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SB19, K-pop’s Filipino boy band, take their cue from BTS and shoot for global stardom
- Go Up, their latest single, has gone viral, and they have a strong following on social media. Meet SB19, boy band from Philippines signed to K-pop label ShowBT
- ‘As a group, we look up to BTS,’ says Sejun, a member of the five-piece band, who hope to be the first from their country to win global recognition
By Lee Min-young and Kim Kang-min
South Korean singers have been dominating the music scene in Asia for many years, propelling K-pop acts such as BTS and Blackpink to huge success in the region and beyond. But as the sudden success of new Filipino boy band SB19 shows, hot K-pop acts may not necessarily have to come from South Korea in the future.
Behind the popularity of K-pop acts are the South Korean entertainment agencies known for the harsh regimens they put trainees through to reach perfection. Members of major South Korean idol groups are mostly expected to have received more than four years of training.
This management system is unique to South Korea. However, ShowBT, a Seoul-based entertainment agency that has branched out to the Philippines, has become the first Korean agency to bring that training system to the Southeast Asian nation.
ShowBT’s first Filipino boy band, SB19, immediately won support on social media and their latest single, Go Up, has gone viral on YouTube, garnering 4.4 million views.
The band already have more than 400,000 followers on Facebook, more than 165,000 followers on Instagram and more than 146,000 Twitter followers.
“As a group, we look up to BTS,” SB19 member Sejun said during an interview at the ShowBT office in Manila. SB19 hope to become the first Filipino boy group to be globally recognised – and show that Filipino talent can do K-pop as well as the Koreans.
Read the full story at the Korea Times
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