On the current edition of the Hot Trening Songs chart, Billboard’s weekly ranking of the tracks that were mentioned the most on Twitter in the past tracking frame, history has been made. SB19’s “Bazinga” sits at No. 1 for a seventh non-consecutive frame, making it the longest-running leader since the company introduced the list several months ago. What is perhaps most surprising about this new champion is the fact that it helps the band behind it beat BTS, the biggest musical group in the world, and when looking at something related to social media, no less.
So who is SB19, the band that just bested one of BTS’s Billboard chart records?
SB19 is a five-piece boy band based in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. The group was founded in 2016, but they didn’t release their first piece of music until 2018. At the time, they dropped the single "Tilaluha," and while the group got off to a fairly slow start (even in their home country), they have gone on to become perhaps the most exciting and successful breakout act from the nation in quite some time.
The group was created by the Philippine subsidiary of a media firm based in South Korea, and they were crafted in much the same way that vocal troupes in the K-pop industry are these days. The members were selected from far-reaching auditions that saw hundreds of people vying for one of the highly-coveted spots. The five lucky to-be stars that were chosen—who go simply by Josh, Pablo, Stell, Ken and Justin—trained for years in everything from singing to dancing before they officially launched their careers.
In just a few years, SB19 has released two collections, a 2020 album titled Get in the Zone and an EP shared in 2021 called Pagsibol. Their sets have been fan-favorites, but it's the singles that have helped them gain international attention, including on the Billboard charts. After landing on both the Next Big Sound and Social 50 rankings, their individual tunes began to make an impact on other important lists. Tracks like “Go Up” and “Alab (Burning)” both hit the LyricFind Global tally, showing that there was intense interest in what they were singing about.
Recently, SB19’s single “Bazinga” has helped them score more Billboard wins in America, and it’s gone on to become their biggest hit in many regards. The track quickly debuted on the Hot Trending Songs chart, lifting into the top 10 on the social-focused tally in no time. When the cut bolted to the summit, the Filipino boy band became the first act that wasn’t BTS to hit No. 1 on the tally. Now, “Bazina” is the longest-running champion on the ranking, and it is one of only three tracks to reach the throne, joining both “Permission to Dance” and “Butter” by BTS in that accomplishment.
So far, SB19 has demonstrated that they have a massive online following with impressive numbers on some streaming platforms and obvious success on social media. While there is clearly an intense global interest in their work, the band hasn’t yet scored a sales, streaming or radio hit in the U.S., or in any Western market, for that matter. These are early days for the group, and such a win could be on the horizon, though they still have a long way to go before they become proper breakout stars around the world, with massive songs and bestselling albums to their credit.
At the moment, SB19 continues to make impressive inroads as a rare Filipino musical act to make any chart impression in the U.S., and the future is bright for the exciting new outfit. In an age when more Asian stars are reaching audiences in Western markets than ever before, this might be the ideal time for the boy band from Southeast Asia to make big moves and score a real, inescapable hit.
