As hip-hop turns 50, Tiny Desk rolls out the hits

Transcript

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:

The rapper Juvenile asked this question - WTF is a Tiny Desk? He's behind hits like "Back That Thang Up" and "Slow Motion." And on Twitter, a fan had been begging him to appear on the NPR Music video performance series, which apparently he had not heard about. That was in mid-April. By late June...

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JUVENILE: (Rapping) You know what it is to make nothing out of something. You handle your biz. And don't be crying and suffering.

(CHEERING)

JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:

He played some of his greatest hits in a stripped-down performance here at NPR headquarters. And I got to tell you, from my spot in the crowd, it was incredible. For the 50th anniversary of hip-hop this month, NPR Music is pulling together all of its hip-hop Tiny Desk Concerts. And NPR Music's Bobby Carter is the senior producer behind a lot of them. Hey, Bobby.

BOBBY CARTER, BYLINE: What up, Juana?

SUMMERS: OK. So I realize that I am asking you a question that's sort of like asking you to pick your favorite child, but I'm going to do it anyway. Give us a few of your favorite hip-hop Tiny Desks.

SUMMERS: It is like picking a child. But I always like to split them into two. So some of my favorites, obviously, are the ones that are the undeniables (ph) - right? - like Meg Thee Stallion.

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MEGAN THEE STALLION: (Rapping) Don't ask questions if we just sexting. I got situations, no confirmations. Everybody want to know who Megan dated. That depends on whatever the date is.

CARTER: And Mac Miller. Tyler, The Creator.

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TYLER, THE CREATOR: (Rapping) I said OK, OK, OK, OK, OK-dokey (ph) my infatuation is translating to another form of - what you call it?

CARTER: But then there are those, you know, some of my favorites that aren't mentioned as often, like Freddie Gibbs. Freddie Gibbs' Tiny Desk - Freddie Gibbs with Madlib - that's my favorite Tiny Desk in terms of hip-hop, like, of all time. It gets no better than that to me.

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FREDDIE GIBBS: (Rapping) Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SUMMERS: What made it so special?

CARTER: The way the band took these samples that Madlib chopped and brought out all of the special little intricacies and just made them completely new records. Like, you heard these songs that Freddie Gibbs spit on in a completely new way. It's just beautiful. It's just beautiful.

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FREDDIE GIBBS: (Rapping) It's when this music started moving, mayne (ph), but I still receive the move-them-thangs (ph).

SUMMERS: I mean, I know, for me, one of my favorite days of working here is anytime there is a Tiny Desk performance in the house. And these things break the internet. But I'm curious. Are there any sleeper shows that come to mind when you think about the hip-hop catalog, ones that maybe got a little less love?

CARTER: Yeah. To me, those are the shows that really sort of validate us as an authentic source for hip-hop. Like, we've had Rakim at the Tiny Desk, right? We've had Rapsody.

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RAPSODY: (Rapping) It's when you step out on faith, choose to do it, feel right and let everyone else trace. What we chase Ain't the same. I'm still that rapper that your favorite rapper scared to rap after. Sometimes it's hard to chill. I choose to kill, kill, kill, kill.

CARTER: Big K.R.I.T., Common, Wu-Tang. Saba is one of my favorite Tiny Desks. And, you know, people love them. But we have some that are so huge that at times we forget about the ones that are just as great. And those are the ones I love the most.

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SABA: (Singing) No, I can't feel your pain, but I can see the stars. No, I ain't even vain, but I know we with God. There's heaven all around me. There's heaven all around me.

SUMMERS: So the Tiny Desk is this really intimate venue, if we can even call it a venue. But, Bobby, what does it bring out in hip-hop artists? What do these performances show us that people might not pick up by seeing these artists at a big concert or even watching a music video?

CARTER: Yeah. I think hip-hop at the Tiny Desk proves that hip-hop can be as musically sophisticated as any other genre out there. You know, when you go back and you watch Anderson .Paak behind the drum kit, rapping...

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ANDERSON PAAK: Let me get down. D.C., what's happening? (Singing) You might never ever come down. It took too long to get this high off the ground. Don't run. Just stay...

CARTER: I mean, that's such a unique experience. And it brings out the musicality of all of these records, right? It's sophisticated. You know, the opulence of these live versions at the desk are completely different from what you hear on record. And I think another thing that's important is that, you know, when you have MCs and rappers coming to NPR, it's important to let them know that they're able and they're free to be their authentic selves behind the desk because, you know, there's a level of respect that people have for NPR. And, you know, nobody's cussing on NPR, but I let them know, look - you can be yourself. Once you're behind the desk, you are not censored. You can present your art exactly the way you wanted to present it.

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SUMMERS: OK. So I mentioned that you were pulling together all of these incredible hip-hop Tiny Desks in one place. So where can we find them?

CARTER: You can go to npr.org/tinydesk. And there, you will find our beautiful array of hip-hop shows from the years. So scroll through, and have some fun.

SUMMERS: Oh, trust me. I will. That is Bobby Carter, one of the producers of NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concerts. Thank you, Bobby.

CARTER: Thank you, Juana. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.