The Jackson Clarion-Ledger recently published a feature of 2000 graduate Robert ‘Bobby’ Carter, a producer with National Public Radio and its popular ‘Tiny Desk Concert Series.’
Carter turned a three-month internship into a career with NPR that has spanned more than 20 years and has had a major influence on the concert series’ embrace of Black urban contemporary artists and music which, in its inception in 2008, were not heavily featured on the program.
The show is also known to launch budding artists’ careers while bridging the gap between generations for more seasoned performers. Carter says he helped usher in the hip-hop era of Tiny Desk, which appears to be the link needed to connect demographics.
“At the time, they were doing rock, folk, indie, and then I talked to them about incorporating hip hop and R&B into the program. I thought it was something the platform needed, and they were receptive to it.”
NPR’s YouTube music channel has more than 4.4 million subscribers.
