NPR Music host and producer Bobby Carter is catching some heat online for his top five favourite “Tiny Desk Concert” performances of all-time.
“Tiny Desk Concerts” is an NPR Music video series that showcases live performances by artists at a desk in the outlet’s Washington, D.C. offices. What started as a simple concept has grown into a global sensation, with over 1,200 performances to date. The series offers an intimate space for artists, using minimal equipment to highlight a raw, more authentic side of their music.
In an interview with Now Toronto at the Departure Festival + Conference, Carter revealed his personal ranking of stars that he had the opportunity of being behind the scenes for. The top performances that came to mind were Scarface, CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso, Nick Hakim, Anderson .Paak, and Mac Miller.
But Carter’s list has drawn some attention online from music fans who are calling out the lack of women representation.
“He didn’t choose a single woman,” one TikTok commenter said. “I’m now side-eyeing the entire show.”
“Where da women at?,” another questioned.
“We need a top five for the ladies,” another user on the platform wrote.
However, during the interview, Carter mentioned Doechii as one of the most memorable performances on the platform thus far.
“It was special because you knew something really, really impactful was about to happen,” he said. “You can just kind of feel it in the room.
He also included Sesame Street, as well as Freddie Gibbs and Madlib as a few more unforgettable shows.
Carter says fans of the series might not realize the amount of time it takes to create a show. A performance, which on average ranges between 15 to 20 minutes, can take weeks and months to plan, especially due to the acoustic set-up of the show. Tiny Desk has hosted a number of household acts like Bad Bunny, Dua Lipa and BTS, but Carter says he gets the most fulfillment out of a show when NPR features an up-and-coming artist centre stage.
“That’s really the core of NPR Music, to put you up onto something that you never heard of… we want to get with the artists at the ground level,” Carter said.
“The big-name acts, I think it’s fun. I love it, you know, people love it. But I could probably speak for a lot of my team, we get more out of the discovery acts.”
With more than 16 years into the production, Carter’s hopes are for the series to continue doing what it is for the culture; more music, and more diversity. Extending an invitation beyond borders, where Canadian artists like Justin Bieber, Tegan and Sara, Jessie Reyez and Nelly Furtado have already taken the stage in past years, there’s one musician that Carter eagerly aspires to get on the show soon rather than later.
“KAYTRANADA!,” he quickly said.
“We’ve been trying for a long time to get KAYTRANADA.”
He also lists Alanis Morissette and Neil Young as a few other natives of the North he’d like to see on Tiny Desk.
“I have a never, never, never, ending wish list of acts that I would love to see taking their stab at the desk,” he said.
“And to me, that’s one of the most exciting things, is that I still haven’t. We haven’t done our thing yet. We haven’t done the big one yet!”
