Tierra Whack and her band she dubbed “The Big Backs” did their thing. Her Tiny Desk performance gave playful, grade school shenanigans: Whack wielding a giant Ticonderoga No. 2 pencil, the band throwing balls of paper at each other, Whack tossing paper airplanes into the audience and a super special appearance by the Phillie Phanatic. “Y’all know I gotta keep it Philly. I bleed green. I bleed red. Anything Philly is all me. I had to bring a piece of home with me,” Whack says after inviting the Philadelphia Phillies mascot behind the Desk for “MOOVIES.”

Whack has been an invigorating presence in music since releasing her debut mixtape Whack World in 2018. At the Desk, she performs fresh arrangements of the biggest cuts from that album — “Flea Market,” “Pretty Ugly” and “Hungry Hippo” — before traversing an array of songs from her newest release WORLD WIDE WHACK. Whack and her bandmates are so locked in, it’s hard to believe that this performance is her first time fronting a live band. Aside from the tasteful arrangements, creativity and synergy, I especially love how each person behind the Desk lets their inner kid out to play.

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SET LIST
“Flea Market”
“Pretty Ugly”
“Hungry Hippo”
“MOOD SWING”
“ACCESSIBLE”
“MS BEHAVE”
“IMAGINARY FRIENDS”
“MOOVIES”
“27 CLUB”
“SHOWER SONG”

MUSICIANS
Tierra Whack: lead vocals
Ali Bervine: bass
Mary Floyd: keys, vocals
Russell Gelman-Sheehan: guitar
Michelle Hunt: vocals
Charles Jackson: keys
Sheldon Robinson: percussion
Mark Thomas: drums