Monica Serves Up Hits, Debuts New Song During Tiny Desk Concert
New Monica!
In honor of Black Music Month, the R&B icon made her Tiny Desk (home) concert debut for NPR. Taped in Nashville, where she is recording her country album, she took it back with an acoustic set of career-spanning hits and even a new song.
Surrounded by candles and joined by her band and a trio of vocalists, she opened with a heavenly rendition of her ’90s ballad “Angel of Mine” followed by “Love All Over Me.”
The nostalgic vibes continued with her Miss Thang classic “Why I Love You So Much” and a stripped-down version of her Missy Elliott-produced hit that spawned the viral #SoGoneChallenge.
The 41-year-old singer, who recently shut down pregnancy rumors, also previewed the next chapter of her career with the debut of her new song “Friends” featuring Ty Dolla $ign.
“You know I love you, baby / And there’s nothing they can do,” she sang on the breezy R&B tune. “I got friends just like you / They don’t understand what we going through.”
For the finale, she took one final trip down memory lane with “Before You Walk Out of My Life.”
“It was such an honor. We could do this all night, but until the next time, God bless you. We love you and we thank you,” she said.
New music from Monica is incoming. She is working on two new projects, including her long-awaited R&B album Trenches as well as her first country album Open Roads, executive produced by Brandi Carlile.