NPR’s “El Tiny” desk series is back for Our Heritage Month. For the second year in a row, a new batch of Latine artists like Tokischa, Carla Morrison, and Omar Apollo will perform their hits in special live settings.
NPR first launched the “El Tiny” desk series last year during Latine Heritage Month. The first round of performers included special sets from Camila Cabello, J Balvin, Sech, Yendry, and Prince Royce. With that time of year approaching again, “El Tiny” has returned.
For the second “El Tiny” desk series, new performances will be released on NPR’s YouTube page from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. In addition to Tokischa, Morrison, and Apollo, there will also be performances from artists like Jessie Reyez, Girl Ultra, and Trueno. Carin León, Susana Baca, and Farruko will also release special performances.
The concerts on “Tiny Desk” and “Tiny Desk (Home)” were curated by NPR Music’s Alt.Latino co-hosts Anamaria Sayre and Felix Contreras. As part of the relaunch of “El Tiny,” Alt.Latino will also release new weekly episodes of the podcast and interviews with Latine musicians. There will also be exclusive “El Tiny” merchandise dropping.
“It’s an honor to present the best of our music on such a high profile outlet like the Tiny Desk Concerts,” Contreras said in a statement. “Many of the musicians who we have brought in from Latin America have started calling it El Tiny. So that’s what I call it!!”
Sayre also talked about the experience of leading the “El Tiny” series. She added, “The corazón of Tiny Desk is unmistakably universal. We’ve reached our gente all across Latin America for years now and for the second year in a row we get to honor them — juntos in celebration of musical excellence by us and for us.”
Earlier this year, “Tiny Desk” released performances by Colombian singer Feid and Chilean rocker Mon Laferte, which have become some of their most popular performances by Latine acts to date.