Durand Bernarr chews up a Tiny Desk. (And that’s on Uncle Bobby).

Durand Bernarr pulled up to the Tiny Desk for the first time. An appearance which was long overdue. But with Durand being a face which was shown, platformed and spoken about A LOT following an appearance at the 2022 Soul Train Awards, AND his online antics gaining more and more traction, it was only a matter of time until NPR called. And called those muthafuckers did. And in true Durand fashion, he pulled up dressed as Uncle Bobby from The Proud Family, with white platformed heels and AV cable earrings. Because, obviously.

Tiny Desks are always a good time. It’s an amazingly simple format, but an adored one which continues to attract bigger and bigger names. Tiny Desk is so big at this point that ‘[Insert you fave’s name here] should do a Tiny Desk’ is just a regular sentence which people will throw out there, and everybody knows what it means. And Tiny Desk sets continue to be replayed, chopped and shared with regularity because NPR do not release any of the Tiny Desk sessions to streaming services. Something which fans have been demanding for years now. But I get why NPR don’t do it, and I respect it. Sometimes some performances and renditions should just live in their original format and place of origin. No matter how amazing it / they may have been. And in the case of a Tiny Desk like Durand’s, would it even be right to divorce the audio and the video from one another?

This might just be one of the best Tiny Desks I’ve seen in a while. Baring in mind that Usher did a Tiny Desk and crushed the shit out of it just last year.

And this Tiny Desk wasn’t top tier just because Durand can SING sing, but because the Durand ‘understood the assignment’ as the kids say. Durand used his Tiny Desk to truly show everybody not just who he is as an artist, but as a person. Durand’s artistry, vocal talent, musicality, sense of humour, blackness, sexuality, sensuality and love for pop culture references all shone through. Durand provided something that I think acts as a great primer on who he is. If anybody asks ‘So, who is Durand Burnarr?’ you can just send them the link to his Tiny Desk.

But Durand’s Tiny Desk also raised the bar for two things which I think Tiny Desk audiences always take notice of. The band and the backup singers. Durand’s band sounding amazing. And there was this amazing chemistry between them. Throughout the set you can see each member shoot one another smiles and smirks as they heard flourishes and spicy notes and riffs, and they all played on this moments - which complimented the playfulness of Durand’s performance as a whole. And Durand did not have backup singers. He had backup SANGERS.

Durand Bernarr’s Tiny Desk Concert | NPR

Now, let’s talk about this setlist. Because Durand was incredibly smart with his song choices.

I imagine pulling together a setlist for a performance which is going to reach a wider audience than anything you’ve done before when you don’t have ‘big’ or ‘known’ hits can be as difficult as it is freeing. You don’t feel any obligation to play certain songs, yet you kinda do, because you still have a fanbase who collectively has favourites. But you also have to be aware that a large cross section of the audience tuning in for your Tiny Desk may not even know who you are. So you need songs which are gonna rope them in too - even if some of those songs aren’t necessarily songs that you like. And I think Durand’s setlist was spot on.

I was surprised there weren’t more choices from his 2022 album Wanderlust. But it makes sense that Durand would want a setlist which showcases his discography, as opposed to a setlist which is album centric, for the sake of hoping people will buy said album. Because, here’s the thing. If the setlist is good, people gon’ check out ALL the albums any-damn-way, and then some. 

“Mango Butter” was always going to make the cut, due to it going a lil’ viral earlier this year, how meme-able and TikTok-able the hook is, and the familiarity of the groove. “Leveled” was an ideal intro into the world of Durand, between the vibe and the lyrics of being high. But I was personally disappointed at the lack of “Rolling’”. I will fully admit that I am biased in this, because it is favourite song on Wanderlust. But it’ss also the one song on the album that I feel go could the distance as a single and cross Durand over. But I also appreciate that this wasn’t what Durand was trying to do with this Tiny Desk. His aim was to give everybody an experience. Not push specific songs and albums.

The one song in the setlist which did make me lean back and said ‘BITCH, OKAY’ was “Freefall” - which is one of my favourite songs on Kaytranada’s Bubba. And I’m sure for some it was their introduction to Durand. But given the soulful and swoony vibes of the Tiny Desk, I just didn’t think a wholly electronic ass dance song like “Freefall” would ever make the cut. But more fool me for thinking that Durand and his incredible band wouldn’t switch the song up and make it work within the soundscape they had set. The live rendition of “Freefall” was so amazing that I don’t think I can listen to the original version now. And this set the tone for what would come next, where Durand flipped his song “Relocate” into a a honky-tonk-ass country song and “Stuck” into a 90s ass pop / rock ditty. Unexpected as fuck. But that’s Durand for you. And if Durand ever decides ‘I wanna be a pop / rock gurl for a minute’, then he absolutely could. He sounded great on both songs, and had me genuinely wanting a Durand album with Claude Kelly, D'Mile, Benny Blanco and Max Martin in the mix.

Durand Bernarr’s Tiny Desk Concert | NPR

Durand Bernarr’s star was already on the rise, but this Tiny Desk scooted it a few notches higher. So expect to be seeing A LOT more of Durand from here on out. And deservedly so. It’s nice to see an artist poke through who is serious about their craft, knows how to perform and is plugged into the social media driven side of the business which values sharable moments. Especially amidst this generation of artists who are all about building a huge social media following, yet have no stage presence, seem to have no interest in honing their skills, and just want to serve looks and NOTHING else. Although Durand isn’t from this same generation of artists and it very much shows. You can see which schools of performance Durand graduated from, and it ain’t TikTok.

That bitch and that n***a indeed.

If you want to follow any of the amazing talent who supported Durand for his Tiny Desk concert, all of their Instas are below.

🎹 Keys: Devin Smith @ ds16music
🎸 Guitar & keys: Sam Hoffman @ samhoffmanmusic
🥁 Drummer: Frank Moka @ frank_moka1
🎸 Bass: Egberto “Budda” Foster, Jr. @ buddaonbass
🎙️ Singer: Roy Pattern, Jr. @ iamuncleroy
🎙️ Singer: Terron Austin @ terronaustin
🎙️ Singer: Jason Paul @ jpaul86