Blood Orange's Negro Swan album was underrated to the masses, but artists around the industry took notice. Blood Orange, or Devonté “Dev” Hynes, was featured on a number of projects including Mariah Carey's Caution, MadeInTYO's Sincerely Tokyo, and more. Dev has been in the game for awhile, but his path is somewhat convoluted by name and group changes. He was a part of the group Test Icicles as a guitarist and occasional vocalist before he changed his name to Lightspeed Champion and dropped a couple albums himself. After phasing out the Lightspeed Champion name, Dev converted to Blood Orange, and has been delivering soulful tracks ever since. Dev stopped by NPR to perform for their intimate concert series Tiny Desk, and he brought along his patented eclectic style.
The show starts with a spoken word performance by Ashlee Haze, the poet who was sampled on Blood Orange's Freetown Sound single “By Ourselves.” Singer/songwriters Ian Isiah and Eva Tolkin also joined Dev during the spiritual performance. The entire experience will leave you with feel-good vibes all day. Blood Orange expertly performs “Jewelry,” “Dagenham Dream,” and “Holy Will." Check out the performance below and let us know what you think in the comments.
