Open Mike Eagle's Tiny Desk Performance Is Wildly Inspiring

“How’s everybody’s lunch? Smells like lots of good soup,” asks Open Mike Eagle just after performing “(How Could Anybody) Feel At Home,” during his visit to NPR’s Tiny Desk series. It’s his way of lightening the mood, as he sings a 12-minute medley from drawing on the politically charged Brick Body Kids Still Daydream.

Last September, Mike Eagle gave the world a glimpse of the displacement he witnessed growing up in Chicago’s now-demolished Robert Taylor Homes. For his Tiny Desk performance, he doesn't let these stories escape his memory, singing them over blaring trumpets, keys and bass. Finishing up with “Daydreaming in the Projects,” and “Very Much Money,” from 2014's Dark Comedy, Mike Eagle isn’t just telling the story of the children of where the Robert Taylor Homes once stood, but supporting a message that children across inner cities can still dream, too.

Kristin Corry is a brick body kid who still daydreams. Follow her on Twitter.