D Smoke: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

The Tiny Desk is working from home for the foreseeable future. Introducing NPR Music’s Tiny Desk (home) concerts, bringing you performances from across the country and the world. It’s the same spirit — stripped-down sets, an intimate setting — just a different space.

This emotional Tiny Desk (home) concert by D Smoke is riveting. Last year, the rapper and pianist, born Daniel Farris, rose to national acclaim when he won Netflix’s MC battle show Rhythm + Flow, judged by Chance the Rapper, Cardi B and T.I. Rhythm + Flow shifted the course of his life, allowing him to exit his teaching career and produce music full-time. D Smoke’s songs here — taken from his latest album Black Habits, out earlier this year — acknowledge the disparities impacting the black experience that are simultaneously personal and universal. The opening selection, “No Commas,” is a heart-wrenching lament on injustice and inequality. The gentle touch of D’s fingers moving across the keys complement the song’s poignant lyrics, which he raps in English and Spanish. He also performed “Black Habits II,” the affecting finale to Black Habits, for the first time in a live setting. It’s just one of the many reasons that this Tiny Desk is so special.

SET LIST

• “No Commas”
• “Closer to God”
• “Seasons Pass”
• “Black Habits II”

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