This Fil-Am hip-hop artist is also a scientist working on a COVID-19 vaccine

Everybody, meet Ruby Ibarra. She's a Fil-Am rapper who is already making waves in the scene but perhaps more interestingly enough, she's also a scientist.

According to a report on SFGate, she's "working in the quality-control department on COVID-19 test kits, and yes even a vaccine."

"When I get home from work, I usually go straight to the bathroom, put all my clothes that i wore to work in a bad, and then I take a shower. I pretty much have to do the laundry multiple times throughout the week," she told Madeline Wells of the SFGate.

The report quotes a tweet from Ruby, who shared her COVID-19 practices. "It really annoys me to know that folks still takin this sh_ lightly or don't believe the virus is real or don't wear masks. If you get sick, even if you're asymptomatic — it affects others. Stop opening businesses and schools! This sh- is real."

It really annoys me to know that folks still takin this shit lightly or don’t believe the virus is real or don’t wear masks. If you get sick, even if ur asymptomatic— IT AFFECTS OTHERS. Stop opening businesses and schools! This shit is real.

— RUBY IBARRA (@rubyibarra) July 22, 2020

"It really is upsetting and alarming whenever I go out in public and I see people without masks," she said.

Since March, we work with coronavirus assays and have been helping with the test kits and now working towards a vaccine. I shower immediately when I get home & throw my clothes in the hamper. I’m not tryna die at this job! We’ve now had several positive COVID19 cases at work...

— RUBY IBARRA (@rubyibarra) July 22, 2020

Ruby has always had something to say about current events — be them about the healthcare crisis, racism, feminism, the story of Filipino immigrants, and even politics. And while Twitter is a convenient outlet, these topics find their way into her music, which people in the Philippines are actually more familiar with than they realize.

Ruby is the female rapper behind the powerful rap song that was played at the end of the documentary "A Thousand Cuts." Last year, Nadine Lustre released a single, "No 32," which featured Ruby Ibarra's pointed rhymes. 

Ruby's family is originally from Tacloban. When her parents left for California in 1991, her parents took 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."

Ruby has an album under her belt, the 2017-released "Circa1991," which speaks about being Filipino. It features her rhythm and poetry in English, Filipino, and even Waray.

According to SFGate, she's been working on a sophomore release while on quarantine. — LA, GMA News