Ruby Ibarra's latest rap: An ode to her immigrant mother

SCREEN CAPTURE / YOUTUBE

Ruby Ibarra, right, performs "Someday" with the Balikbayans.

Filipino American rap artist Ruby Ibarra entered NPR's Tiny Desk contest with her creation "Someday," honoring the travails and sacrifices of her mother, who immigrated from the Philippines.

While she didn't win the contest (with over 6,000 entries) she impressed the judges enough that NPR wrote a separate article about her. She tells National Public Radio:

"It is my declaration that my mother and I will make it in this country. I think that when we talk about immigration, especially in mainstream media, much of that is often romanticized and simplified; the experience and struggles are overlooked and the formation of identity and sense of belonging are neglected.

"When my mom moved to California from the Philippines in 1991, she went from being an accountant to a fast food janitor/cashier. She left everything behind in her motherland in hopes to provide better opportunities for me and my younger sister. She learned quickly how to be on survival mode and realized that the American Dream was far more complex than the mainstream narrative. The song "Someday" captures these themes and most importantly, captures my mother's story, which is ultimately a similar story for many immigrants — trying to find a place to call home."

The San Francisco-based rapper tells NPR that her mother always remained a model of resilience for Ibarra and her sister. "She was the matriarch and the patriarch in our household," Ibarra says. "She was always my example of what it meant to be Pinay, a woman who pretty much did s*** on her own, carried everything on her own back."

The chorus, "Mama we goin' make it here someday" is meant to be a promise, says Ibarra.

"I want to reach a point someday where I can look at her in the face and say that we made it," Ibarra says. "I think that sense of belonging, that sense of hope, is a thread that's very common in a lot of immigrant stories."

On the verge of breaking out nationally, Ibarra says that she hopes through her music and message she is able to pass inspiration on to others who want to do the same. Although she speaks about her Filipino American experience, her message conveys the feelings, hopes and dreams of all people of color.

"I am what I talk about in my music. I am Pinay, I'm powerful, I'm fearless, I'm unfiltered," Ibarra says in the NPR interview. "And I like to hope that there's young women out there who feel the same way. Or even if they don't feel the same way, I hope to inspire young women out there to want to use their voice, to claim who they are and to embrace their identity."

I include the lyrics to "Someday" because my baby boomer ears can't catch all the nuances of contemporary rap. (Sorry!) 

I wrote this album ‘cause I want my life to change
Tired of being shortchanged, I'm tryna remain sane
Hopped off the plane, didn’t stop all the pain
My father’s still in debt and we've been struggling to pay
For a bedroom upon Meekland Ave., reachin for just meeting half
Hands tied against the odds, how the fuck you even that?
The people from the slums once, now livin’ the humdrum
Mama from the barrio so we dreamin’ we can stunt once
Mama, I know it’s gon’ be fine wherever we go
'Cause we know, you raised this girl to dream and be a hero
What’s an ego to an eagle? I free flow when I speak though
My pipe dreams through a peephole, my skin so Filipino
But often times my pride, inside, is fightin’ high tides
The day we broke the ocean was the day I learned to nosedive
Closed eyes, fingerprint ink with the most dye
Those times, mama never blinked, say the oath twice

[Chorus]
I said mama we gon’ make it there someday
I said mama we gon’ make it there someday
I said mama we gon’ make it there someday
I said mama we gon’ make it there someday
I said mama we gon’ make it here someday
I said mama we gon’ make it here someday
I said mama we gon’ make it here someday
I said mama we gon’ make it here someday


[Verse 2]
So what's a freestyle to me? I been doing as a 6-year-old
Thinkin’ on my own 2 feet, survival pick and go
Pick a role - you can be the swimmer or a sunken soul
I was a 6-year-old without a father figure role
No silver spoons or dinner rolls, so will you fold or will you go?
Pretend to sing like Figaro, my people still invisible
When you the spittin’ image of a person that you hate
Makes sense I'm spittin' images of dawn that never breaks
Nirvana never waits, I was a pawn of bitter fate
That spawned from inner hate, I never wanted to be great
I study my mother wonder how she holds this family
That minimum salary, stretched as much as it can be
She stressed but keeps that shit from me, I’m just tryna fit in, see
I crave for that acceptance like it validates my sanity
I wrestle with affirmations, settle for masking faces
After all, the stolen lands are always greener places

(Chorus)

[Verse 3]
At school, reduced lunches while my mama skip her lunchtime
9 to 5 minimum wage, she at the bus line
Here I am, filling a page, waiting to bust rhymes
‘Til I’m nearing the day I’m getting cosigned
Snare rolls and punchlines to payrolls and punch time
We take shows like crunch time, we braved those like front lines
My life on these lines ‘cause we never had lifelines
And these days I’m scared of what might go through my mind
I flow like Rizal and I’m writing like Hagedorn
Mixed with Gabriela Silang, now watch as the page mourns
Say my name, it tastes foreign
Type to make your face form in ways you never made
Born from another place, thorns couldn’t break away
Or am I just a breakaway?
From being centre stage from off the page or will I fade away?
I never been the type to say I’m scared of what I have to face
‘Cause all I ever knew is being me so all I ever need to say is…

(Chorus)

Click here to listen to NPR.

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