Filipino boy band SB19 on their rise to fame, touring the US and launching a record label – The National

Gaming content creator, fast-food crew member, artist. Those are some of the career paths members of SB19 would have considered if things hadn’t worked out.

These days, the Filipino boy band – made up of Pablo, Stell, Ken, Justin and Josh – don’t have to worry about that as they have become the new face of pop music in the Philippines.

They are the first Filipino act to be nominated in the Billboard Music Awards for Top Social Artist and the first South-East Asian act to enter the top 10 of Billboard’s Social 50 charts. They also broke a record set by BTS for longest No 1 reign on Billboard’s Trending Songs chart.

They made headlines in May when they cracked the Billboard World Digital Sales top 10 chart with their song Gento and recently performed at the Pinoy Pop Convention in Manila last week.

“The transition of us from being ‘nobodies’ to being well-known was fast,” Pablo tells The National. “We were thinking about giving up before, but overnight, everything changed.

“People noticed and treated us differently all of a sudden. We think that was the biggest surprise of all. We are privileged to have been well-known this quickly, but we don’t take it for granted.”

A history of SB19

SB19 formed in 2016 after participating in a talent contest held by ShowBT Philippines, a subsidiary of the South Korean company ShowBT.

The members were originally selected to be performers for company events, but former ShowBT chief executive Jung Sung-han saw their potential and decided to instead turn them into a boy band.

After training for a couple of years in the familiar regime that K-pop artists undertake, SB19 made their debut in 2018 with the song Tilaluha. They toured malls and schools but the song received a muted reception. This lack of initial success almost led to the group disbanding. It was their second single, Go Up, released in 2019, that turned their luck around.

A fan shared the dance practice video of the song and it went viral on social media. A few months later, the group entered the Billboard Next Big Sound chart, becoming the first Filipino act to do so.

“We never expected that we will be able to come this far in our careers,” says Ken. “Not too long ago, we thought of giving up, but we stayed strong for our dreams.”

The members are also aware of how their fan base has helped in their global success. Affectionately known as “A-tin” (the Tagalog word for ours), the meaning of the name is a nod to promoting the message that the group’s success is also down to the fans.

“Thank you so much for staying and working with us to achieve our goals and dreams,” says Justin. “Everything we achieve is ‘atin’.”

Looking towards the future

Last year, SB19 performed in Dubai as the first stop in their WYAT (Where You At) tour and previously at Expo 2020 Dubai. They are now embarking on their Pagtatag tour with 10 stops in the US and Canada. While they haven’t yet announced a return to the region, they say they hope they can come back do a tour around the UAE or the Middle East afterwards.

SB19 have been compared to K-pop groups because of their suave dance moves and colourful styles and the band say they are influenced by the genre as well as western acts. However, they maintain that they still have their own sound.

“I think the main thing that we got from K-pop is the inspiration to train in order to become better artists,” says Pablo. “That motivated us to work hard and make a name for ourselves.”

Justin adds: “In our generation, during the time we were training, that’s the time K-Pop was starting to be more well received all over the world.

“Western music is one of the influences of K-pop, and our music has similar influences, like N’Sync and other boy groups.”

But they still want to distinguish themselves as well as bring more attention to the music scene in the Philippines.

Last month, they announced they had left ShowBT and founded their own label, 1Z Entertainment, where they hope to have more creative freedom over their music but also help other musicians in the country be successful, too.

“Our main goal is to contribute to the Philippine music industry and help make Filipino music more recognised globally,” says Ken. “Also, to uplift and inspire people. We established 1Z Entertainment for these [reasons].”

When asked what they think sets them apart, they say they listen to their fans.

“We don’t think there’s a formula on what makes us special, but from the comments we’ve read, they say we have genuine love for our craft, we work hard, and we each have distinct personalities,” says Stell.

“We value our authenticity. We stay true to ourselves and our individualities. We also put a lot of ourselves in what we do.”

Updated: July 24, 2023, 6:12 AM