Chance The Rapper Gives A Big Performance From A Tiny Desk (Video)

Chance The Rapper is the latest MC to stop by the NPR office in Washington D.C. to put on an intimate performance for their “Tiny Desk” series. The multi-faceted artist rocks an unexpected set with his band, The Social Experiment, proving he’s more than just “The Rapper,” but also a talented poet and singer.

Being a fan of the program, the Chicago MC aims to do something out of the ordinary for his video concert. After performing “Juke Jam” off his Grammy Award winning mixtape, Coloring Book, Chance decides to recite a poem he’d written en route to the office. “Coming on here, being a big deal, I wanted to try and do something new,” he explains.

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About a third of the way into the poem, titled “The Other Side,” Chance is interrupted by a page on the office’s intercom system. “It’s okay, I’ll start over,” he half-jokes. Before doing so, however, he clarifies, “There’s humor in this poem, so some of the things you can laugh at…unless they truly offend you.”

Following the piece, Chance and the band perform a cover of Stevie Wonder’s “They Won’t Go When I Go” off Stevie Wonder’s 1974 album Fulfillingness’ First Finale. The night prior, they had performed a sold out show for 23,000 fans at the Jiffy Lube Live amphitheater in Virginia.

#Bonus Beat: Listen to the Stevie Wonder original of “They Won’t Go When I Go.”

Like his own shows, C.T.R. makes his “Tiny Desk” appearance rather unique.