Buddy: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Jan. 9, 2019, Rodney Carmichael When Buddy, a preacher s son from Compton, turns to me with eyebrows raised on the elevator ride inside NPR s corporate headquarters, it s hard to tell if the question that comes next is in preparation for his performance or pure provocation. Can we smoke in here he asks with a grin that elicits stifled laughter from his bandmates and a few newsroom journalists along for the ride. It s a blunt request, even from a selfprofessed weed connoisseur, and it kicks off one of the most dramatic Tiny Desks in recent memory. If 2018 signaled the year of disruption in rap with a shortlist of vets and newcomers trolling their way to the top of the charts it was dominated by a groundswell of emerging voices who found more creative means to make their mark. Buddy s anticipated fulllength debut Harlan Alondra, named for the cross streets where he lived as a child, placed him among the better company (and on NPR s Best Rap Albums Of 2018). The same soulful hybrid of rapping