As he finished his “Tiny Desk” set with “Like You,” Bow Wow beamed with pride. For much of his career, he was synonymous with BET. His music videos played constantly. As he grew from a child rapper to a teen heartthrob and later a host of “106 & Park,” he’d long adopted the nickname of being the man who put that brand in a different stratosphere.
Throughout Black Music Month, NPR opted to weave a love letter to the network through its musical selections. June has always been a tried-and-true space for Tiny Desk, a marvel that began as a joke by NPR Music’s Bob Boilen and has transformed into appointment viewing for live, stripped-down performances. This June was no different, especially considering that Bow Wow would be the capper as the first artist to have their Tiny Desk set premiere on cable television.
“There’s a reason why we’ve never done it,” Bobby Carter, a longtime producer for Tiny Desk, told theGrio. “It was an extremely heavy lift, but Bow Wow and NPR and BET made too much sense.”
Originally a home for rock and folk concerts, NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series took on new life in 2014 when T-Pain decided to strip away his patented Auto-Tune and sing with his real voice. It was the first “viral” moment, Carter told the Associated Press in 2024, and helped transform the idea of National Public Radio from highbrow to readily acceptable, especially as a performing home for up-and-coming, established, and even legendary Black and Latin music acts.
In the summers of the early 2000s, it wouldn’t be odd to see households in Black America primarily fixated on BET. From 11 a.m. until 3 a.m., when things turned over to “Bobby Jones Gospel,” the network had programming for all ages, mixed in with music videos and discussions about celebs and topics of the day.
While those days of everyone seemingly having the same childhood are fading more into the rearview, Carter and his team understood from the outset that showcasing generations of BET programming through music was paramount.
It was also the first time the outfit focused solely on a single entity rather than being wide-ranging.
“Because of the age diversity of our team, a few of us consider different times,” Carter said. “We have some 80s babies who look at the ‘Video Soul’/’Donnie Simpson’, early ‘Rap City’ time as the prime, but for my younger colleagues like Ashley [Pointer] and Alanté [Serene], it’s all about that ‘106 & Park’ era. It speaks to the network’s longevity.”
The last 25 to 30 years of BET were all represented throughout June. From the “Midnight Soul” of Joe and Floetry to Eve and 8Ball & MJG ripping it as if they were back in “The Basement.” Up-and-coming acts from rock group The Paradox to GENA were spotlighted. Even the gospel of Fred Hammond graced the Tiny Desk, similarly to how those gospel tributes never felt out of place at the BET Awards every summer.
For Carter, who has spent more than two decades at NPR, the artist selection process is almost like a reality show in itself. Hundreds of submissions wind up in front of him and the NPR Music brain trust. After all factors, including genre diversity and the artist’s flexibility to perform in a unique environment, are considered, the team makes its final decision.
“Timing is also very important,” Carter said, almost mirroring Tiny Desk to its spiritual ancestors of “American Bandstand,” “The Ed Sullivan Show,” and “Soul Train.”
He added, “There are lots of musicians who hit our radar, and we fall for them quickly, but I don’t want to get them here too early. Sometimes the immediate impact is undeniable, and we wanna be first. We also listen to who the audience wants at the desk. Over the years, it’s become an extremely complex process, and there’s no one way, but we’re built for it.”
Is there a dream list of acts that the NPR crew wants for Tiny Desk? According to Carter and audio engineer Josephine Nyounai, that list is rather endless. Carter yearns for Stevie Wonder to showcase his legendary career in the setting, while Nyouani would love to see A$AP Rocky, Frank Ocean and Jhené Aiko play the setting, Aiko especially because she had an “at home” Tiny Desk and not a proper one.
From Sade to JAŸ-Z, Radiohead to Kendrick Lamar, The Clark SIsters, Beyoncé and Solange, Brandy, Victoria Monét and others, Carter’s deeper list contains a who’s who of music across all genres. And even if they may not fall into future Black Music Month plans, Carter & Co. know where they need to be.
“If you know any of these people, let em know that I’m looking for them,” he said with a laugh.
