THERE is no doubt that the boy band SB19 was the breakthrough musical discovery of 2019. Five local Pinoy-pop (P-pop) boys who were trained, honed, and transformed into K-pop looking and sounding artists surging in the music charts, gathering a huge following from around the globe and launching one hit single after another.
Recently, SB19 became the first Filipino act to have successfully penetrated the Billboard Social 50 chart, a popularity barometer that ranks the world’s most active musical artists on global social networking sites. It initially landed on the 28th spot, and peaked on the 19th slot.
The music video of the group’s latest song, titled “Alab [Burning],” scored a million views only two days after it was officially released. Past hits of SB19 include “Go Up” and “Tilaluha.”
The boys—Ken, Sejun, Josh, Stell and Justin—have been so focused on training for every performance, and their success has inspired them to work even harder and stay as grounded as they could.
“We can sense that our followers are increasing by the numbers but we are also aware that many still do not know who we are, and that is very important to us. Our goal is to continue giving our best to our fans and followers in each, and every, performance. We have also promised one another that we will remain the same persons we were when we first met each other,” Ken told us.
We learned that some of the members still take the public transportation. “Oh yes, we are as normal as everyone out there—we commute, we eat where we want. We just got busier because our schedules now include a lot of rehearsals, music lessons, promotional tours and shows,” shared Justin.
Before their phenomenal rise to music stardom, the boys underwent years of training with ShowBT, a Korean entertainment company that set up its Manila office a few years ago. The goal was to create a Philippine version of the K-pop look and sound which SB19 has successfully achieved, eventually leading to them being classified under their own sub-genre, called P-pop.
Another ace the group has is that its members can create their own musical compositions. The melody of “Go Up,” SB19’s biggest hit to date, was composed by popular Korean music producer Lee Oh-won, but it was the boys who put the lyrics together. We learned that music videos are in the plans for their other songs: “Love Goes” and “Hanggang sa Huli.”
ShowBT Philippines Chairman Robin Geong, who has taken the role of the group’s daddy figure, is proud that his boys have garnered a huge following in so short a time. “We dream together and work hard together, I think that is our secret,” he shared. The boys refer to him as Tatay Robin, and he shared that the plans for 2020 have already been laid out and are just waiting for implementation.
Among these are concerts in key Philippine cities, collaborative projects with Korean pop artists and celebrities, brand endorsements and-one big, big show in a major concert venue by year-end. There are also plans to have concerts in huge Filipino communities overseas within the year.
All these will definitely keep the members of SB19 busy this 2020. We wish the boys more success, and we thank the Koreans for believing and investing in the talent of the Filipino artist. n