Ruby Ibarra: From Tacloban to Tiny Desk to Forgotten Island
Bay Area, California • October 2026. Ruby Ibarra: From Tacloban to Tiny Desk to Forgotten Island. ruby ibarra, filipino american rapper, salbahe ako, carl angelo, forgotten island soundtrack, tiny desk contest winner, bakunawa, waray rap, tagalog hip-hop, circa91, apache sample, filipino american history month, fahm 2026, 10/9. PROFILE • FAHM 2026 • OCTOBER 2026 Ruby Ibarra: From Tacloban to Tiny Desk to Forgotten Island Ruby Ibarra raps in English, Tagalog, and Waray, won NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest with a song about a mythic serpent, and now shares “Salbahe Ako” with Carl Angelo on the Forgotten Island soundtrack. Here is the record, and why it matters this October. A PinoyBuilt illustration of the cassette that started it: Francis Magalona’s 1990 album Yo! , the one piece of music Ruby Ibarra’s family carried from Tacloban to California and the first album she grew to love, unspooling...
