A Filipino American rapper known to many Asian American music fans will now have a national platform to promote her music.
Ruby Irabarra, who AsAmNews profiled in 2023 and has written about since 2014, just won the NPR Tiny Desk Contest, an annual search for the nation’s best unsigned musician.
NPR says her entry Bakunawa “stunned the judges with its passionate delivery, genre-defying sound and multi-generational band.”
“Oh, God, I’m shaking,” a disbelieving Ibarra said live on NPR when informed she had won. “This is a dream come true…this is artistry. This is music in its rawest form. To be able to have a space to share my voice, but also to bring my culture along in the music. Thank you.”
The San Francisco Bay Area-based artist will embark on a 10-city Tiny Desk tour beginning June 11 in Los Angeles.
Bakunawa is performed in three languages including two Filipino languages which the artist called meaningful.
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