Omar Apollo Kicks Off Latinx Heritage Month With Soulful Tiny Desk Concert

NPR's Tiny Desk is celebrating Latinx Heritage Month with an incredible lineup of musicians, and first up is out R&B singer-songwriter Omar Apollo.

Backed up by Las Mariachis Lindas, Apollo begins his eighteen-minute set with the traditional ranchera track "En El Olvido" before segueing into "Evergreen."

"We're about to get even more sad," he warns listeners. The aching track about unrequited love is currently going viral on TikTok, and it's easy to see why.

"He don't love me no more," he croons, surrounded by some incredible backup singers and a full band. Apollo rounds out his soulful set with "Petrified" and his groovy new song "Endlessly," then wraps up by instructing the crowd to go out burn some bridges.

"Cut those people out ya life," Apollo jokes with a grin.

Apollo, as well as the rest of the lineup, was curated by Anamaria Sayre and Felix Contreras of NPR's Alt.Latino podcast.

"It's an honor to present the best of our music on such a high-profile outlet like the Tiny Desk concerts," Contreras tells Out.

"The moment we started planning for this month I knew Omar had to be a part of it," Sayre adds. "He represents a really important, and rapidly growing, subset of our community in this country. Young Latinos who are insistent on being their whole selves and expressing every part of that. Omar represents all of who he is and the cultures he bridges so beautifully in his sound and expression. It was a joy to have him light up the desk."

NPR will fill out its #ElTiny series in the coming days with performances by Carin Leon, Girl Ultra, Trueno, Jessie Reyez, Susana Baca, Tokischa, Carla Morrison, and Farruko.

Watch Apollo's full Tiny Desk set in the video below.

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