Ruby Ibarra, 2025 Tiny Desk Contest Winner: Tiny Desk Concert
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Elle Mannion | May 29, 2025
We received nearly 7,500 entries from independent artists across the country for the Tiny Desk Contest. That’s a record for the project, now in its 11th year, which has catapulted the careers of artists like Grammy winners Fantastic Negrito and Tank and the Bangas. Now we have a new star: Ruby Ibarra, a Filipina American rapper from the Bay Area. Ibarra’s Contest entry, “Bakunawa,” stunned this year’s panel of judges with its multilingual, intergenerational band and passionate emcee.
When arriving at the Tiny Desk, Ibarra was poised, gracious and a little reserved. We could tell she was taking in the moment that she would later call “surreal.” But as soon as she got situated behind the Desk, she locked in.
Community and culture are two guiding forces in Ibarra’s music. She put together an all-Filipino band for this performance, which includes R&B singer Ouida and members of Pinay Voltron and Astralogik, plus rock legend June Millington. But beyond these musicians, Ibarra’s crew runs deep; our office was packed with the artists’ friends and family.
On “Bakunawa,” a song about Filipino folklore and motherhood, Ibarra performs in English, Tagalog and Bisaya, switching effortlessly between the three languages from one verse to the next. On “7000 Miles,” she raps about her and her family’s experiences as immigrants. “My mom will make it in America” is a verse she repeats while looking into the teary eyes of her mother, who sits front row in the audience with a box of tissues. At the end of “Someday,” Ibarra changes the song’s refrain from “Mama, we gon’ make it here someday” to “Mama, we gon’ make it here today.”
Between flows, Ibarra introduces herself and makes a statement: “Being human is not illegal. Immigrants have been here, lived here, worked here. And this immigrant is here. From Tacloban City, Philippines, all the way to Washington, D.C., my name is Ruby Ibarra.”
SET LIST
“Bakunawa”
“7000 Miles”
“Someday”
MUSICIANS
Ruby Ibarra: vocals
Ouida: vocals
June Millington: guitar, vocals
Anna Macan: guitar, background vocals
Camille Ramirez: bass, flute, background vocals
Angelo “LASI” Macaraeg: keys, guitar
JoJo Gajardo Ramirez: drums
Charito Soriano: background vocals
TINY DESK TEAM
Producers: Elle Mannion, Bobby Carter
Director: Kara Frame
Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
Tiny Desk Contest Team: Elle Mannion, Dora Levite, Otis Hart
Video Editor: Sofia Seidel
Videographers: Kara Frame, Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Sofia Seidel
Audio Engineer: Neil Tevault
Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
Photographer: Grace Raver
Tiny Desk Series Editor: Lars Gotrich
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
#tinydesk #tinydeskcontest #rubyibarra
Support for NPR Music comes from Capital One. Presenting sponsor of the 2025 Tiny Desk Contest. What's in your wallet? Learn more at CapitalOne.com.
We received nearly 7,500 entries from independent artists across the country for the Tiny Desk Contest. That’s a record for the project, now in its 11th year, which has catapulted the careers of artists like Grammy winners Fantastic Negrito and Tank and the Bangas. Now we have a new star: Ruby Ibarra, a Filipina American rapper from the Bay Area. Ibarra’s Contest entry, “Bakunawa,” stunned this year’s panel of judges with its multilingual, intergenerational band and passionate emcee.
When arriving at the Tiny Desk, Ibarra was poised, gracious and a little reserved. We could tell she was taking in the moment that she would later call “surreal.” But as soon as she got situated behind the Desk, she locked in.
Community and culture are two guiding forces in Ibarra’s music. She put together an all-Filipino band for this performance, which includes R&B singer Ouida and members of Pinay Voltron and Astralogik, plus rock legend June Millington. But beyond these musicians, Ibarra’s crew runs deep; our office was packed with the artists’ friends and family.
On “Bakunawa,” a song about Filipino folklore and motherhood, Ibarra performs in English, Tagalog and Bisaya, switching effortlessly between the three languages from one verse to the next. On “7000 Miles,” she raps about her and her family’s experiences as immigrants. “My mom will make it in America” is a verse she repeats while looking into the teary eyes of her mother, who sits front row in the audience with a box of tissues. At the end of “Someday,” Ibarra changes the song’s refrain from “Mama, we gon’ make it here someday” to “Mama, we gon’ make it here today.”
Between flows, Ibarra introduces herself and makes a statement: “Being human is not illegal. Immigrants have been here, lived here, worked here. And this immigrant is here. From Tacloban City, Philippines, all the way to Washington, D.C., my name is Ruby Ibarra.”
SET LIST
“Bakunawa”
“7000 Miles”
“Someday”
MUSICIANS
Ruby Ibarra: vocals
Ouida: vocals
June Millington: guitar, vocals
Anna Macan: guitar, background vocals
Camille Ramirez: bass, flute, background vocals
Angelo “LASI” Macaraeg: keys, guitar
JoJo Gajardo Ramirez: drums
Charito Soriano: background vocals
TINY DESK TEAM
Producers: Elle Mannion, Bobby Carter
Director: Kara Frame
Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
Tiny Desk Contest Team: Elle Mannion, Dora Levite, Otis Hart
Video Editor: Sofia Seidel
Videographers: Kara Frame, Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Sofia Seidel
Audio Engineer: Neil Tevault
Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
Photographer: Grace Raver
Tiny Desk Series Editor: Lars Gotrich
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
#tinydesk #tinydeskcontest #rubyibarra
Support for NPR Music comes from Capital One. Presenting sponsor of the 2025 Tiny Desk Contest. What's in your wallet? Learn more at CapitalOne.com.