Now is the time to get obsessed with Tampa singer-songwriter Destin Conrad.<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old R&B musician spent 2025 releasing two albums and earning his first Grammy nomination. And on Monday morning, he got his own NPR Tiny Desk Concert.<\/p>\n
A little over a year ago, Tampa rapper Doechii made her Tiny Desk debut. Her now-viral performance<\/a> amassed 18 million views. Singer Benjamin Booker, another star with Tampa roots<\/a>, also made a splash when his Tiny Desk came out in 2017<\/a>.<\/p>\n Conrad\u2019s debut album \u201cLove On Digital\u201d was inspired by the R&B music of the \u201990s and early 2000s. With features from Kehlani and Lil Nas X, the record came out in April and is up for a Grammy forBest Progressive R&B Album.” Conrad followed with his second, jazzier album, \u201cWhimsy,\u201d in August.<\/p>\n Conrad and his 9-piece band pulledfrom both projects during the Tiny Desk Concert.<\/p>\n According to a September interview with Creative Loafing<\/a>, Conrad got his start singing in Tampa, from after-school programs at Shore Elementary Magnet School of the Arts in Ybor City to performances at his aunt\u2019s church in Tampa.<\/p>\n \u201cTampa\u2019s everything. I love being from Tampa. I feel like it\u2019s a very underrated place and there\u2019s a lot of culture there,\u201d he told the paper. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of untapped, but I\u2019m excited for it to become more of like a pinpoint place in Florida. Also, because Doechii is putting it on the map<\/a> as well.\u201d<\/p>\n