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Kate Tempest: Tiny Desk Concert

NPR | By Bob Boilen
Published July 21, 2015 at 8:03 AM EDT

Warning: Kate Tempest will connect you with your emotions and the cold, callous world around you. You may cry.

Of all the artists I saw at SXSW this year, Tempest was the one I'll never forget. The London hip-hop artist, playwright and poet speaks with a clarity and honesty unencumbered by code or lingo, with stories that cut to the very heart of how we try to survive and embrace our time on Earth. At the Tiny Desk, she jumps straight into the fire with a spoken-word story of a soldier that looks at both the bravery and horror of conflict and war. She honesty left few eyes dry. And it's not simply her intent to make us weepy, she just understands the importance of us, her audience, and deems it the only imperative to connect with those in a room. She did that here at NPR; I wasn't the only one with tears. And then there are her songs, filled with stories and characters from her album Everybody Down that deal with love in a time of adversity. Intense and heartfelt — enjoy and beware.

Everybody Down is available on iTunes and Amazon.

Set List

  • "Ballad of a Hero"

    •
  • "The Beigeness (KwAkE BASS remix)"

  • "The Truth (KwAkE BASS remix)"

    • Credits

    Producers: Bob Boilen, Morgan Walker; Audio Engineer: Brian Jarboe; Videographers: Morgan Walker, Colin Marshall, Lani Milton; Assistant Producer: Elena Saavedra Buckley; photo by Lani Milton/NPR

    Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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    Bob Boilen
    In 1988, a determined Bob Boilen started showing up on NPR's doorstep every day, looking for a way to contribute his skills in music and broadcasting to the network. His persistence paid off, and within a few weeks he was hired, on a temporary basis, to work for All Things Considered. Less than a year later, Boilen was directing the show and continued to do so for the next 18 years.
    See stories by Bob Boilen

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    Federal funding is gone.

    Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

    That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

    The future of public media is in your hands.

    All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

    Donate

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