As promised, NPR’s has turned its “Tiny Desk” over to Alabama rapper Flo Milli, resulting in a performance that left producers praising her for “the unwavering confidence of an OG” and “lyrical prowess [that] sliced like a sword.”
Milli, born Tamia Monique Carter, is from Mobile. She’s been getting national attention for several years: Rolling Stone has described her as “one of the most fun rappers alive” and credited her with “building a growing fanbase by delivering cut-throat lyrics while maintaining a graceful and fashionable persona.” She performed earlier this year on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
She was the eighth of nine Black women to be featured as part of Black Music Month. “Tiny Desk” producer and host Bobby Carter described her as an artist who was bringing “something very unique and fresh to hip-hop right now.”
The lineup generated plenty of memorable moments prior to Flo Milli’s appearance. Chaka Khan’s June 11 segment opened with a rousingly funky rendition of “Tell Me Something Good,” with guitarist Rob Bacon using a talk box to great effect. The response in-studio listeners had to “Sweet Thing” was so strong that Khan turned a mic around to pick up the singalong. Tierra Whack, paused during “Hungry Hippo,” in the June 7 episode, to reveal that “This is my first time performing with a live band.” Meshell Ndegeocello’s June 18 installment was simply otherworldly, the artist quoting aphorisms from the likes of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde between organ-drenched songs.
Milli’s performance, like her stage persona, was distinctive. Note: It also was preceded by an explicit language warning, which was richly earned. As an artist who has found her audience via streaming, she’s been free to weave a frank, enthusiastic and competitive sexuality through her lyrics in a way that defies easy editing for radio sensibilities.
“The Tiny Desk has humbled many artists, but Flo Milli strutted into NPR HQ and behind the Desk with the unwavering confidence of an OG,” said NPR’s report on the session. “While her appearance gave soft and feminine, clothed in blush pink with baby’s breath scattered throughout her hair, Milli’s lyrical prowess sliced like a sword. Her bars were bratty and braggadocious alongside Atlanta’s own Band of Brothers and her background singers she dubbed ‘The Floettes.’”
The six-song set was tight, with rock energy in the way the ensemble segued from “Conceited” to “Bed Time.” Milli didn’t spend a lot of time on between-song remarks, though she did get personal on her intro to “Beef FloMix:” “This next song was my first song to like ever blowup,” she said. “I wrote this in my mom’s house and yeah, I was 18, and this is my baby. This is my favorite.”
NPR noted that the “Tiny Desk” version of “Never Lose Me” included a new verse “exclusively for the Tiny Desk audience,” with the band the band exchange their instruments for acoustic guitars to perform a special rendition of “Never Lose Me” — “with a new verse, exclusively for the Tiny Desk audience.”
