Fil-Am rapper Ruby Ibarra wins NPR's Tiny Desk Contest!

Ruby Ibarra, the super cool Fil-Am rapper (and scientist!) just won NPR's Tiny Desk Contest!

According to NPR, Ruby "stunned the contest judges with her passionate delivery, intergenerational band and genre-defying sound."

Ruby entered the contest with "Bakunawa," which had her rapping in Tagalog, Bisaya, and English, backed by a super astig intergenerational band.

The song, which tells a folklore story of the moon-eating dragon, is inspired by the birth of Ruby's panganay. Released in December 2024, "Bakunawa" is from Ruby's forthcoming second album.

"This song, for me, is a statement that my daughter is my revolution and my hope that she will be liberated from the effects of our cultural history," Ruby told NPR. 

"'Bakunawa' rose to the top of the nearly 7,500 [entries] we received this year," NPR said on social media.

 

 

 

 

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Winning the contest means Ruby will get to perform her own Tiny Desk Concert in Washington D.C. and go on the 10-city Tiny Desk Contest tour.

She will appear on NPR's "All Things Considered" podcast shortly.

This isn't the first time that NPR has taken notice of Ruby. "Bakunawa" was earlier featured in the first episode of its Top Shelf series. In 2019, Ruby's ode to her mother "Someday" was also featured on NPR's Weekend edition. 

In case you didn't know, Ruby is the female rapper behind the powerful rap song played at the end of the documentary "A Thousand Cuts." She also made an appearance on Nadine Lustre's single, "No 32."

Ruby's family is originally from Tacloban. When the family left for California in 1991, her parents brought with them just one album: Francis Magalona's "Yo."

"We migrated to the US in 1991, when I was two years old and I was introduced to the rapper Francis Magalona when I was five," Ruby told Mabuhay Magazine. "We moved to the Bay Area where hip-hop is a big part of the community's culture," she continued.

"What attracted me were the melody and the tone of resistance. It's really the voice of the youth and the unheard. It's an expression that empowers people."

Watch Ruby's "Bakunawa" below and let's all toast to Ruby! Tagay!

— LA, GMA Integrated News