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Filipino boy group SB19 was recently nominated at the Billboard Music Awards‘ Top Social Artist category. Though they didn’t snag the title for themselves, Josh, Pablo, Stell, Ken, and Justin still expressed their thankfulness with the support from different organizations.
Two of which are the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). The two agencies have urged Filipinos to vote SB19 as the group has made a historic feat for being the first Philippine act that has been nominated in the award show.
In a recent interview with RAWR Nation, Stell mentioned that they have seen how the recognition has made their fans, A’TIN, happy as they know the hard work the latter has done just to prove that SB19 is OPM (Original Pinoy Music).
“Sobrang nakaka-tuwa lang kasi hindi naman iyong naging sikreto sa lahat na ever since nag start yung SB19, we always receive comments na we are not Filipino, we are promoting K-Pop daw and having this kind of recognition from big [organizations],” shared Stell.
“Makikita mo yung reaction ng A’TIN, sobrang saya nila kasi sa sobrang tagal na nilang nilalaban sa mga tao na ‘SB19 is OPM, they are P-Pop, they are promoting Filipino music,’ but still marami parin nagsasabi na hindi talaga pero dahil sa kanila naging masaya yung mga naniniwala samin.”
Josh added that it’s not a secret to them how people reacted to their group and music at first but they do believe that Filipino music continuously evolves and that it can also compete with artists all over the world.
“Gusto talaga naming dalihin sa buong mundo na tayo pong mga Pilipino, talented po tayo at kaya nating makipag-sabayan sa ibang bansa. At nagpapasalamat po kami sa recognition na binigay ng CCP at NCCA.”
The boys were then asked what they feel about the freedom of being able to perform in ABS-CBN and GMA-7 shows given how the two are considered to be rival networks.
“Siyempre po thankful po kami sa dalawang networks kasi binibigyan po nila kami ng chance to promote our songs at mapakita po yung talent namin all over the nation po. Hindi naman po siguro iyon (network rivalries) hadlang para mapakita ang gusto namin ipakita kasi at the end of the day lahat naman po tayo gustong mapaking ang talent natin,” Justin expressed.
Josh described it as a “win-win” situation as they are given the chance to promote their craft and that they were able to experience what each network had to offer.
Though they lost the award, they said that they consider the nomination alone as a huge honor and they do believe that there’s always a right time for everything.
