While KPOP groups have been dominating the world music industry thru BTS, Black Pink, and many others, SB19 Is Eyeing the Global-Pop Market & Bringing the Philippines Along – that’s according to the article of the same title released by no other than BILLBOARD – the music industry standard record chart for songs based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming in the United States.
Billboard first highlighted SB19 in early 2020 as a mainstay on the Social 50 chart for rapidly growing online metrics across platforms (namely Twitter, but also Facebook and Wikipedia) fueled by consistent OPM singles like “What?” (with 17 million views on its official music video), “Alab (Burning)” and “Go Up” (both with 12 million views). By the 2021 Billboard Music Awards, the group earned a nomination for Top Social Artist alongside BTS, Ariana Grande, BLACKPINK and SEVENTEEN. Just as their fellow nominees have all made shrewd moves in entering the international market, SB19’s new single is their time to display the group’s global-pop vision. Source: https://www.billboard.com
I first saw this group a few years back while watching random Korean vlogs on Youtube and found interest in seeing a Filipino boy band group during their training days (before they were initially launched in 2018 under the Philippine label of ShowBT Entertainment).
THE POWER OF A TWEET
According to an article from entertainment.inquirer.net: “Though SB19 launched back in October 2018, the group gained online attention recently after it released a dance practice video to accompany its “Go Up” music video on Monday, Sept. 2. A K-pop fan account (@BAE_Sodu) tweeted about the video on Monday and it has garnered 800,000 views on Twitter as of this writing.”
Dance practice videos are popular content among many KPOP idols and are well-loved by many of their followers. This is their way to connect with their fans to show them the behind-the-scene preparations for their albums or singles. Now, this specific video of SB19 is one of their most watched dance practice videos with over 5 MILLION views as of this writing.
THE SUCCESS OF SB19
Rising Pinoy-pop group SB19 has taken the Philippines’ music scene by storm, breaking boundaries and smashing expectations of Filipino pop music along the way. According to an article posted by South China Morning Post, “the phenomenal rise of SB19 (is) the Philippines’ answer to K-pop groups who beat the odds to become home-grown idols“.
Though I couldn’t compare them to any local idols which I don’t know, I could personally say that they have the semblance of the early years of BTS of S.Korea. Many SB19 fans who are following their social media content are especially proud of the innate talents of each member – Sejun/Pablo (John Paulo Nase, the leader/composer/producer), Stell (Stellvester Ajero, the vocalist), Josh (Josh Cullen Santos, the rapper), Justin (Justin De Dios, sub-vocalist and the creative director) and Ken (Felip Jhon Suson, the main dancer). These are believed to be the key to the success of the group especially when you watched how they started and all their hardworks to reach where they are right now.
In December of 2021, SB19 became the first-ever act to dethrone BTS from the Hot Trending Songs chart.
THE RECENT BRAND COLLABORATIONS OF SB19
It’s not mind-boggling to see these young and talented kids amass such huge fame and success early on in their careers. The list of brand collaborations and commercials will show their unprecedented popularity not only among the young generations as well as among PPOP music lovers of all ages.
The most recent of which is their remix of the theme song of the 2022 Binibining Pilipinas beauty pageant which according to many netizens who aren’t familiar with the original song feels like it’s SB19’s very own. This was also the time that I started really following the group and becoming a low-key A’TIN member (the fans club of SB19 pronounced as 18 which, just like how 18 comes before 19, A’TIN comes before SB19. It’s also a play on the Filipino word “atin” which means “ours,” as SB19 explained that they wanted to share their success with their fans – very much like how popular KPOP groups like BTS became successful as well, which is really really good).
PIZZA HUT – MAKE IT GREAT: Being a franchise of the Aranet group, one could almost memorize the commercial of Pizza Hut being played throughout the breaks of the Binibining Pilipinas pageant show which also has SB19 as their latest endorser.
PEPSI – “PEPSI BLUE”, “AT HOME SA PEPSI”, “SUNDIN AND PUSO”: Along with many other popular celebrities and online personalities, SB19 also became Pepsi Philippines’ official brand ambassador. You may also want to watch their full SUNDIN ANG PUSO Dance Practice Video which has over 1.4 MILLION views as of this writing.
MONDE NISSIN – LUCKY ME JJAMPPONG: With 3M views in just one day, this commercial of SB19 was all over social media and A’TIN are not complaining. The commercial also featured the group’s breakout song GO UP! which also made them popular in 2019. Other variations with original music are also featured in the Lucky Me commercials.
GCASH – “G PA RIN ANG PASKO”: 2020 Christmas was really big for SB19 with several commercials like this one from GCASH – the leading mobile wallet, mobile payments, and branchless banking service in the Philippines.
DUNKIN DONUT: As part of their brand collaboration with Dunkin Donuts Philippines, they released a commercial to make the season merrier with Dunkin’ and SB19’s Merry Munchkin in 2021. Along with many other commercials they did for the brand, the most notable one is also the recent release of SB19’s personal favorite combo craze just following their sold-out DUNKIN DONUT concert in Araneta Coliseum in April 2022.
ACER PHILIPPINES: SB19 got the attention of Acer Philippines to be their Brand Ambassador after being recognized as the first Filipino and Southeast Asian act to be nominated for the Billboard Music Awards in 2021. They recently had a concert at the BIG DOME entitled ACER THE GREEN MARK CONCERT l ACER DAY 2022.
KFC – CHICKEN POPS: Our boys were also featured in KFC’s new value meal commercial with the tag line “chicken na ‘di bitin” in the early 2021.
LAZADA PHILIPPINES: The leading online shipping platform Lazada Philippines, opens 2021 with the unveiling of SB19 as Lazada Ambassadors.
TOUCH MOBILE (TM) – “FUN SAGAD 10”: Our boys also got their big advertisement break in 2020 from TOUCH MOBILE – a Filipino cellular service brand of Filipino telecommunications company under Globe Telecom.
SAMSUNG PHILIPPINES: Team Galaxy also partnered with SB19for their new GalaxyA12 & GalaxyA02s series. The video also encourages Gen Z to be confident in their passions and share their talents online through the Galaxy A-Series. The group was also seen in several promotional activities and mini-concerts organized by Samsung.
NETFLIX PHILIPPINES – “NETFLIX PH CATCH UP”: Netflix Philippines celebrated a glorious 2019 with a year-end review music video by SB19, the P-Pop (Pinoy pop) group behind the hit “Go Up.” Fresh from releasing their third single “Alab,” SB19 continues to celebrate the joys of 2019 with Netflix PH. To the tune of the group’s viral song, “Netflix PH Catch Up” shines a spotlight on some of the most talked-about titles in the Philippines in 2019. The song includes Money Heist, Stranger Things, Vagabond, You and more. Source: https://pop.inquirer.net/
READY TO CONQUER THE WORLD STAGE
After their first Billboard nomination in 2021, the numerous local and international recognitions, and the recent launch of their single WYAT and the upcoming World Tour, I think SB19 is ready to go global. And A’TIN all over the world are ready to support SB19.
SB19 will kick off their tour with a sold-out concert at the Araneta Coliseum on September 17, followed by local stops in Cebu (October 1), Clark (October 8), and Davao (October 15).
They will then fly to Dubai, New York, Los Angeles, and Singapore in October and November. Other details such as venues and ticketing have yet to be announced.
Even Twitter created five special hashflags for SB19. It simply refers to a unique emoji generated besides a Twitter tag, often used by brands or prominent names in K-Pop.
Thank you for this article about SB19 and their upcoming WYAT tour. As well talking about their product advertisements. I just now realized that it’s so many already.
Worth the stan… cant help but be filled with pride as a Filipino. Praying that they will make it in the global stage. #billboard #vma
thank you for this article on our #SB19 MAHALIMA!
Its also a pleasure putting this up. Yung sobrang inspired mo na andami mong gustong sabihin hehehe. Yes and totoong nakakaproud naman kasi talaga mga batang ito! Talented and inspiring.
Thank you for this wonderful article about our PPOP Kings they are world-class talent. They are a self-producing group which is very admirable. They’re into their music and video production everything they put in their craft screams hard work and dedication!
That’s why theyre really worth emulating (even by up and coming PPOP groups). Theyre already setting a high standard for PPOP Industry! Now it’s time to conquer the international stage! hehehe.