SB19 members (from left) Justin, Stell, Pablo, Ken, Josh. Image: Sony Music Philippines
One might think that SB19 is used to the overwhelming success of their smash hit “Gento” by now. After all, the infectious track is the canvas of over 1.8 million posts on Tiktok, where many celebrities all over the world are grooving to its beat.
Despite this, the P-pop act confessed during a mediacon for a healthcare chain that the song’s success is “unbelievable”— almost to the point of it feeling like a dream for Pablo, Josh, Ken, Justin, and Stell, who was absent during the press conference as he wasn’t feeling at that time.
“Sobrang unbelievable. Sobrang lucky namin kasi hindi naman lahat ng artists at kanta, nagva-viral sa social media. It all feels like a dream for us and we’re very, very thankful and grateful to our fans for supporting us (Of course, it’s very unbelievable. We’re very lucky because not all artists and songs would go viral on social media. It all feels like a dream for us and we’re very, very thankful and grateful to our fans for their support),” Ken said.
“Until now, hindi sila napapagod and nagsasawa na i-support kami (Until now, they’re not tired of supporting us),” the “Rocksta” singer added.
Apart from the success of “Gento,” their song “Bazinga” entered its renaissance as it was used as the theme for the youth-oriented series “Senior High” starring Andrea Brillantes, Kyle Echarri, JK Labajo, and Elijah Canlas. Meanwhile, “Bazinga” is part of their July 2021 EP “Pagsibol.”
“Even before, we were thinking about [using our songs as theme songs of teleseryes]. Kapag nagre-release kami ng album, ‘yung ibang songs d’un, hindi namin napa-prioritize. And iniisip namin na sana ‘yung ibang songs, makuha sa movies or series,” Justin said, touching on the topic of the Kapamilya series.
“We’re happy that one of our songs ay nagamit na sa isang teleserye. We’re very thankful to ‘Senior High’ for giving us the chance na magamit ang ‘Bazinga’ as their theme song,” he continued.
(Even before, we were thinking about using our songs as theme songs of teleseryes. When we release an album, other songs couldn’t be prioritized but we’re hoping that they would be picked up in movies or series. We’re happy that one of our songs was used in a teleserye. We’re very thankful to “Senior High” for giving us the chance to use ‘Bazinga’ as their theme song.)
‘P-pop is in a good place’
It’s clear that SB19 is at the peak of their careers. After all, they recently wrapped up the North American leg of their “Pagtatag” world tour and caught the attention of curious music fans around the globe.
The group recently shared the stage with American singer-songwriter JVKE for the remix of his song “Golden Hour” in Boston last Sept. 3.
With this, Josh believes that P-pop is now in a “good place.” “We have to push it more, especially sa mga audience na hindi pa exposed sa mga ganito (especially to the audiences who are not aware of the genre),” he added.
Meanwhile, Pablo emphasized that pushing P-pop in the global scene had “always been [their] goal.
“It has been part of our movement to push P-pop further, and to put Filipino music and Filipino culture in the global scene. Kaya nagpa-pasalamat kami sa lahat ng mga sumusuporta, even the foreign fans who put in effort in memorizing Filipino lyrics. When you see them singing our songs in the Filipino language, sobrang nakakataba ng puso (We are grateful to everyone who have supported us, even foreign fans who put in an effort to memorize Filipino lyrics. When you see them singing our songs in Filipino, it’s very heartwarming),” he said.
“Maganda ang future ng P-pop. At maraming salamat sa mga artists na ginagawa ang best nila to promote Filipino music and Filipino culture,” he further added.
(P-pop has a beautiful future. And we’re thankful to the artists doing their best to promote Filipino music and Filipino culture.)
As SB19 returned to the Philippines, they admitted that they’ve been feeling “homesick” after being away from home for “almost two months.” But they remained grateful to their foreign fans for showing support.
“Naho-homesick na talaga kami. We’ve been looking forward to performing for Filipino A’TIN and siyempre, iba pa rin ang Filipino crowd (We’re feeling homesick already. We’ve been looking forward to performing for our Filipino A’TIN because of course, nothing beats the Filipino crowd),” Josh said, referring to their dedicated legion of fans called A’TIN. EDV