We obtained practically 7,500 entries from impartial artists throughout the nation for the Tiny Desk Contest. That is a report for the mission, now in its eleventh yr, which has catapulted the careers of artists like Grammy winners Incredible Negrito and Tank and the Bangas. Now we now have a brand new star: Ruby Ibarra, a Filipina American rapper from the Bay Space. Ibarra’s Contest entry, “Bakunawa,” shocked this yr’s panel of judges with its multilingual, intergenerational band and passionate emcee.
When arriving on the Tiny Desk, Ibarra was poised, gracious and somewhat reserved. We might inform she was taking within the second that she would later name “surreal.” However as quickly as she bought located behind the Desk, she locked in.
Group and tradition are two guiding forces in Ibarra’s music. She put collectively an all-Filipino band for this efficiency, which incorporates R&B singer Ouida and members of Pinay Voltron and Astralogik, plus rock legend June Millington. However past these musicians, Ibarra’s crew runs deep; our workplace was full of the artists’ family and friends.
On “Bakunawa,” a track about Filipino folklore and motherhood, Ibarra performs in English, Tagalog and Bisaya, switching effortlessly between the three languages from one verse to the subsequent. On “7000 Miles,” she raps about her and her household’s experiences as immigrants. “My mother will make it in America” is a verse she repeats whereas wanting into the teary eyes of her mom, who sits entrance row within the viewers with a field of tissues. On the finish of “Sometime,” Ibarra modifications the track’s chorus from “Mama, we gon’ make it right here sometime” to “Mama, we gon’ make it right here at the moment.”
Between flows, Ibarra introduces herself and makes an announcement: “Being human will not be unlawful. Immigrants have been right here, lived right here, labored right here. And this immigrant is right here. From Tacloban Metropolis, Philippines, all the best way to Washington, D.C., my title is Ruby Ibarra.”
SET LIST
- “Bakunawa”
- “7000 Miles”
- “Sometime”
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/Editor: Kara Body
- Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
- Tiny Desk Contest Workforce: Elle Mannion, Dora Levite, Otis Hart
- Video Editor: Sofia Seidel
- Videographers: Kara Body, Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Sofia Seidel
- Audio Engineer: Neil Tevault
- Manufacturing Assistants: Dora Levite, Ashley Pointer
- Photographer: Grace Raver
- Tiny Desk Sequence Editor: Lars Gotrich
- Govt Producer: Suraya Mohamed
- Sequence Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
- VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
