Ivan Cornejo: Tiny Desk Concert

This Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 NPR Music celebrates artists from all corners of Latinidad with an El Tiny takeover. Amamaria Sayre, September 26, 2024 Whether in a stadium of 75, 000 or behind a desk in an office building, Ivan Cornejo sings two notes and the heart quiets. His voice invites harmony, reflection, llorando, gritando whatever the listener needs to feel whole again. The 20yearold Mexican American has emerged as a happy anomaly in recent years a singersongwriter who not only captivates audiences with excruciatingly descriptive lyricism but also invokes an ancestral wisdom. Cornejo voices the pains of adolescence in styles and sounds that refuse to fit boxes; he communicates in a language that makes fans feel both different and true. The singer, endearingly nervous at the Tiny Desk, found a perfect home in the intimate space for some rockier arrangements of his hit Ya Te Perdí and a softer performance of the genrepushing Baby Please. He ends the show with