RaiNao: Tiny Desk Concert

Anamaria Sayre | May 20, 2026
What will Caribbean waters and Puerto Rican percussion sound like in the years to come? Hija de la isla RaiNao’s Tiny Desk is here to show us. “Soy hija — especialmente, hija del Mar Caribe y de la hermosa tierra que me había nacer, Puerto Rico,” the artist explained, introducing herself: “I am a daughter — above all, a daughter of the Caribbean Sea and of the beautiful land where I was born, Puerto Rico.”

In her recordings, RaiNao leans into reggaeton and electronic beats, sounds viewed widely as the backbone of the current generation of music in Latin America — sometimes begrudgingly, though increasingly with reverence in the age of Bad Bunny. RaiNao’s Tiny Desk performance presents a different, equally significant version of Puerto Rico’s song spine. Built on guiros, timbales and maracas, it’s a rich homage to an island that beats to bomba, plena and salsa alongside reggaeton.

What RaiNao does in plain sight at the Desk is seamlessly fuse different worlds atop traditional percussion. A traditional drum kit is absent from the set, yet nods to jazz and R&B are strong. She shines through as the tantalizing, easy-listening thread — particularly in the saxophone accents peppered throughout — and her uniqueness puts a name, face and sound to new waves of Puerto Rican creation. Her music offers an important truth: Being a daughter of the island, in its most authentic sense, requires being fiercely, unapologetically you.

SET LIST
“Celular”
“Limbo”
“track4”
“dandovueltasdandovueltasdandovueltasdandovueltasdandovueltasdandovueltasdandovueltas”

MUSICIANS
RaiNao: vocals, tenor sax, maracas
Frido Vargas: guitar, music director, timbal, background vocals
Emilio Mendez Ramirez: keys
Giovanni Ortiz: bass
LuisFra Colon: tenor sax, güiro, flute
Jahaziel Garcia: trumpet
Joey Oyola: trombone
Nubia Marina Garcia: percussion
Naisa Suané: percussion
Deborah Amanda: background vocals
Veronica Rolon: güiro, background vocals

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Anamaria Sayre
Director/Editor: Kara Frame
Audio Engineer/Mix: Josephine Nyounai
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Kara Frame, Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Alanté Serene
Audio Engineer: Tiffany Vera Castro
Production Assistants: Dhanika Pineda, Alina Edwards
Photographer: Bronson Arcuri
Tiny Desk Team: Ashley Pointer, Josh Newell
Series Editor: Lars Gotrich
Copy Editor: Daoud Tyler-Ameen
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Executive Director: Sonali Mehta
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton

#tinydesk #nprmusic #rainao

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