NEW YORK (AP) ā As DJ Mannie Freshās trademark āladies and gentlemenā catchphrase ricocheted throughout the office, a giddy Juvenile, draped in white with his signature bandana, . It wasnāt surprising that the native of New Orleans ā a city known for brass bands and live music ā felt at home for his Tiny Desk Concert. What is remarkable? Just weeks prior, the legendary rapper had been unaware of the popular, stripped-down, live music series.
An that he perform for the National Public Radio series ā amplified by his reply ā sent social media into a frenzy. Details were ironed out within days, resulting in one of 2023ās most notable live performances just two months later.
āI donāt know if thereās a Tiny Desk award or something like that ā maybe I would be the one to get it,ā laughed Juvenile, referencing the excitement around his performance that's drawn nearly 7 million views. āIāve been getting so much love,ā said the 48-year-old āBack That Azz Upā artist.
NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series, which began almost 15 years ago as a niche online platform mainly highlighting rock and folk musicians, has established itself as one of musicās premiere platforms. It now includes , providing .
Becky G says her October appearance was a defining moment.
āIt was such a milestone ā¦some people want to forget certain things in their life so badly,ā said the 26-year-old Latina star, who ended her predominately Spanish-language set with āShower,ā a song released nearly a decade ago. āMaybe weāre supposed to remember them, to remember how far weāve come.ā
That sentiment can be applied to the Tiny Desk Concert series itself, which began after its creators attended a performance where an artist was not heard.
THE GENESIS
Folk artist Laura Gibson felt deflated after her 2008 South by Southwest show in Austin, Texas. The Thirsty Nickel bar allowed noisy 6th Street revelers who didnāt purchase tickets to enter, and they had no interest in listening to the soft-spoken artist.
āMid-set, I was like, āWhy did I drive all the way down to Texas ... What am I doing with my life?ā Gibson remembered. āI felt like āI really just want to go hide somewhere and cry.āā
Bob Boilen, director of NPRās flagship program āAll Things Considered,ā and NPR Music editor Stephen Thompson were in attendance. Wanting to provide Gibson with an environment they felt she deserved, they at their Washington, D.C., headquarters. Her performance was filmed and uploaded to NPRās website. āStephen and I stand up at the desk, and we tell that story and we say: Maybe it is, maybe it isnāt.ā We didnāt know,ā said Boilen, who retired in October after 35 years at NPR. He started there in 1988 as a production assistant and eventually directed āAll Things Consideredā for nearly two decades.
Despite positive feedback on the NPR Music blog, creating a series wasnāt a thought. But weeks later, indie rock-folk musician Vic Chesnutt was in town, so they invited him to play. After his set, Boilen and Thompson realized they were onto something special.
āPeople strategize and plot things out,ā said Boilen, a musician himself who co-founded the new-wave band Tiny Desk Unit in 1979. āSometimes itās just straight inspiration that makes something great, and not a lot of planning.ā
THE PROCESS
Tiny Desk producers sort through hundreds of weekly pitch emails regarding artists of all genres, famous and unknown, international and domestic, while also monitoring social media. (Remember Juvenile?) Purely promotional, artists arenāt compensated for performance or travel.
The rules are simple: Equipment that amplifies sound or voice, like vocal monitors or Auto-Tune, arenāt allowed. Musicians collaborate with producers on the setlist, and all performers ā ā should fit behind what was Boilenās functioning desk.
āIt is interesting, the whole question of how much you can take away from something and it still be worth listening to,ā said Josephine Wiggs of the early 90s alternative rock band . āThe thing that I do and value and spend my time on is one of the first things that gets taken away because I play loud, electric bass guitar ... it catches in my throat a little.ā
With more than 1,100 tapings, Tiny Desk has drawn heavy comparisons to of the ā90s, but thereās one major difference: Itās a true office space ā not a recording studio or soundstage. Thereās a run-through for the production team, and performances ā played to NPR staff ā average 20 minutes, partially guided by online engagement statistics.
THE CHANGE
Boilen felt an increase in intrigue when expressed interest in performing in 2009. The concerts remained niche, but five years later, it exploded after then-producer Frannie Kelley booked T-Pain ā the chart-topping rapper-singer ā who delivered one of Tiny Deskās by shedding his Auto-Tune sound.
āIt was the first time weād ever gone viral,ā said series producer Bobby Carter, who began his two-decade NPR career as an intern. āIt was an initial shock, like, āWow, NPRās cool!ā which was very new for us.ā
It wasnāt only the performance that resonated, but that Tiny Desk included a rapper. In the early days, the Tiny Desk team was comprised of a handful of dedicated staffers, with all pitches approved by Boilen ā and the artists booked reflected their musical preferences.
āEven when I started at NPR ā¦ it was sort of associated with like highbrow (content), didnāt scream anything for a Black kid from the inner cityā¦ there were just so many voids when it comes to diversity,ā explained Carter, who also said a large portion of the Tiny Desk online audience is unaware of the NPR association ā or NPR. āThereās a legacy (at NPR) that didnāt always necessarily scream this is for young people or this is for Black people or people from Latin American countries ā¦ thatās part of the reason why I stepped up.ā
Carter says an internal āgroundswellā formed as employees noticed culture gaps within NPR Music, as hip-hop, R&B, mainstream pop and Latin music werenāt represented. Noting heās always had a great relationship with Boilen, he and others eventually gained Boilenās trust, allowing for experimentation as with T-Pain.
āTo be able to use that global platform ā¦ with an audience that comes from where I come from, that looks like what I look like, with peers who are singing with me, playing with me, that come from similar places, I think was everything,ā said Becky G.
THE CHALLENGE
The central focal point of the concert series remains providing exposure to rising artists. But Tiny Deskās audience now also anticipates superstars. Bono, Taylor Swift, Usher, Adele, BTS, Alicia Keys and others have graced the desk. But what do superstar singers have to gain?
Grammy-winning rapper 2 Chainz was interested in performing because of āhow they are connecting with the culture, and with music and with live performing.ā The rapper, who hosts his own live music series on Prime Video, added āyou can just tell that they get it.ā
The āItās a Vibeā emcee as NPR shifted to virtual sets, temporarily re-branded as āTiny Desk (Home) Concertsā during the coronavirus pandemic. Social gathering was prohibited across much of the country and many parts of the world. Artists filmed themselves, and Tiny Desk staff assisted with post-production.
That kind of forward-thinking helped Tiny Desk distance itself from the competition. A combination of timing ā the online live music video landscape was wide open during its infancy ā expert musical curation, and even the recognizable backdrop of cluttered shelves helped attract its audience. But Boilen believes the primary reason mainstream artists participate is the challenge of performing with restriction. All musicians are equal at the Tiny Desk, regardless of records sold or Grammys won.
āPeople in the room are hearing that voice naked,ā said Boilen, citing the intimacy of the performances. āI think thatās why artists love it, although itās nerve-wracking. But itās also why audiences love it: They get to see their favorite people doing things in ways they had never seen them do it.ā
THE DISCOVERY
A relatively unknown artist can receive career-changing exposure after an appearance. In a music-streaming era powered by algorithms, the Tiny Desk barometer is simple ā the ear test.
āIt can be really hard to discover music and not feel like somehow an algorithm is just handing you something,ā said Gibson, the inaugural performer. āWhatās lovely about the Tiny Desk is thereās a staff of people that just love music and are excited about sharing.ā
The series has introduced international musicians and spotlights genres like classical and jazz. Homage is also paid to artists who reached their heyday before many of the online audience members were born.
after his December performance, as younger viewers posted that they were unaware of the iconic Houston emcee. Many also had no idea that his guest, producer Mike Dean ā most associated with some of Yeās (Kanye West) biggest hits ā was an early collaborator of the Geto Boys star, cutting his teeth with the pioneering southern label, Rap-A-Lot.
Kelley Deal of the Breeders said the staff's knack for finding talented artists assists her band in giving musicians an opportunity to open for them.
āItās almost like itās a recommendation,ā explained Deal. āSomebody has done the vetting for me and found that whatever this band is ā¦ they are interesting enough to check out.ā
THE EFFECT
, launched two years prior, never performed internationally ā or outside her state.
āEverything I was doing was based in Minnesota ā¦ the Tiny Desk Concert opened me up to a much, much wider audience,ā said Lea. Sheās since performed in England and Europe, even opening for The Decemberists and Wilco. More significantly, it highlighted her activism.
āWhen I was starting out, most of the places I played, they had to lift my wheelchair on to the stage ā¦ or sometimes I couldnāt get into the bathroom,ā said Lea, who was born with osteogenesis imperfecta or brittle bone disease. She co-founded Ranch Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities which promotes inclusion and accessibility. āIf we really want to honor and uplift diversity, we have to make sure that the places that people gather to watch art and music are actually accessible.ā
For , a Tiny Desk Concert can boost confidence.
āIt means that Iām at a point where people care enough to even want something like that from me,ā said the eclectic Ghanaian American Afropop singer. āIām manifesting and making my visions come to fruition.ā
But even a legend like Juvenile, one of the biggest artists of the early 2000s, says he experienced a resurgence.
āWe (received) that crazy reaction ā¦ a lot of great things, a lot of shows, a lot of phone calls,ā he said. āIt just makes me feel real good inside, especially coming out here and letting the fans know Iām still out here.ā
THE FUTURE
Carter has picked up many of the leadership responsibilities, but he says donāt expect major changes to what was built under Boilen.
āThe things that keep me up at night is how do we maintain that while filling the demand?ā revealed Carter, whose personal wish list includes Sade, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole and Anita Baker. ā(Thereās) a lot of demand from outside sources to change it, to make it bigger ā¦ a lot of the challenge is to keep it tiny, keep it intimate, when thereās so much temptation.ā
Boilen retired, saying he believes in-person office camaraderie at NPR disappeared with post-covid remote work, no longer making the experience fun. His current focus is photography, and . Heās still producing Tiny Desk acts he booked before stepping away.
āI hope the series never just goes to getting the big name ... I donāt care about that,ā said the 70-year-old. āWeāre not making a difference in Taylor Swiftās life ā¦ but if we can turn people on to someone theyāve never heard, thatās always been ā in my 35 years at NPR ā that has totally been my goal.ā
For musicians like Lea, itās a mission accomplished.
āI can honestly say that Iāve done the same concert series as a lot of my favorite bands ā¦ It definitely serves a different purpose for Bono than it does for me, but itās cool for both of us,ā she said. āAside from meeting my husband, the Tiny Desk is probably the most pivotal moment in my life.ā
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Leslie Ambriz and Maria Sherman, both in Los Angeles, contributed to this story.
Follow Associated Press journalist Gary Gerard Hamilton at @GaryGHamilton on all his social media platforms.
Gary Gerard Hamilton, The Associated Press
