Joy Oladokun: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

The Tiny Desk is working from home for the foreseeable future. Introducing NPR Music’s Tiny Desk (home) concerts, bringing you performances from across the country and the world. It’s the same spirit — stripped-down sets, an intimate setting — just a different space. Nikki Birch | August 20, 2021 Clad in a denim jacket, Joy Oladokun shines a light on the subjects of grief, politics and life in America via the lens of someone who looks and loves differently. Standing firmly in her vulnerability, the first-generation Nigerian American opens her studio performance with “if you got a problem,“ a sweet ballad that pledges unconditional friendship through the lonely and the messy times. After a charming introduction, she picks up her guitar and begins “taking the heat,“ which she dedicates to the late Mac Miller. The song examines the way we, as consumers, treat the artists who create the music that resonates with us: “Does anybody ever wonder when the legends die young / If there’s anything we could have done...“