Our favorite Latin Tiny Desk Contest entries

Our favorite Latin Tiny Desk Contest entries

From Alt.Latino by NPR

May 13, 2026 · 31 min

About this episode

This episode features the top six Latin music entries from the Tiny Desk Contest, highlighting diverse musical expressions and artists.

Since 2014, we've been hitting bands up to send in their videos for the opportunity to win the Tiny Desk Contest. And almost from the beginning, Alt.Latino has been pulling aside the bands and artists that play Latin music. It’s always been a highlight to see the incredible talent that's out there night after night in bars, clubs, community centers, street parties and backyards, finding new ways to express their Latino identity through music. This year was no different. We waded through hundreds of entries to select the six to feature this week, which showcase a huge variety of musical expressions. And a reminder: you can see every band that sent in a video this year right here - and a big shout out to this year’s winner, Cure For Paranoia ! Artists and songs featured in this episode: (04:10) Sofia Gomez, "Without Me" (07:58) Ed Harvest, "Me Toca Despedirme de Ti" (11:05) alegrías, "Wahoo!" (16:05) Ivan Llanes and Friends, "Cubahia" (22:27) Majo Puente, "MAKTUB" (25:56) Thee Almighty Majestics, "Última Noche" This podcast episode was produced by Noah Caldwell. Suraya Mohamed is the executive director of NPR Music. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use…

People in this episode

Host: Noah Caldwell

Topics covered

  • Latin music
  • Tiny Desk Contest
  • musical expressions
  • artist showcases
  • Latino identity

Keywords

  • Tiny Desk Contest
  • Latin music
  • musical talent
  • Cure For Paranoia
  • artist showcase

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NPR

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