Watch Nile Rodgers & CHIC play NPR’s Tiny Desk room. The dance/R&B/hip-hop pioneer took the audience through all five decades of his work starting with his 1978 hit “Le Freak.” He shared songs he wrote for others including Diana Ross’s “I’m Coming Out” Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family” and David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance.” Chic’s intersection with hip-hop comes from The Sugarhill Gang’s famous sampling of “Good Times” on their song “Rapper’s Delight.” Rodgers performed both songs surprising the crowd by rapping. The “Get Lucky” collaboration with Daft Punk was also on the setlist. Vocalist and keyboard player Russell Graham let everyone know that Rodgers wrote the score for Coming To America with a mighty falsetto led snippet of the Soul Glo advertisement song from the movie. Rodgers and his band are currently on tour in Australia and will be in Las Vegas and the Bahamas before the year is over. 

Smokey Robinson brings Motown’s classic era to NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series. Backed by a 12-piece band, the singer/songwriter/poet performed six songs in his half-hour set. The songlist included “Being With You,” “Tears Of A Clown,” and  “Quiet Storm.” He also shared two songs from his new album Gasms;  “If We Don’t Have Each Other” and  “Beside You.”  The show ended with his 1979 hit “Cruisin’,” which had the benefit of the audience’s participation.