Pioneering P-Pop group SB19 doesn’t just make music. They engineer the worlds they inhabit. Watch any of their music videos and you’re not simply hearing a song, you’re stepping into a realm where choreography becomes myth, costumes double as armor, and every frame reads like a statement for P-Pop’s creative sovereignty. This is a group that dances on rubble in one video and struts through gilded caves in the next, all while threading a narrative so potent that their discography now functions like a serialized epic.
Stell, Pablo, Justin, Josh and Felip – names that once read like tags on a classroom whiteboard – have become cultural pillars of a scene they helped build. Their latest EP Simula at Wakas doesn’t just close a trilogy that began with 2021’s Pagsibol and 2023’s PAGTATAG! – it makes a bold case that P-Pop doesn’t need to borrow from K-pop. It can outdream it entirely.
SB19’s genius doesn’t lie solely in their precision, and their choreographic formations make the best out of both worlds.Each music video plays like a chapter in a visual novel where the fate of their universe hangs in the balance. Whether they’re rallying an army in a sandstorm or marching the streets of Manila, SB19’s ambition shines in a landscape where P-Pop is still grappling with its identity vis-a-vis its counterpart in South Korea.
Many acts mimic trends, polish aesthetics and chase virality. SB19 digs trenches. Their videos support the music but also expand it. Filipino pop, they argue, can be just as immersive as BTS’ Bangtan Universe or the cinematic sprawl of Dune – only with more jeepneys, basketball courts and kwek-kwek stalls. To understand how SB19 rewired the genre, you have to start from the top.
Humble Beginnings
Before they became icons, they were underdogs, literally dancing on a rooftop. The video for “Go Up,” shot on a barebones urban terrace, wasn’t flashy. It was defiant. No money for CGI? Fine. SB19 turned a concrete slab into a stage for revolution, their footwork broadcasting urgency with every synchronized stomp.
The styling leaned into K-pop’s early-2010s playbook: split-dye hair, bubblegum color palettes, clean visuals. But beneath the gloss was grit. The choreography was all sharp angles and barely restrained intensity. When Pablo and Felip traded verses like sparring fighters, or Stell nailed a whistle note mid-spin, it was all attitude from the very beginning for the group in “Go Up.” This wasn’t about imitation. It was about domination, and doing it their own way. It was a shot fired in a quiet war to reclaim cultural ground.
Sandstorm Sovereignty
If “Go Up” was the prophecy, “What?” was the explosion. Dropped during the uncertainty of 2021, when the live music industry was frozen and P-Pop was still finding its footing, “What?” arrived like a grenade in slow motion. Gone were the pastel hues, in came a scorched palette of earth tones and battle gear, with tension from each dance break baked into every frame.
Josh ripped off his gold chains and polo in the bridge – a literal shedding of manufactured idol expectations. Stell delivered vocals atop a barn like a desert preacher, channeling a Filipinized Mad Max with its tropical backdrop. Pablo’s rap verses came paired with steady, deliberate camera cuts. Justin gazed outward, as if peering beyond the genre’s current constraints.
But it was the sand dune sequence that sealed it. Backed by a battalion of dancers, SB19 marched in formation like a P-Pop phalanx. Dust rose with every step. The signal was clear for the boy group, they learned how to weaponize a genre to the brim. Where other groups dialed back visuals due to pandemic restrictions, SB19 went maximalist. The group built an entire cinematic universe from desolation and dared their peers to catch up.
Gold Mine Dance Floor
By 2023, the P-Pop landscape had become a battlefield. BGYO went orchestral with “The Light,” BINI shimmered in coastal colors with “Pantropiko,” and Alamat fused folklore with futurism. SB19’s answer? “Gento,” a full-throttle spectacle set in a subterranean world of industrial excess and unapologetic swagger.
The concept was wild: five men as gold-mining demigods, dancing amid excavators and glowing veins of wealth. But it worked. SB19 didn’t just flex, they layered meaning into every scene. Josh played a caricature of a “rich rapper,” lounging on cash piles with cartoonish smugness. Stell beamed from a mirror like a glittering saint in a thrift-shop chapel. It was gaudy, hilarious, and brutally self-aware.
Still, behind the humor was razor-sharp execution. The choreography in the echoing caverns felt like a bank heist set to an 808. Felip’s shovel solo? Absurd and brilliant. Every choice — whether it would be the costume, color, or movement — was calculated chaos. “Gento” proved that SB19 could walk the tightrope between satire and spectacle without falling. The song cracked charts, spawned memes, and became a touchstone for how far P-Pop had come.
Tree of Life
In “DAM,” released last March, the tree of life finally begins to bear fruit but not before SB19 reclaims the soil it grew from. Set in an imagined realm pulled straight from a The Lord of the Rings prologue, the group steps into their most mythic roles yet.
The video marks a shift in both sonic and visual identity. Each member appears more distinct than ever, not just in sound but in presence. Felip transforms into a dark-cloaked sentinel, all sharp nails and sharper intent. Justin emerges as a seer, bearing the quiet intensity of someone who’s seen the end before it arrives. Still, “DAM” isn’t a farewell. As SB19 made clear to fans, this isn’t about closure. It’s a signal flare. A warning. Rebirth. The glowing tree doesn’t mark the end of their journey; it’s a sign that they’ve only just begun to chart new ground. And whatever comes next, it’s growing from roots they planted themselves.
Hometurf
Then came “DUNGKA,” and SB19 traded opulence for street cred. The video, filmed in Metro Manila, wasn’t sleek or sanitized. It was alive. It throbbed with chaos, with sidestreets lit like club alleys and basketball courts dressed as battlegrounds. The group faced off against a literal giant: an oversized threat lurking in the barangay, maybe a metaphor for gatekeepers or colonial mentality. They let the allegory speak.
What they do make clear is their allegiance to the community. Josh dyed his hair red. Felip went platinum blonde. The rest walked the streets with a casual alertness that said they belonged. And they brought friends.
Fliptop legends Shehyee and Smugglaz appeared to remind the audience of Pinoy hip-hop’s battle-hardened roots. Vice Ganda popped in with camp and confidence. Cosplayer Alodia, internet personalities like Malupiton, Sassa Gurl and Mimiyuuuh each added a layer to the message. This wasn’t a fantasy world. It was the Philippines, reimagined.
The final image shows SB19 in front of a wall of stacked boomboxes felt like a barricade made from sound. Loud. Proud. Immovable.
