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 artist, whose world encompasses rap, clothing, fitness, food and more, performs funky, reinterpreted highlights from his discography in his Tiny Desk.
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Five years ago, the late musician and rapper Mac Miller played his iconic Tiny Desk Concert. NPR's Bobby Carter remembers what made that performance so special.
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For the 50th anniversary of hip-hop in August, NPR Music is pulling together all of its hip-hop Tiny Desk Concerts — the sleeper hits and the all-time favorites, plus some behind-the-scenes gossip. -
The pioneering hip-hop group rolled into NPR headquarters with a horn section to play five funky tracks.
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The viral tweets were real — it's finally here: one of the most rambunctious experiences at the Tiny Desk.
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The old-school funk and R&B artist tells a tale of "two Charlies" in his Tiny Desk performance.
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The band's Tiny Desk performance featured songs that leaned right into its incalculability.
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Nearly 6,000 independent artists submitted to this year's Tiny Desk Contest. Meet the Utah band that rose to the top.
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Ab-Soul's career is a prime example of how rap has grown over the past 50 years. For his Tiny Desk set, he hand-picked a live band and gave a display of raw honesty and next-level lyricism.
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One of the most sought after producers in music brings a trio of familiar voices to the Tiny Desk.
