NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert is a major platform for both big-name musicians and up-and-coming indie acts. The YouTube channel is nearing 11 million subscribers since launching its often-viral video series in 2008.
Much of that growth occurred during Bobby Carter’s tenure. The St. Louis native joined the team in 2014 and last year became its host and producer.
Under the guidance of Tiny Desk’s co-creator Bob Boilen, Carter ushered in a fresh, musically diverse sound that included hip-hop, R&B, punk rock — genres that NPR audiences at the time were not used to associating to the network.
“That was through the work of myself but also people like Franny Kelly who brought in T-Pain. That’s really credited for changing our trajectory completely. It was our first viral moment,” Carter told St. Louis on the Air. “It was the beginning of a real shift, not only on Tiny Desk, but within NPR Music as a whole.”
Carter charted his path to music journalism early in his education. He credits his mother and uncle for his love of music. That appreciation grew in the mid-1990s as he attended Riverview Garden High School and studied broadcast journalism at Jackson State University.
“I like to say that my music career started at Sam Goody in Northwest Plaza back in the day. That’s when I started to dig even deeper into different genres, different perspectives, different sounds,” he said. “Much like we do at NPR, everyone loves music overall, but there are specific genre experts. If a customer walked in and they wanted to learn about a hip-hop or R&B record, I was able to help. We had a rock guy, we had a jazz person. We had someone who even knew classical music.”
Carter faced disappointments early in his career. After several of his pitches were turned down, he eventually got the green light to book one of his favorite bands, the Foreign Exchange, an American-Dutch rap duo, in 2014. “Their union was really unique because they literally created an album remotely before it was a thing. Before people created music virtually,” he said. “They were on the cutting edge of a new way of making music and the music was just amazing. They put on a great show.”
Carter said booking that first concert was easy. As he and his colleagues continued booking shows, they saw how the Tiny Desk format could fit even the largest personalities and musical experimentations. He recalled Gucci Mane’s Tiny Desk Concert in 2016 being especially different for his colleagues.
“There were some things we got right and then things we got wrong in [Gucci Mane’s] show. He was the first real trapper, like real street MC that we had at the Desk. He had just got released from prison and people were really excited about hearing and seeing Gucci Mane again. He came out a new person,” Carter said. “The reason I feel that was a shift for us is because it was a proof of concept that that kind of music can work and really flourish in our space.”
Carter also serves as a judge for the Tiny Desk Contest, where artists can submit videos for a chance to perform their own Tiny Desk Concert at the NPR Music newsroom in Washington, D.C.
“As we grow we open things up more to established artists, but we’ll always lend the platform to those emerging artists,” Carter said. “We want to create and help launch careers and special moments through artists that people have never heard of.”
For the extended conversation with Tiny Desk Concerts’ Bobby Carter, including a bonus behind-the-scenes look of unannounced Tiny Desk performances, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
Related Event
What: NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest application
When: Applications close at 10:59 p.m. CT Feb. 10
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Jada Jones is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
