Tiny Desk Live performance : NPR

This Black Music Month, Tiny Desk celebrates the simple legacy of BET. Just like the community that put Black artistry first, these units replicate the essence of Black music. 

R&B veteran Joe Thomas earned each chain and stripe on his physique as he stepped behind the Tiny Desk. For each Usher, Ne-Yo, and Leon Thomas who has performed in our workplace, followers of one in all their archetypes questioned when he would get his shot. We noticed the petitions and social media posts, however belief: We chased for years. Earlier than the music began, the singer-songwriter and producer defined: “The place have I been for the previous few years? Effectively, I have been on the street touring. I am right here with you all immediately, and I wanna do a number of songs all through the catalog.”

Every of the “few songs” Joe refers to is a chart-topping, gold and platinum-selling smash from the ’90s and early 2000s. On the Desk, Thomas proves the time away hasn’t diminished something. He shortly gathers your entire viewers in a single hand, blazing via songs like “Good Ladies,” “The Love Scene” and the soiled macking anthem, “All of the Issues (Your Man Will not Do).” Joe closes the set with a young second, inviting his daughter, Kayla, to sing background on his largest hit, “I Wanna Know.”

SET LIST

• “Good Ladies”
• “Light Photos”
• “Extra & Extra”
• “The Love Scene”
• “All of the Issues (Your Man Will not Do)”
• “I Wanna Know”

MUSICIANS

• Joe: vocals
• DJ Brown: keys, music director
• Jazz Joyner: keys
• Cam Moore: guitar
• Anthony Nembhard: bass
• Will “Bam Bam” Parker: drums
• Amber Harmon: background vocals
• Jarmone Davis: background vocals
• Maya Milan: background vocals
• Kayla Thomas: background vocals

TINY DESK TEAM

• Producer: Bobby Carter
• Director/Editor: Kara Body
• Audio Engineer/Combine: Neil Tevault
• Videographers: Kara Body, Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant
• Audio Engineer: Josephine Nyounai
• Manufacturing Assistant: Ashley Pointer
• Photographer: Alanté Serene
• Tiny Desk Group: Josh Newell, Felix Contreras
• Sequence Editor: Lars Gotrich
• Government Producer: Suraya Mohamed
• Government Director: Sonali Mehta
• Sequence Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton