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Home > Prizes > Prize Recipients > Ruby Ibarra

Ruby Ibarra

2023 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Music

Portrait of Ruby Ibarra.

Location

San Ramon, CA

Title

Songwriter and producer;
Cofounder of the Pinays Rising Scholarship program

Area(s) of Research

Hip-hop

Education

University of California, Davis (BS, Biochemistry)

Country of Birth

Philippines

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  • Ruby Ibarra

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artist Filipina Filipino filmmaker hip-hop music Philippines poet poetry spoken word UC Davis
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Portrait of Ruby Ibarra.

Born in Tacloban City in the Philippines, some of Ruby Ibarra’s earliest memories include seeing her family members sing, play guitar, and perform at local festivals. At the age of 5, Ibarra and her family immigrated to the United States, arriving at San Francisco International Airport in 1991. She describes that moment as a turning point in her young life, and a basis for her identity as an activist, artist, and musician.

Ruby Ibarra in a red and black coat on the hills of San Francisco Bay Area.

Ibarra receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Music for her personal and evocative hip-hop and spoken word performances that center her experiences as a Filipina American woman, and as an immigrant growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and for her powerful lyrics that address colonialism, immigration, colorism, and misogyny.

As an adolescent, Ibarra was transfixed by hip-hop, drawn in by the percussive nature of the artists’ vocals and the poetry of their lyrics. “This is a genre and a platform for the people who feel voiceless in society. Being an immigrant, I gravitated towards that,” says Ibarra. “Here was this soundtrack where these artists were able to encapsulate things similar to what I was experiencing in terms of trying to find a place for themselves in society.”

Ruby Ibarra, sitting on a couch with headphones on, writing lyrics in a notebook.

Ibarra released her mixtape, Lost in Translation, in 2012. The mixtape garnered airplay across major networks, including Eminem’s Sirius XM Radio channel. In 2017, she released her debut album, CIRCA91. The album’s hit single, “Us,” struck a chord with Filipino and Pacific Islander audiences with its compelling hook, “Island women rise, walang makakatigil”—Tagalog for “nothing can stop.”

In 2018 Ibarra cofounded the Pinays Rising Scholarship program with Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales. Inspired by Ibarra’s song “Us,” the program provides scholarships of $500 to empower Filipina and Filipinx youth pursuing higher education. Since its establishment, Pinays Rising has awarded more than 30 scholarships each year to young students and activists.

Ruby Ibarra leaning on red fence.

Awards and Accomplishments

  • San Francisco Immigrants Rights Commission Youth Leadership Award (2021)

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artist Filipina Filipino filmmaker hip-hop music Philippines poet poetry spoken word UC Davis

Jury Members

2023 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Music

Aja Burrell

Managing Director, Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, Berklee College of Music

Erika Elliott

Executive Artistic Director, SummerStage, City Parks Foundation

Myra Huang

Director of Musical Administration, Aspen Opera Theater

Garrett McQueen

Executive Producer, TRILLOQUY

Jason Moran

Artistic Director, Jazz, The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts

Puja Patel

Editor-in-Chief, Pitchfork

Kamala Sankaram

Composer and Performer, Kamala Sankaram
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