And the winner of the 2025 Tiny Desk Contest is (drumroll, please) … Ruby Ibarra! Hailing from the Bay Area by way of the Philippines, Ruby is a rapper, singer and spoken word artist whose entry, “Bakunawa,” stunned the judges with its passionate delivery, genre-defying sound and multi-generational band.
“Bakunawa” is performed in three languages (English, Tagalog and Bisaya), and tells the Filipino folklore story of the Bakunawa dragon who swallows the moon. It’s also inspired by the birth of Ruby’s first child.
“This song interprets the story as a metaphor for resistance and a battle cry against erasure,” Ruby says. “Much of Philippine history consists of colonization, imperialism and martial law — but on the other side of that is a rich history of Filipino people who have long resisted, organized and led revolutionary uprisings. This song, for me, is a statement that my daughter is my revolution and my hope that she will be liberated from the effects of our cultural history.”
In fact, Ruby was pregnant with her daughter when she recorded her entry. “I wanted to step into motherhood breaking the generational trauma, celebrating and accepting all parts of myself and reclaiming my power,” she shares.
Ruby says that every detail in her entry is intentional — including the band she put together to create it. She’s accompanied by Ouida, Han Han and June Millington (yes, that’s the June from '70s rock band Fanny) on vocals, as well as Anna Candari on guitar, Jojo Ramirez on drums and Camille Ramirez on bass. Ruby told us she wanted these intergenerational artists to represent how oral mythologies are passed down over time.
Each of our judges were floored by Ruby’s entry and agreed that she is a star. You may remember “Bakunawa” from when Bobby and Robin featured it on the first episode of Top Shelf. Felix Contreras says: “Ruby is blazing a trail with a sound that many more people need to hear.” Judy Miller Silverman agreed, noting that she and her band have “a clear passion to embrace history and culture in a modern way.”
And this isn’t the first time Ruby’s impressed us with her rich storytelling and musical talent. Her 2019 entry, “Someday,” an ode to her mother, was featured by our friends at Weekend Edition. “I am what I talk about in my music,” she said then. “I'm Pinay. I'm powerful. I'm fearless. I'm unfiltered.” We’re so glad Ruby returned to the Contest this year as her authentic self.
You can hear more from Ruby in her own words by tuning in to All Things Considered this afternoon.
The 2025 Tiny Desk Contest is presented by Capital One and supported by The Lagunitas Brewing Company.
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We can’t wait for Ruby and her band to join us in Washington, D.C., for her Tiny Desk concert — and for many of you to meet her at our tour stops throughout the country this summer.
Congratulations to Ruby and to all the members of her epic band! You can join us in giving Ruby her flowers by commenting on her “Bakunawa” video. And, of course, thank you to all of our 7,466 entrants in this record-breaking Contest year. While we can only have one winner, our judges loved so many of your entries, and we’ll continue to feature them in the coming weeks here in this newsletter, on-air and at our tour stops.
From the Desk,
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