Juvenile tapes NPR ‘Tiny Desk’ concert with all-star musicians

Mannie Fresh, Jon Batiste and Trombone Shorty performed with Juvenile and his band during a June 14 taping of "NPR's Tiny Desk" concert series.

TheGrio Staff

Jun 22, 2023

Juvenile’s NPR “Tiny Desk” concert air date is imminent. The Louisiana hitmaker taped his online concert alongside longtime producer-DJ Mannie Fresh and some fellow New Orleans musicians.

The platinum-selling Cash Money Millionaire MC recorded his concert on June 14 at NPR’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., according to Nola.com. His live band included Mannie Fresh, five-time Grammy Award-winning musician Jon Batiste, and Grammy-winning trombonist-singer Troy Andrews, a.k.a Trombone Shorty.

Anticipation for Juvenile’s “Tiny Desk” appearance began in April when fans campaigned for the “Back That Azz Up” rapper to perform on the popular online live music series. Juvenile saw the online comments and admitted in a Twitter post that he had no idea what “Tiny Desk” was.

Rapper Juvenile attends “2010 VH1 Hip Hop Honors” on June 3, 2010, at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.

After discovering “Tiny Desk,” Juvenile polled fans, saying he would consider doing it if his tweet received 10,000 retweets or more. Shortly after his tweet exceeded the 10,000-retweet threshold, Juvenile stated that he reached out to NPR to get on the performance schedule.

“The People Have Spoken!!!! 10k!!! and @NPR locked it in,” Juvenile posted.

While in the District, Juvenile had a packed schedule. He performed with a live band on June 14 at the Howard Theater, visited the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, and teamed up with Mannie Fresh to meet with U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, at his Washington office. Carter presented Juvenile with a Congressional proclamation.

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In June, NPR featured many Black artists on “Tiny Desk” as part of its Black Music Month celebration. Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Charlie Wilson, Tank, Adam Blackstone, and Ambré each premiered “Tiny Desk” concerts this month.

The date for Juvenile’s “Tiny Desk” performance will be announced later.

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