Josh Cullen Santos of SB19. Image: Hannah Mallorca/INQUIRER.net
Josh Cullen Santos of P-pop powerhouse SB19 revealed that preparations for their historic Asia Artist Awards (AAA) 2023 stage lasted for “at least a month,” while confessing their experience was a “crazy” milestone in their career.
SB19, consisting of Pablo, Josh, Stell, Ken and Justin, made an explosive return to the music industry by performing at the AAA 2023 at the Philippine Arena last Dec. 14. The seven-minute stage was composed of their songs “Mana,” “Bazinga,” “Crimzone” and their smash hit “Gento”—in collaboration with multinational group &Team.
During the music video launch of his single “Get Right,” Josh said one of the factors that the quintet considered was incorporating the “discipline” of South Korea’s production into the Philippines.
“They’re really crazy, especially the Asia Artist Awards. We’ve been preparing for it for at least a month already. We shot the dance practice a month ago. And then merong mga konting revisions,” he said the day after AAA 2023. “Sobrang ganda ng discipline [nila] na gusto naming i-incorporate it sa Filipinos, [lalo na] sa production natin.”
(They’re really crazy, especially the Asia Artist Awards. We’ve been preparing for it for at least a month already. We shot the dance practice a month ago. We also had a few revisions. Their discipline is so good that we wanted to incorporate it to Filipinos, especially in our production.)
During the mediacon, Josh shared that preparation for SB19’s historic Asia Artist Awards 2023 performance lasted for “about a month.”
The SB19 member was all praises for multinational group &Team as well, saying he has no words on how talented they are. @inquirerdotnet pic.twitter.com/9wUbXVdwR0
— Hannah Mallorca (@HMallorcaINQ) December 15, 2023
Josh also sang praises for &TEAM during the press conference, saying the members are “good-looking, tall, talented and really nice” in person.
The nonet, formed through survival show “&Audition – The Howling,” consists of members K, Nicholas, EJ, Taki, Jo, Harua, Maki, Yuma and Fuma.
“Grabe, &TEAM sobrang wala akong masabi. [Aside from] being good looking and tall and talented, sobrang bait nila. Sobrang magalang sila sa amin,” he said. “Pinupuri nila kami in any way they can. I appreciate them. Honestly, maraming beses na nagkwentuhan kami since nag-practice kami [nang] magkasama. Good sh*t.”
(Wow, &TEAM. I really don’t know what to say. Aside from being good-looking, tall and talented, they’re very nice. They’re very polite with us. They praise us in any way they can. I appreciate them. Honestly, we talked a lot of times because we practiced together. Good sh*t.)
SB19 ‘got their name’
Meanwhile, in an interview with ABS-CBN News, Josh confirmed that SB19 owns their name after “settling” ownership with former label ShowBT Philippines. “Maayos na lahat. Nagkaroon kami ng maayos na usapan, and ‘yun ang pinaka-importante (We had a proper conversation, and that’s the most important thing). Everything is okay.”
“Kasi sabi ko nga, kaya nagkakaroon ng gera kasi hindi nagkaka-ayos. Everything stops kapag tumigil ka at nagpa-apekto ka. And for us, ang pinakamahalaga ngayon, we got our name. We get to promote as SB19 again and move forward,” he continued.
(As I said, wars happen because things are not settled properly. Everything stops if you stop and allow yourself to be affected. And for us, what’s most important is we got our name. We get to promote as SB19 again and move forward.)
READ: SB19 settles ownership issue over group name with former agency
The “Wild Tonight” singer is also happy that he had the company of his bandmates, which he referred to as “brothers,” amid the ordeal.
“I have my brothers with me. Everything else, ‘yung mga nangyari, normal ‘yun sa buhay. Ang importante, nagkaayos na kaming lahat (I have my brothers with me. Everything else, everything that happened, it’s normal in life. What’s important is that all sides are settled),” he said.
Josh recently dropped his new single “Get Right,” which he wrote and produced along with his cousin and rapper Ocho, the Bullet and No Rome.
He also released the songs “Wild Tonight,” “Pakiusap Lang” and “Sofa (Remix).”