Bobby Carter
Bobby Carter is a leader on the Tiny Desk Concerts team for NPR Music. He's brought an ever growing roster of big names and emerging artists through NPR's HQ to squeeze behind the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen and record standout performances, including Usher, Mac Miller, Noname, Anderson.Paak and H.E.R.
From 2020-2022, Carter and the music team adapted to the challenges of the pandemic to produce the innovative Tiny Desk [Home] Concerts series with artists like Kirk Franklin, Tame Impala, Tems, Jazmine Sullivan and C. Tangana.
Carter has created new initiatives and programs to grow and diversify the Tiny Desk audience. He helped usher the Tiny Desk audience into new spaces through partnerships with Complexcon, HBO's Insecure and the 2021 film Coming 2 America. He also conceptualized a Black History Month Tiny Desk showcase in 2021. With that programming serving as a catalyst, he's since led the development of additional packages for Black Music Month, LatinX Heritage Month, Asian American/Pacific Islander Month and Indigenous People Month. His work in recent years has led to multiple Webby Award wins, an Anthem Award and a BET Hip Hop Award nomination. He's also a music writer, a judge for the Tiny Desk Contest and a busy veteran DJ (DJ Cuzzin B).
Carter originally joined NPR as an intern with NPR's digital media team in 2000, and soon after landed work as a digital media engineer. Following the launch of NPR Music in 2007 — while still working as an engineer processing on-demand audio and video for breaking news, special coverage, and live streams to reach all of NPR's digital platforms — Carter began writing end of year music roundups and producing Tiny Desk Concerts. He left his engineer role to become a full-time producer for NPR Music in 2018.
Carter hails from St. Louis, and is a graduate of Jackson State University, where he also worked at Member station WJSU while a senior in college.
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The Washington D.C. rapper gives a charismatic performance full of humor, heart and plenty grooves, for the Tiny Desk Fest.
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The LA-based trio makes an intricate blend of jazz, R&B and hip-hop. For their Tiny Desk set, they pulled out all the stops: flutes, flugelhorns, saxophones, keyboards, ukuleles and more.
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The Nigerian singer and songwriter is one of the biggest African artists in the world and a pioneer of Afro-fusion, an inescapable sound this year.
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The chart-topping Washington, D.C., rapper brings his songs to life at the Tiny Desk with the help of a six-piece go-go band. -
The brothers and their backing band gave a playful performance of three tracks from their latest album, Happiness Begins.
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The R&B singer performed songs from her debut full-length, Shea Butter Baby.
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While Ty Dolla $ign visited NPR to record his own Tiny Desk concert, he also performed a special tribute to his friend, the late Mac Miller.
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Our list for this week's best new albums includes a solo release from Thom Yorke, the return of garage rock stalwarts They Black Keys, a new project from Freddie Gibbs and Madlib and more. -
Toro y Moi loses the voice processing, synths and other heavy effects for a stripped-down acoustic set at the Tiny Desk.
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The R&B singer from Los Angeles is all about showing and spreading love.
