redveil: Tiny Desk Concert

Credit: Photo: Vanessa Castillo/NPRWe love when a Tiny Desk feels like a homecoming.redveil, a rapper and producer from Prince George's County, Md., moved to Los Angeles a couple years ago to further expand his musical ambitions.

He comes back to the D.C.area, home of the Desk, with an evolved sound to perform a soulful set, turning his complex beats into jazzy, full-band arrangements.In late 2025, redveil released sankofa, which means "go back and get it" from the Akan language of Ghana — to bring wisdom from the past into the future to make positive changes.

That's the mindset of this performance.He speaks on his mortality with "time (a dream deferred)" and, on "lone star," reflects on summers in Texas with his grandparents.

There's a desire to connect with his Caribbean roots on "history," which jumps right into the breezy love song "brown sugar."As he winds down the set, redveil goes back to "campbell," the first track from his 2020 album niagra, which he released at age 16.To close out, redveil gets on the keys for "glimpse of you," a personal letter to his brother who lives with schizophrenia — the song crescendos into an emotional climax and on a note of hope.SET LISTMUSICIANSTINY DESK TEAM...