Today, NPR announced the Bay Area's Ruby Ibarra as the winner of the 2025 NPR Tiny Desk Contest.
Each year, NPR accepts thousands of video submissions from unsigned bands across the country. The rules are simple: Bands cannot be signed to any recording contract, the songs must be original and a desk must appear somewhere in the video. A jury of musicians and NPR music critics selects a winner from the pool of entries. That winning act performs an actual Tiny Desk concert at NPR headquarters, is interviewed on All Things Considered and headlines a national tour.
Once again, we got our hands on all the Tiny Desk Contest entries submitted by acts from San Diego and Imperial counties. And once again, we were blown away by the talent. We put our heads together and picked some of our favorites to share with you below.
Our team includes Anthony Wallace, producer of The Finest podcast; Ben Redlawsk, audio engineer; Brenden Tuccinardi, web producer; Julia Dixon Evans, arts reporter and host of The Finest podcast; and Katie Anastas, education reporter and former NPR Tiny Desk staffer.
Learn more about the NPR Tiny Desk Contest here.
Anthony's top pick:
I love the aesthetic of Aleah Discavage's video. It's filmed in a room that looks both trendy, vintage and vaguely haunted, with an incredible antique telephone that looks like it might’ve been in Buckingham Palace at one point. The song as a whole is propulsive and well-constructed, and the chorus has been lingering in my brain since the first time I heard it. The part where she sings "you are the cherry on top" is, for me, actually the melodic cherry on top that makes the song.
Ben's top pick:
Slacker brings a refreshingly concise message to Tiny Desk with "Velvet Worms," delivered by a driving punk sound that rattles the windows of the corporate office setting where they recorded. The three-piece rock outfit embodies the creativity and resourcefulness of Tiny Desk, tucking their drums into a cubicle and propping speakers up on rolling office chairs. The suits the band wears, which contribute to the corporate tableau, underscore their lyrics about wealth inequality, with clever metaphors of "velvet worms" and "working-class arachnids."
Brenden's top pick:
I don't know what I could say that hasn't been said already, but Shua is so extremely talented. You're never bored listening to him. His voice is multifaceted. From its searing belt to buttery falsetto, it's a true feast for the ears. And this song perfectly fits his voice. The pain of feeling lost in a tumultuous world is palpable. It was such a treat to listen to his story on The Finest, and it adds yet another layer to this performance. (Bonus listening: Shua performed a stripped-down version of this song on the podcast that is equally — if not more — delectable.)
Julia's top pick:
I was completely transfixed during The Neighborhood Kids' "BIDDI BOMB X HUSH." The local hip-hop group features a full band and DJ, fronted by Amon the Emcee and Verde, with a throwback West Coast style. Amon and Verde deftly power through complex, thoughtful bars and harmonies — and in this extra-long track, it also feels like an act of fine-tuned endurance. The group defines their music as "conscious hip-hop" — a missive that shines in their impassioned, poetic and disruptive lyrics.
Katie's top pick:
Al Akhbar blends Arabic and jazz sounds, with saxophonist Riva at the center. The band says they chose their name, which means "the news" in Arabic, "to transform the traditional notion of news as a bearer of sorrow into a messenger of unity and joy of heritage." Their Tiny Desk Contest entry song, "Awal Khabar," brings that joy. It invites the listener in with a cozy start and ends with an energetic jam. I couldn't help but tap my feet along.
