Every year, Esquire Philippines presents Man at His Best, the local iteration of a global signature event where we celebrate extraordinary Filipino men and women reshaping society as we know it. These are the dreamers and doers who have made a profound impact on the Filipino's way of life, who are using their talents and skills to make something of themselves and inspire the rest of us to do better with our lives.
This year, we're honoring nine mavericks and legends in film, music, business, politics, and entertainment. Despite coming from disparate fields and industries, they all have one thing in common: all of them exemplify what it means to be a Man at His Best.
ALSO READ: Esquire Philippines Honors 9 Heroes and Mavericks at the 2024 Man at His Best Awards
Meet Esquire Philippines' Entertainer of the Year, SB19
We're in an open-air rooftop parking space, with an amazing next-door view of the city skyline. The sun intermittently wrestles with the rain for control of the day, resulting in alternating waves of humid heat and cold. This will make for a very interesting and unpredictable photo shoot.
But there are no complaints to be heard from the superstars waiting for their turn in front of the cameras.
Off to one side, by a wall, Pablo sits by himself, singing quietly. Nearby, Stell chats animatedly with the staff. He sprinkles the conversation with little jokes here and there that get them laughing. Justin walks in, ready for his solo shoot. He pulls Stell aside to take pics and selfies with each other first.
A little while later, Josh arrives, excitedly mumbling with a slight smile. "Time to work!" he says. Ken appears shortly thereafter, the last one to have his solo round before they have their group shots.
This is SB19, currently the biggest name in Philippine Pop (P-Pop), and whatever one may have heard about the group being down-to-earth, approachable, and over-all nice people-they're all true.
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It's clear that, despite SB19's massive rise in popularity both here and abroad, they've kept their shoes firmly on the ground. There is no air of superiority emanating from them as they interact with people and in the way they carry themselves. They combine professionalism with playfulness that helps put those around them at ease. Their humility is made more apparent as they punctuate their conversation with a lot of po and opo with those whom they've just met.
And to think this is a group that has made waves across the world.
You know their name
SB19 essentially placed modern P-Pop on the global map in recent years. They have caught the interest not just of the neighboring Asian market but have gained the support of fans in multiple continents. A cursory YouTube search for SB19 will reveal an astounding number of fan content and reaction videos from the Americas, Europe, Australia, and more. Their performances in Korea, Japan, the USA, and others have gained a lot of positive reactions. They have trended on Chinese and French social media.
"Even though we are a group, we (have always considered) each and everyone's individuality" - Justin
Interestingly, their 2023 song "Gento" has gotten Korean pop (K-pop) stars doing TikTok challenges to the phenomenal viral hit song. In the past decade when the face of Asian pop has arguably been K-pop, this achievement of a Filipino band to get Korean celebrities to dance to their music cannot be ignored.
And while the initial response when they debuted six years ago may have been the inevitable K-pop comparisons, make no mistake: SB19 has already shattered preconceived notions with their own brand of music that is quite distinctly Filipino.
This was made even more apparent when they opened last year's Asia Artist Awards (AAA), a Korea-based awards ceremony held for the first time in the Philippines in 2023. Their explosive opening medley of hits-in which Japanese group &Team joined them in the end in performing "Gento," just as cameras panned to several massively popular K-groups like Stray Kids and New Jeans grooving to SB19's music-became one of the most talked-about stages of the year.
"(AAA was something) we've been preparing for our entire lives," Josh, oldest of the members, shares when they are asked how they prepared for such a high-profile international event. After all, they were not only opening the show. They would be representing the Philippines in welcoming foreigners to our shores to show them that Filipino talent is world-class.
"Ever since na sinimulan namin ang journey na 'to," Josh continues, "'yung mga ganoong stages talaga ang nilu-look forward namin. During those times kasi, marami kaming problema, (kaya) mas gigil kaming sumampa sa stage during that time. We're very glad na isa kami sa mga naimbitahan para mag-perform doon at nabigyan pa ng award!"
(Ever since we started this journey, those are the stages we've always looked forward to. During those times, we had a lot of problems, so we had a powerful hunger to get back on the stage. We're very glad we were among those invited to perform, and we were even given an award!)
Josh alludes to the challenges they faced last year as a group, issues that temporarily impacted their public appearances and also their then-ongoing Pagtatag! World Tour. Those challenges have since been resolved, with the group now being an independent company. Not only did they continue with the remainder of the tour, which culminated in two sold-out shows in Manila last May, but they have also successfully launched even more individual projects while maintaining their group activities.
Six years in the business is, of course, a long time, especially in an industry where acts may quickly come and go. However, SB19 has managed to stay fresh and continues to evolve, allowing for longevity and global scalability.
"(Our music has evolved from before because now) we're independent artists, so we have our own company," Justin, the youngest member, says. "Before, nagsa-start pa lang kami. Medyo mas controlled kami before. So ngayon, talagang nilalabas namin ang individuality and creative juices namin as SB19 and as solos. Tapos, talagang mas controlled namin ang mga output namin (compared to when) we were still learning."
(Our music has evolved from before because now we're independent artists. We now have our own company. Before, when we were starting, we were more controlled. Now, we are going all-out, we are bringing out our individuality and creative juices as SB19 and as solo artists. We have more control over our output compared to when we were still learning.)
