The collective performed six songs, including “On My Block,” “Mary Jane,” and “Smile”
Scarface called in a favor for his NPR Tiny Desk debut. The rapper prepared a performance for the concert series with an eight-piece collective of musicians, but during rehearsals, decided to round out his crew with Mike Dean.
All together, Scarface performed six songs, including “On My Block,” “Mary Jane,” “Smile,” “I Seen a Man Die,” Fuck Faces,” and “Mind Playing Tricks on Me.”
During the performance, Scarface surrendered himself to the music. “I guess I’d call myself a curator, I don’t know if you would call me a DJ or the conductor of the railroad,” he said, opening the set. “We came here to jam for y’all tonight, or this morning, or whenever the fuck. We’re gonna talk about some songs and how they came about.”
As he prefaced, the backstory for many of these songs is that he was high. But he also sprinkles in stories about pivotal interactions he shared with family members and delivering verses under complicated circumstances.
“Scarface’s Tiny Desk concert radiates with his decades-long passion as an emcee and producer,” NPR’s description of the set reads. “There’s calculated intent behind every word and note of this 30-minute set, and I learned that his love for golf also runs deep during our initial meeting. He was playing a round and had difficulty dividing his attention between the plan and the course.”
Scarface and Dean were joined by Steven “Spud” Howard and Takai “Cookie” Hicks on vocals; Peigh Jones on vocals and guitar; Corey “FunkaFingers” Stoot on guitar; Josh Henderson and Jason “The Bishop” Allen on keys; Savar Martin on drums; and Anthony “Antboogie” Nicholson on bass and musical direction.
