Compton's Buddy is the latest artist hand-selected by NPR for the much-lauded Tiny Desk Concert series. His appointment comes on the heels of the NPR staff ranking him among 2018's best for his full-length debut Harlan & Alondra, an album named after the cross-streets perpendicular to his childhood home. With NPR's backing, Buddy was able to flourish in a schoolhouse setting, alongside his musician friends.
Between songs, Buddy explained his non-conformist attitude to the lucky few in attendance. "If you don't like it, you weird," he said in confidence. "Yeah, I am weird. So I guess being weird doesn't matter." Buddy's willingness to paint himself into a corner, made the concert stipulations feel less like an intrusion into his personal space. The Tiny Desk series continuously offers "concert-goer" an ulterior event, free of claustrophobia.
Before ending the affair with a self-conscious induction speech, Buddy played his album opener like a closing sermon - for Harlan & Alondra achieved a deep-level of introspection within its opening measures. Buddy is an alumnus of Wendy Raquel Robinson's Amazing Grace Conservatory, an incubator for young up-and-comers in the Los Angeles Area.
Tiny Desk setlist.
"Legend"
"Trouble On Central"
"Hey Up There"
"Real Life S**t"
