Cure For Paranoia wants you to believe in yourself. Perseverance, plus a whole lot of talent, is what got the Dallas hip-hop collective to our space after submitting to the Tiny Desk Contest four years in a row.
Here, between laying down clever verses alongside his ten-piece band, frontperson Cameron McCloud introduces the group and their mission. "Ten years ago, I was placed on medication for bipolar depression and paranoid schizophrenia — but it turned out that music was way more therapeutic than medication was, so I created this band, this brand, this movement, called Cure For Paranoia," he shares. "Making music with these people is my therapy, so hopefully the music we create can be therapy for other people as well."
No matter how many major names have stopped by the Desk, discovery is still the heart of the series. The Tiny Desk Contest, which we host annually in search of the next great undiscovered artist, is a perfect example of that. This year, we received more than 6,000 entries from independent artists across the country, but one act had undeniable star power. Among our judges, the decision to crown Cure For Paranoia was unanimous.
Each song performed here was once a Contest submission. And each verse in the group's winning song, "No Brainer," comes from a project where McCloud posted a new rap verse on Instagram every day of 2025. The last song — called "That Kid Cam," which is what McCloud went by when he was selling CDs at the mall as a kid — is a set highlight that showcases McCloud's magnetism, the group's dynamism and just how far they've come since they started believing in the power of their music together.
SET LIST
- "The Artshow"
- "No Brainer"
- "That Kid Cam"
MUSICIANS
- Cameron McCloud: vocals
- Jay Analog: MPC
- Tomahawk Jonez: MPC
- Kwinton Gray: keys, background vocals
- Mack Price Jr.: guitar
- KJ Gray: bass
- Emery Varrie III: drums
- Nick Rothouse: percussion
- Jordan Carr: trumpet
- Kierra Gray: background vocals
- Dana Harper: background vocals
TINY DESK TEAM
- Producers: Elle Mannion, Bobby Carter
- Director/Editor: Kara Frame
- Audio Director/Mix: Josh Newell
- Videographers: Kara Frame, Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Alanté Serene
- Audio Engineer: Tiffany Vera Castro
- Production Assistant: Dora Levite
- Photographer: Zayrha Rodriguez
- Tiny Desk Team: Ashley Pointer, Felix Contreras
- Series Editor: Lars Gotrich
- Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
- Executive Director: Sonali Mehta
- Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton
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