Viva Pilipinas!
The Philippines is filled with artists with pure talent and artistry but are rarely recognized. For whatever reason, we have never really infiltrated and endured big markets like the West—until the P-Pop Kings, SB19.
Sound Break 19 – P-pop pioneers
The group officially debuted as a quintet on October 2018 under ShowBT Entertainment. They trained for two years under the company. Their dynamics, choreography, music, style and themes have a Korean-idol touch. Sound Break 19 is the original name of their group. “Sound Break” is for pioneering idol culture in their company and, in our country. The phrase also signifies the group’s goal to “break into the music scene”, and become a group that would help improve the quality of Philippine boy groups. “19”, on the other hand, is the summation of Philippines’ and Koreas’ area codes (+63- and +82-). These two hidden meanings aim to show that the group is the embodiment of the melodic collaboration between two different yet uniquely loveable cultures of the Filipinos and Koreans.
SB19 Members and roles
Similar to Korean idols, the members of SB19 have their own roles within the group. Pablo, formerly Sejun, is the leader, main rapper and lead vocalist. Josh is the eldest of the group and he is the lead rapper, lead dancer and sub-vocalist. Stell is the main vocalist and lead dancer. Ken is the main dancer, lead vocalist and lead rapper. Finally, Josh, the youngest of the group, is their sub-vocalist and visual.
These boys’ fated journey started in 2018 with their debut single “Tilaluha”. During this time, they promoted in schools and malls where they only had a small following. Their first breakthrough was in 2019 with the single “Go Up”. The song is the “maker or breaker” of the group because Pablo, their leader, admitted that they would disband if their career did not progress after its release.
Dance practice video kicked it off
It was their dance practice for the song that paved the way for a wider audience to discover their artistry and potential. Since then, various opportunities found their way towards the group. They were able to release their very first studio album “Get in the Zone” in July 2020, as well as hold their first 10-city concert tour of the same title last December 2019. Due to COVID-19, the tour was cancelled so the SB19 boys held their first online concert “Back in the Zone” in August 2020 instead.
In July 2021, the group released another studio album entitled “Pagsibol”. Songs from the said album, along with a couple more, are included in their most recent tour, “Where You At (WYAT)” world tour, which kick-started at the Araneta Coliseum in September of this year. The group is currently preparing for the Dubai leg of their tour on October 29th and all other international stops, as well.
Pop Culture: SB19: The P-Pop Powerhouse Gone Global
Fanbase and global recognition
In just four years of activity, SB19 grew and blossomed into such a beautiful boy group. They were able to gain a huge and loyal fan base and achieved various recognition which substantiated their success as artists. The group placed sixth in the Billboard Year-end Social 50 chart in December 2020. The boys were also nominated in BBMA’s Top Social Artist award in April 2021 along with big acts like BTS, Blackpink, Ariana Grande and Seventeen.
In October 2021, they were nominated for the Best Southeast Asia Act at the 2021 MTV Europe Music Awards. They also joined big names in Teen Vogue’s Best Bands of All Time in July 2022. Then, within October of this year, they were crowned as the 2022 Outstanding Filipino Gamechanger in the 3rd Gawad Balisong Awards and were given the International Chartbursting Award at the 13th Star Awards for Music by the Philippine Movie and Press Club for being able to successfully infiltrate international markets for music. These are only a few of the many awards which showed SB19’s competence as artists and as a boy group.
It is such a proud moment for our entire nation to see Filipino artists get recognized internationally. Support local!
