The Bay is so back! NPR Music announced the winner of the 11th Tiny Desk Contest and it’s rapper, spoken word artist, and director Ruby Ibarra from Fairfield. Filmed in Oakland, her winning entry “Bakunawa” is a chill-inducing intergenerational collaboration with Filipina artists that Ibarra wrote inspired by her first child and Philipine mythology.
Ibarra will perform at the iconic Tiny Desk at NPR headquarters in D.C. before embarking on the Tiny Desk Contest on the Road tour, which includes a stop in Petaluma on Friday, June 13. You can get tickets here.
Here’s what she had to say about the song: "I created and recorded 'Bakunawa' while I was pregnant with my first child. During the recording of this submission, I was in my last trimester. That time in my life led to a moment of clarity as I thought about how I wanted to step into motherhood: breaking the generational trauma, celebrating and accepting all parts of myself, and reclaiming my power, both old and new — all things that I want to pass onto my daughter through our private moments and through my music. The song's title is in reference to the Philippine mythology about a bakunawa (dragon) who swallows the moon; similarly, this song interprets the story as a metaphor for resistance and a battle cry against erasure. 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."
Watch her winning entry below: