer Kabelo Mokhatla creates an immersive soundscape, interwoven with sung/spoken reflections in Zulu, sound design elements activated by a laptop and use of a vocoder. All of these elements invite the audience to participate in this act of devotion.

SET LIST
Ntu Sonicities Devotion Suite in Five Movements

Movement One: "Kuzodlula"
Movement Two: "Omnyama"
Movement Three: "Equidistant Passage"
Movement Four: "Izinkonjana"
Movement Five: "Imvunge"

MUSICIANS
Nduduzo Makhathini: piano, vocals
Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere: bass
Kabelo Mokhatla: drums

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Mitra I. Arthur
Director: Kara Frame
Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Video Editor: Maia Stern
Videographers: Kara Frame, Joshua Bryant, Zayrha Rodriguez
Audio Engineer: Josephine Nyounai
Audio Mix: Maggie Luthar
Production Assistant: Dora Levite
Series Editor: Lars Gotrich
Photographer: Alanté Serene
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton

#nprmusic #tinydesk #NduduzoMakhathini

Tiny Desk Giveaway. No purchase or donation required for entry. Void where restricted or prohibited by law. 18yrs or older. Deadline September 12, 2025, 11:59PM PT. ARV: $3,800. Links to the entry page and official rules can be found at NPR.org/TinyDeskGiveaway
Sponsors: NPR, Moises

Support for NPR Music and the 2025 Tiny Desk Giveaway comes from Moises. Powerful AI tools created by musicians, for musicians. Learn more at Moises.AI

Christine Geiger | August 20, 2025
The first time I saw Guster, the three members of the group, Adam Gardner, Ryan Miller and Brian Rosenworcel, were busking in a vacant storefront in Harvard Square. Two young college students singing harmony, earnestly playing their guitars, flanking a very energetic bongo player. I put a few bucks into the guitar case.

Since then, I've seen them with full orchestras in many cities, flown to see them at Red Rocks, and most recently stood in a sea of thousands at the On The Ocean festival the band curates and hosts each year in Portland, Maine. They have released nine albums and several live recordings, and always finds new ways to weave amazing sonic landscapes, tell meaningful stories and deeply engage with its fan base. But I have always felt Guster was a band made for the Tiny Desk, for the NPR Music audience. From that dirty little storefront in Cambridge to the best little venue in the world.

When Miller, Gardner and Rosenworcel finally made it to the Tiny Desk, Guster put on a show that featured old songs and new. They opened with "Manifest Destiny," an anthem dedicated to packing it all up and running away. The Washington DC Gay Men's Chorus provided beautiful harmonies on "Empire State." From Guster's most recent album, Ooh La La, "The Elevator" is a goodbye song that carries different meanings whether you think of it as a morning farewell to a small child or mourning a lost parent. Either way, "I'll miss you when I'm gone" is the message.

Watching this performance was an immensely euphoric, almost surreal moment. At one moment, Ryan and Adam once again played their guitars flanking Brian, and I got a flash of those same three earnest young men I saw on that summer day in Cambridge, Mass. A little older, but as wonderful as ever.

SET LIST
"Manifest Destiny"
"Empire State"
"Satellite"
"The Elevator"

MUSICIANS
Ryan Miller: vocals, guitar, harmonica, bass, piano
Adam Gardner: bass, guitar, vocals
Brian Rosenworcel: drums, percussion
Luke Reynolds: guitar, Mellotron, bass, piano, background vocals
Dave Butler: drums, piano
Jamie Hillis: background vocals
Zac Barger: background vocals
Gabriel Lopez: background vocals
Dana Nearing: background vocals
Michael Smith: background vocals
Javon Byram: background vocals

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Robin Hilton
Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant
Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Alanté Serene, Sofia Seidel
Audio Engineer: Josephine Nyounai
Production Assistant: Dora Levite
Series Editor: Lars Gotrich
Tiny Desk Team: Maia Stern, Ashley Pointer
Photographer: Maansi Srivastava
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton

#nprmusic #tinydesk #guster

Tiny Desk Giveaway. No purchase or donation required for entry. Void where restricted or prohibited by law. 18yrs or older. Deadline September 12, 2025, 11:59PM PT. ARV: $3,800. Links to the entry page and official rules can be found at NPR.org/TinyDeskGiveaway
Sponsors: NPR, Moises

Support for NPR Music and the 2025 Tiny Desk Giveaway comes from Moises. Powerful AI tools created by musicians, for musicians. Learn more at Moises.AI

Lars Gotrich | August 12, 2025
The world is doomed, but at least we've got the Mekons. For nearly 50 years, the British punk band has always done things its own way — out of stubbornness, survival or maybe a little bit of both. That snaggled-toothed sneer and smile, with some bittersweet sentimentality swirled in, can soundtrack any moment, but especially when everything feels fraught.

At the opening of this Tiny Desk concert, we're taken back 40 years to one of the band's many crossroads. Mekons' 1985 album, Fear and Whiskey, recognized that traditional country music was just as rowdy, randy and wayward as punk, and inadvertently pioneered the alt-country phenomenon. The joyous and desperate "Last Dance" is a song about falling in love during wartime — at the Tiny Desk, its past themes reverberate into the present. The middle of the set features two songs from this year's Horror: "War Economy," a post-punk-y throwback to the days when the Mekons would borrow Gang of Four's instruments to write and rehearse, and then "Sanctuary," which, as my colleague Ann Powers wrote, is "a children's rhyme that reveals itself as an elegy." Susie Honeyman, whose violin steadies the storm of Mekons, takes a rare vocal lead, her sing-songy voice like a wisp in a billowing wind.

Another classic from Fear and Whiskey bookends the Mekons' Tiny Desk. "Hard to Be Human Again" is a down-but-not-defeated barn burner that nonetheless needs to be sung loudly and in the company of fellow comrades who have also been "punched and beaten" by life or otherwise. And as long as Sally Timms, Jon Langford, Tom Greenhalgh, Rico Bell, Susie Honeyman, Dave Trumfio and Steve Goulding are around, I'll be there "searching for existence with my red, red wine."

SET LIST
"Last Dance"
"War Economy"
"Sanctuary"
"Hard to Be Human Again"

MUSICIANS
Sally Timms: vocals
Susie Honeyman: violin, vocals
Jon Langford: guitar, vocals
Tom Greenhalgh: guitar, vocals
Rico Bell: accordion, keys, harmonica, vocals
Dave Trumfio: bass, background vocals
Steve Goulding: drums

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Lars Gotrich
Director/Editor: Maia Stern
Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Sofia Seidel
Audio Engineer: Josephine Nyounai
Production Assistant: Dhanika Pineda
Photographer: Alanté Serene
Tiny Desk Team: Kara Frame, Ashley Pointer
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton

#nprmusic #tinydesk #mekons

Tiny Desk Giveaway. No purchase or donation required for entry. Void where restricted or prohibited by law. 18yrs or older. Deadline September 12, 2025, 11:59PM PT. ARV: $3,800. Links to the entry page and official rules can be found at NPR.org/TinyDeskGiveaway
Sponsors: NPR, Moises

Support for NPR Music and the 2025 Tiny Desk Giveaway comes from Moises. Powerful AI tools created by musicians, for musicians. Learn more at Moises.AI

Produced by Nyasha Timbe
Shot and Directed by Taurai Zidya

Elle Mannion | September 3, 2025
Mustafa maintains hope in dark times. For this Tiny Desk, the Sudanese Canadian artist features material from Dunya, one of the best albums of 2024, plus “Stay Alive,” an earlier song of his that he says became “the thesis of everything that I believe in.”

A talented poet and songwriter, Mustafa has written for stars like Justin Bieber and The Weeknd — but as you see here, his artistry shines most when he sings heart-wrenchingly beautiful songs about his community. “I was born and raised in the largest housing project in North America,” he tells us. The depth of his emotions are palpable here: joy as he playfully interacts with a Sudanese choir assembled for this performance, pain as his soft voice pleads over oud, guitar and cello, and devotion as he sings about his faith. Dylan Wiggins, a producer for Dunya, helped with these Tiny Desk arrangements.

On the Desk, you'll see a variety of objects that celebrate his Sudanese heritage, but also a press vest — the kind used by journalists reporting in combat zones. In Toronto, the police would call into venues and recommend canceling Mustafa's early shows, citing "safety risks." That's when Mustafa began to contrast the white of his thawb with the bulletproof material of a press vest emblazoned with the word POET. “When I’m asking my boys to stay alive,” he says, “I’m asking that, when they return from a war, they don’t lose what makes them soft and they don’t lose what makes them tender. And that, to me, is a radical act.”

SET LIST
“Name of God”
“I'll Go Anywhere”
“Stay Alive”
“What Happened, Mohamed?”

MUSICIANS
Mustafa: vocals
Fletcher Milloy: guitar, background vocals
Yunus Iyriboz: oud, guitar
Wesley Hornpetrie: cello
SAFA: background vocals
Dua Kheiry: background vocals
Nadine El Roubi: background vocals
Batool Ibrahim: background vocals
Bousaina Ibrahim: background vocals

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Elle Mannion
Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant
Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Maia Stern, Kara Frame
Audio Engineer: Hannah Gluvna
Audio Mix: Maggie Luthar
Production Assistant: Dhanika Pineda
Photographer: Grace Raver
Series Editor: Lars Gotrich
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton

#nprmusic #tinydesk #mustafa

Tiny Desk Giveaway. No purchase or donation required for entry. Void where restricted or prohibited by law. 18yrs or older. Deadline September 12, 2025, 11:59PM PT. ARV: $3,800. Links to the entry page and official rules can be found at NPR.org/TinyDeskGiveaway
Sponsors: NPR, Moises

Support for NPR Music and the 2025 Tiny Desk Giveaway comes from Moises. Powerful AI tools created by musicians, for musicians. Learn more at Moises.AI

This Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, NPR Music celebrates artists from all corners of Latinidad with an 'El Tiny' takeover.

Felix Contreras | September 30, 2025
Adrian Quesada’s body of work reflects a restless creativity. The resume for the Austin, Texas-based musician, producer and composer includes Grupo Fantasma, Black Pumas, Brownout and any number of collaborations. He’s constantly looking for new sounds and voices.

So what does Quesada bring to the Tiny Desk? Four singers, four boleros. Angélica Garcia, Flor de Toloache’s Mireya Ramos, Trish Toledo and iLe each offer something distinct and personal to these songs originally found on two volumes of Quesada’s Boleros Psicodélicos.

Bolero, a Cuban song form that has not changed much over the centuries, has always been an opportunity for vocalists to inhabit the undeniable drama of the lyrics. Heartbreak is a big deal in boleros and it’s easy (and common) for vocalists to overdo the drama with overwrought vocal gymnastics. That is not the case here. Each vocalist has the discipline and artistic vision to insert just enough of themselves to leave an impression, but not overstate their case.

In the right hands, and voices, vocalists can bring back memories of pain and nostalgia — just hearing a deeply meaningful lyric belted out in just the right way can bring a grown man to tears. Not that this happened to me during these performances. I’m just saying.

SET LIST

“Ídolo (feat. Angélica Garcia)”
(written by Adrian Quesada, Angélica Garcia and Dan Ubick)

“Tus Tormentas (feat. Mireya Ramos)”
(written by Adrian Quesada, Mireya Ramos, Andres “Velcro” Ramos)

“Hoy Que Llueve (feat. Trish Toledo)”
(written by Roberto Cantoral García)

“Mentiras Con Cariño (feat. iLe)”
(written by Adrian Quesada and iLe)

MUSICIANS
Adrian Quesada: guitar
Angélica Garcia: vocals
Mireya Ramos: vocals, violin
Trish Toledo: vocals
iLe: vocals
Joshy Soul: keys
Ismael Cancel: congas, shakers
Terin Ector: bass
Jay Mumford: drums
Kiku Enomoto: violin
Andrew Griffin: viola
Allison Seidner: cello

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Felix Contreras
Director/Editor: Kara Frame
Audio Technical Director: Josephine Nyounai
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Kara Frame, Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Sofia Seidel
Audio Engineer: Jay Czys
Production Assistants: Dora Levite, Dhanika Pineda
Photographer: Zayrha Rodriguez
Series Editor: Lars Gotrich
Tiny Desk Team: Josh Newell, Ashley Pointer
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton

#tinydesk #nprmusic #adrianquesada

Support for NPR Music and El Tiny comes from Moises. Powerful AI tools created by musicians, for musicians. Learn more at Moises.AI

This Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, NPR Music celebrates artists from all corners of Latinidad with an 'El Tiny' takeover.

Anamaria Sayre | October 10, 2025
Street sweeping by night in Mexico City and writing music when he could and where he could, Macario Martínez turned his longing into songs with beautiful lyrics and simple guitar picking. "¿Cómo es que me duele el no saber?" he sings on "Sueña Lindo, Corazón," the song that exploded on TikTok. How come the not knowing hurts so much? Martínez translates that feeling — wanting what you're not sure you can have — into music that matches the pulse of Mexico's beating heart.

Martínez arrives at the Tiny Desk on the release of his debut album, Si mañana ya no estoy. The structure of his music is soulful indie-pop, but the arrangements here evoke his home of Veracruz, Mexico, including instruments like jarana jarocha, steel drum and the percussive dance of tarima de zapateado. In these songs, he takes you to a place you love, you've lost or didn't even know you were a part of. In these songs, the longing that's defined Martínez's life will captivate the world.

SET LIST
"Sueña Lindo, Corazón"
"Estrellas"
"Enhierbado"
"Azul"

MUSICIANS
Macario Martínez: vocals, guitar, jarana jarocha, tarima de zapateado
Jaxho: jarana jarocha mosquito, quijada de burro, tarima de zapateado, steel drum, marimba, bombo
Perick Conde: bass, background vocals
Hombre Flores: piano
Ernesto Anaya: guitar, violin, percussion

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Anamaria Sayre
Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant
Audio Technical Director: Josephine Nyounai
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Maia Stern, Kara Frame
Audio Engineer: Tiffany Vera Castro
Production Assistants: Dhanika Pineda, Dora Levite
Photographer: Grace Raver
Series Editor: Lars Gotrich
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Executive Director: Sonali Mehta
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton

#nprmusic #tinydesk #macariomartinez

Support for NPR Music and El Tiny comes from Moises. Powerful AI tools created by musicians, for musicians. Learn more at Moises.AI