The pot lid didn't sound the way we wanted. "What about our Webby?" I suggested. The award statue's metallic spring had just the right amount of wobble — a ride cymbal with a drip like Dalí. What you're about to see has never been attempted at the Tiny Desk before: small, MIDI-triggered robots strike and vibrate glass bottles, coffee mugs, plastic wrap and a pizza box to make futuristic music out of the present's refuse and rubbish. What band besides clipping. could pull this off?
For more than 15 years, clipping. has made its name from the deconstruction and celebration of hip-hop. This concert takes that philosophy literally: Producers Jonathan Snipes and William Hutson spent months digging through thrift stores to find the right clinks, clangs and clongs that could reshape their hypnotic melodies and serrating beats. A sturdy cardboard box becomes the kick drum. A chain bouncing off aluminum foil, the hi-hat. A panoply of glasses, bottles and mugs, the synths. Harmonium, piano and fretless bass fill out the edges. Kid Koala, a turntablist whose unique style no doubt has had an influence on clipping., guests on "Night of Heaven" and "Work Work."
This set, featuring songs that span 2014's CLPPNG to 2025's Dead Channel Sky, exemplifies the idea that something thrilling and beautiful can be created from the noise and debris of everyday life. Daveed Diggs, eternally game to exquisitely rap over whatever creative chaos bursts from his cohorts, sums up the process perfectly: "Thank y'all for this opportunity to do needlessly complicated s***."
SET LIST
- "Nothing is Safe"
- "True Believer"
- "Code"
- "Dodger"
- "Night of Heaven"
- "Work Work"
MUSICIANS
- Daveed Diggs: vocals
- Jonathan Snipes: electronics, harmonium, melodica, table of nonsense
- William Hutson: percussion, loon call, table of nonsense
- Sharon Udoh: vocals, piano
- David Rothbaum: bass
- Kid Koala: turntables
TINY DESK TEAM
- Producer: Lars Gotrich
- Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant
- Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
- Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
- Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Maia Stern, Kara Frame, Sofia Seidel
- Audio Engineer: Josephine Nyounai
- Production Assistant: Dhanika Pineda
- Copy Editor: Daoud Tyler-Ameen
- Photographer: Maansi Srivastava
- Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
- Executive Director: Sonali Mehta
- Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton
Copyright 2025 NPR
