#work work

Gaming or working?

Show notes:

“Lars Gotrich | October 31, 2025

The pot lid didn't sound the way we wanted. "What about our Webby?" I suggested. The award statue's metallic spring had just the right amount of wobble — a ride cymbal with a drip like Dalí. What you're about to see has never been attempted at the Tiny Desk before: small, MIDI-triggered robots strike and vibrate glass bottles, coffee mugs, plastic wrap and a pizza box to make futuristic music out of the present's refuse and rubbish. What band besides clipping. could pull this off?

For more than 15 years, clipping. has made its name from the deconstruction and celebration of hip-hop. This concert takes that philosophy literally: Producers Jonathan Snipes and William Hutson spent months digging through thrift stores to find the right clinks, clangs and clongs that could reshape their hypnotic melodies and serrating beats. A sturdy cardboard box becomes the kick drum. A chain bouncing off aluminum foil, the hi-hat. A panoply of glasses, bottles and mugs, the synths. Harmonium, piano and fretless bass fill out the edges. Kid Koala, a turntablist whose unique style no doubt has had an influence on clipping., guests on "Night of Heaven" and "Work Work."

This set, featuring songs that span 2014's CLPPNG to 2025's Dead Channel Sky, exemplifies the idea that something thrilling and beautiful can be created from the noise and debris of everyday life. Daveed Diggs, eternally game to exquisitely rap over whatever creative chaos bursts from his cohorts, sums up the process perfectly: "Thank y'all for this opportunity to do needlessly complicated s***."

SET LIST

"Nothing is Safe"

"True Believer"

"Code"

"Dodger"

"Night of Heaven"

"Work Work"

MUSICIANS

Daveed Diggs: vocals

Jonathan Snipes: electronics, harmonium, melodica, table of nonsense

William Hutson: percussion, loon call, table of nonsense

Sharon Udoh: vocals, piano

David Rothbaum: bass

Kid Koala: turntables

TINY DESK TEAM

Producer: Lars Gotrich

Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant

Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell

Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter

Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Maia Stern, Kara Frame, Sofia Seidel

Audio Engineer: Josephine Nyounai

Production Assistant: Dhanika Pineda

Copy Editor: Daoud Tyler-Ameen

Photographer: Maansi Srivastava

Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed

Executive Director: Sonali Mehta