MANILA, Philippines—P-Pop powerhouse SB19 persists in their uproar in music both to national and international acclaim as the group’s track, “Bazinga”, straight off their 2021 EP, “Pagsibol”, reached Billboards’ Top Hot Trends for seven weeks, historically dethroning “Butter” by the global South Korean supergroup BTS.
“Bazinga” joins the list of tracks from the group’s latest and widely-received release, which includes singles “What?”, “MAPA”, and “Ikako.” With addictive melodies and synchronized dance steps, SB19 took their fans to an arcade combat-game themed inside an urban setting where graffiti and cages abound. As of writing, the fan-favorite hit has already amassed 4.2M views on Youtube and 5.5M plays on Spotify.
When Pinoy pop music once again started to set sail to the waves of competition in the music industry globally, SB19 swam along the tides and introduced to the world, with much verve and vigor, what music a Filipino boy group can produce.
Going back to its roots, the road to the quintet’s supremacy wasn’t a flowery one, and one that did not come overnight as they staggered to surpass criticisms as they tried to break the walls between Korean pop and Filipino music.
Of course, the inspiration behind the group was the peak of Hallyu wave in the country. In fact, the boys trained in South Korea under ShowBT Entertainment, part of the SBT Group of Companies from South Korea. But more than a Kpop-inspired group, SB19 had already shown, numerous times, that they’re undoubtedly Filipino print.
Prior to releasing the track last October, in a Buzzfeed interview, Pablo opened up about Southeast Asian prejudice, “At first, we were really affected by the comments and hate speech, but we try to motivate each other that we’re doing the right thing, to keep pushing no matter what.”
With music as their strength and most intimate form of communication to the people, Pablo, the leader of the group, wrote the lyrics of “Bazinga” in response to the hostility of the cyber world and the unsolicited hate remarks that the group has received through the years. Brief background: “Bazinga” is a popular catchphrase from an American sitcom The Big Bang Theory, which means rubbing a good joke in someone’s face.
He also highlighted, “We were actually able to make a song based off of [the hate]. As much as possible, we want to put lessons in our music and educate people with our music. So people can know racism and discrimination is a bad thing, and helping them realize those things are not okay.”
‘Every day, I think the load gets heavy
‘Throw it away, the world unloads hostility.
Is there a way to break the curse and stop this now?
Go throw a stone, it might break a bone
But be wary because I won’t condone’
Image courtesy of SB19 via Sony Music Philippines
The lyrical punch-lines of the song made way to top the Twitter trends for weeks then climbing the Billboard Hot Trends. The positive response from the A’Tin, the group’s ever-growing and ever-supportive fanbase, alongside the casual listeners, ultimately led to “Bazinga” to getting recognized from different sides of the world.
The dedication and passion towards their craft has naturally shown the SB19 true colors as they sing, dance, and write their own songs. Setting the bar high without the known muscle afforded by known media giants in the country, SB19 paved the way for the world to take a second look and take notice of P-pop in general.
The love of Filipinos towards Korean music drove their attention to the group. Then, SB19 continued to break the confines of Filipino pop culture and steer it to the direction it is right now, with more P-Pop groups tailing their success. For the past year until now, restless being the content of the entertainment industry, SB19 continues to go on fire.