SB19 Scores a Chain Reaction On the World Stage

In the course of just a few weeks, SB19 is claiming a niche in the international pop community. Now, the Kings of P-Pop are known for being many things, but quiet isn’t one of them. After all, they got their big break after months of hard work and a single viral video skyrocketed them into the limelight in their home country. It’s no surprise that their rising global popularity, like most things they do, isn’t subtle. How’s it going? Let’s take a look:

Cultural Ambassadors Abroad

The members of SB19 are carrying their culture with them as they tour the world.

You probably already know about their success on Good Day New York, where they performed in their first-ever US TV guesting. That alone is a pretty big deal - more than one group has gotten a big break after appearing on television in the United States, and the networking opportunities are immense. Even more importantly, the members of SB19 are carrying their culture with them as they tour the world. Among Philippine artists, it’s extremely common to pay courtesy calls to important figures in towns or provinces prior to performing. While this isn’t a common tradition for musicians in the United States (only for visiting politicians), SB19 was sure to include their own version of it in each city in the US. In New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, they visited the Philippines Consulate as Youth Cultural Ambassadors for the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and Sentro Rizal, interacting with local Filipino-Americans and fans alike while promoting the rich culture of their shared homeland.

An Unexpected Success From Across the World

It soon became apparent that the fandoms were more alike than they realized as bonds began to grow almost immediately.

The unexpected success during the US leg of their WYAT Tour didn’t even start in the United States, though. YouTube FanFest 2022 was held in Singapore on November 11, 2022, and SB19 was a remote performer. It’s a nice way of saying the number was pre-recorded live, but considering that they were due to perform in Los Angeles in less than 24 hours? It’s expected. Either way, it was one of their finest live performances of their hit song, ‘WYAT (Where You At).’ It was also well-arranged on the part of the producers, with SB19’s performance immediately after the live performance of J-Pop group Travis Japan. It soon became apparent that the fandoms were more alike than they realized as bonds began to grow almost immediately. The proof was in the nearly viral rise of the video once it was posted on the YouTube FanFest Official channel. It wracked up its first 2 million views in under 6 hours.

With the sudden spike of interest in SB19 and their comeback song (both in the US and Japan), it came as no surprise when WYAT (Where You At) made a sudden entry into the Billboard Hot Trending Songs daily chart. Staring at #17, it peaked at #4 a few hours later before falling back off the chart in the coming days. Over the course of the next week, WYAT would enter the weekly chart as well, topping at #17. The Billboard chart, which is still in its infancy after only a year in operation, was recently revamped to prioritize songs generating velocity and volume on Twitter. It’s SB19’s second song to enter the chart, with the first being their hit single, ‘Bazinga,’ in late 2021. During its heyday, ‘Bazinga’ boasted 7 weeks at the top of the chart, surpassing record holder at the time, BTS’s Butter.

A’tin is a play on the Tagalog word, atin, which means ours. It’s a reminder to SB19 and their fans that they move together in both success and failure.

Like their ‘Go Up’ viral success, SB19 is in the middle of a chain reaction that is sure to have lasting and meaningful consequences for the group. It was a simple dance practice video that led to their current opportunities. It was also responsible for the formation of their fandom, A’tin, which has been at the core of all their achievements. A’tin is a play on the Tagalog word, atin, which means ours. It’s a reminder to SB19 and their fans that they move together in both success and failure. With strong bonds and even stronger potential, we are excited to see what SB19 and their A’tin can do next and watch them as they continue to rise.

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