Pinoy pop is on the rise
Proving that is local boy band SB19’s latest achievement, becoming number one at Billboard's Hot Trending Songs chart with their single “Bazinga.” Them claiming the top spot puts an end to the almost two-month domination of South Korean boy band BTS.
“Bazinga” is the only English song of the five-member Pinoy boy band’s latest album, “Pagsibol,” which explores more of their Filipino roots and sound. In a previous article by Philippine Panorama, the single is described as “a swipe at the boy’s detractors and haters, and reflects on the ‘bashing’ culture that artists experience at the onset of their career.” In the past, bandmates Stell, Josh, Pablo, Ken, and Justin have faced criticism for their music style, even being called “K-pop wannabe.”
“Akala ng karamihan K-pop-inspired kami, which not, kasi gumagawa kami ng sarili naming identity (Many are thinking that we are K-pop-inspired, which we are not, because we are creating our own identity),” Josh said in an episode of NCCA’s Padayon. “Pinanganak po kami sa Pilipinas, dito po kami nag-training. Akala nila sa Korea kami nag-training (We’re born here in the Philippines, we had our training here. They thought we trained in Korea).”
“Hindi ko masasabing full Korean training yung ginagawa namin. Yung skills namin medyo na-develop na lang po doon. Pero ito yung innate skills namin from the very beginning (I can never say that what we did was full Korean training. Our skills just developed from there. But those were our innate skills from the very beginning),” he continued. “Ito pong identity namin, hindi ko po masasabing inspired by other . Siguro meron pong touch, pero lahat po ng iyan ay craft po namin at proud po kami sa mga nagagawa namin (I can’t say that our identity was inspired by other acts. Maybe there’s a touch of it, but all of those were our craft and we’re proud of them).”
This year, SB19 gained international recognition being nominated for Top Social Artist at the Billboard Music Awards, and for the Best Southeast Asian Act category at the MTV Europe Music Awards.
Watch “Bazinga” here: