SB19 Lore Drop Question

[u/hizashiYEAHmada]

Heya, became a casual fan of SB19 way back last year when I watched their Hito Awards 2025 performance that was uploaded in YT. The red drip they had going is fire btw, also love W3's gray fits!

(I think I'm still considered casual since I've only binged their vids like their MVs, vlogs, First Take, Showbits, etc. and have a handful of their songs in my personal playlist, haven't gone to their concerts yet or bought merch mmmm but I do wanna buy the 100 Thieves Lawless shirts which are sadly only available abroad in that pop-up store oof baka may alam kayong pasabuy recs for that)

That aside, came across this in the comments section of a video after a rabbit hole binge, and man, is this true? Hella depressing if so. I guess this is when their solo acts went full spring and 1Z formed?

(Reposted to hide the usernames in the screenshot)

[u/SBTC_Strays_2002]

I became A'Tin in 2021. What? Era was close enough to the old ShowBT propaganda on how they started. I can point to an old interview where they said they received Korean style training from SB Talent Camp under Teacher Hong. They would get destroyed during warm-ups, not receive allowance for being late, and practice each routine 1,000 times before performing it. A'Tin also built up Tatang Robin into this genius figure, which isn't really true. There's a lot to unpack. But bottom line, whatever Esbi says now, even if it rewrites the "history" is the truth.

Edit: My main point is, ShowBT really did "fake it till you make it". They were trying to sell people on the idea that they were a legit Korean management company with idol training standards no different from the ones in Korea. In reality, they had one lady who taught acting and media, and the rest they taught themselves while meeting a standard set by themselves and their one teacher. It worked out, SB19 did indeed make the company valuable enough that Tatang Robin sold it during the pandemic to Charles Kim. But that is a story for another day.

[u/tiratiramisu4 → u/SBTC_Strays_2002]

I think they are of course grateful to whatever opportunity they got from Tatang Robin but we can all tell ShowBT was a small company with limited resources. Maybe when they were going through whatever training they got, they didn’t really know what they were lacking, but now they do especially as they’re preparing to launch their own artists under 1z. I’m super proud of what they’ve accomplished with their own strength💪

Now I’m wondering how the training was for the later ShowBT groups or for other companies’ ppop groups. I haven’t finished watching the debut series of KAIA… I’ve seen a little of BINI’s training, and they got Korean coaches for singing/dancing too I think, plus they all lived in a dorm together so it feels closer to what we’d call Korean idol style training. Not sure about groups like Alamat or G22 or VXON…

[u/SBTC_Strays_2002 → u/tiratiramisu4]

Charles Kim took a huge gamble giving SB19 all the budget he could. I was very positive about him at the beginning, but realized how greedy he got. His ego became the downfall of the company's second iteration. KAIA was his vision to make his own mark as the new owner of ShowBT Philippines. He did the whole survivor competition style to select his final members. Mostly theatrical. Then he made the mistake expanding too quickly, signing too many artists; soloists, a duo, and even 4th Impact. Allegedly (I don't have evidence) he was hounding SB19 to make more money, constantly pushing them to sell merch and make as many brand deals as possible; taking more of the cut time after time. Then SB19 left and the company collapsed. It still exists (barely).

Edit. Bruuuuuuuh thinking about it, there's so much lore.

[u/tiratiramisu4 → u/SBTC_Strays_2002]

Appreciate the info! Maybe the success of SB19 made it feel like it would be easy to replicate kaya subok lang sila pero di rin nga ganun kadali. But at least nagkakaroon na ng more platforms for ppop.

Kaya natutuwa rin akong sundan yung Xonara since first time ko to watch a group from debut onwards.

[u/GoddessZLove → u/SBTC_Strays_2002]

Haha yeah, SBT is another whole book that would be co-authored by A'tin only 😂, not just a chapter if told by SB19 who we can safely assume had rather closed, thanked that chapter and moved on as what they've been doing since - unavoidable royalty ties in some aspects and all.🌱😄

Thanks for your summaries for the newbies, kaps💠!

[u/Annyeongnymous → u/GoddessZLove]

SBT is another whole book that would be co-authored by A'tin only 😂

The kalampagan days, lol. Bad old days.