VCU event uplifts, showcases local artists in intimate setting

Peggy Stansbery, Staff Writer

The VCU Barnes and Noble transformed into a Tiny Desk Concert as local Richmond artists shared their authentic experiences by playing music, telling their stories and answering questions to an intimate audience.

The Activities Programming Board’s lecture department presented the APB Tiny Desk Concert, a “new and different” type of lecture, on April 8, according to Malcolm Small, APB’s co-coordinator of lectures. 

The event highlighted three local artists from varying genres of music: Moneá, 10k.Zuri and Kidz at Play. 

Small wanted to create a lecture-style event that was a different interpretation of a lecture — that being music and sound, especially since Richmond is a “creative hub” with a wide variety of music and creators, he said. 

“I think the music scene in and of itself embodies a lot of what Richmond and VCU is kind of about in terms of versatility and variety,” Small said. 

Many creatives in Richmond fly under the radar, Small said. He hopes the Tiny Desk Concert provided Richmond local artists with a platform and avenue to expand their followings and expose people to their music. 

“Given the stature that VCU has and APB has, I just think it’s really important to kind of use that platform to uplift as many people around here as possible,” Small said. “And then really just tap people into new things.” 

Small hopes the event becomes annual because many people could benefit from it every year, and it can expose the students to local artists, he said. 

“When you go to a school like VCU, and you’re in this area, you really kind of have to take advantage of what you have around you,” Small said. “The best that the school can do, in my opinion, is to just do our best to expose students to new things.” 

Hip-hop and R&B artist Azzuri Fleming, artist name Zuri and 10k.Zuri on streaming platforms, performed songs more personal to her on Saturday due to the intimate nature of Tiny Desk Concerts, she said. 

“I really liked the intimacy of it,” Fleming said. “I’m not trying to be as perfect or as unflawed. It’s just kind of like a go-with-the-flow kind of thing.”

Fleming participated at the Tiny Desk Concert because she takes advantage of any opportunity she gets to perform and felt honored to be a part of it, she said. 

“I love performing,” Fleming said. “So the more I do it, the more I fall in love with it.”

The world inspires Fleming’s music; she feels that anything can inspire her to write due to her sporadic creativity that “strikes at any time,” she said. She hopes her music conveys her feelings because music is part of her process of helping her get through life, Fleming said. 

“Sharing your feelings and stuff through art touches people a lot more than I think we acknowledge as people,” Fleming said. 

Richmond’s music scene has provided Fleming with both good and bad experiences due to the city’s smaller size, Fleming said. The smallness has caused a lack of opportunities but has also included a supportive community of artists who lean on each other, she said

Fleming hopes people enjoyed “what Richmond’s music scene has to offer” at the event, she said. 

Neo-soul, alternative RnB and experimental artist Moneá Allen, who performed her original songs on Saturday, has found the Richmond music scene to be really supportive as well, Allen said. 

“There’s a lot of talented musicians, singers, songwriters and rappers,” Allen said. “It’s a very talented city. I’ve learned so much on my journey about music, music theory and things like that. It’s really cool to be in the scene.”

Allen’s music revolves around her spiritual journey, manifesting and self love, she said. 

“I talk about my journey and how you know that things are hard, but it’s okay,” Allen said. “To hopefully give some type of warmth to the listener to know that whatever they are going through it’s okay because we all go through it.”

She conveyed the messages of self-love that she preaches in her songs at the Tiny Desk Concert, with the intent that people could take those messages home with them, Allen said. 

Allen hopes the audience was in the present with one another at the event and went home with a new favorite Richmond artist, she said.