MANILA, Philippines — Hip-hop and rap artist Young Blood Neet (YB) soared in the local music scene two years ago when his single, Dem Dayz, took off and became popular, along with his early releases like Meta, Quick Sand, Di Matangay, Blvd, Rason, Balaclava and Took a Risk.
YB’s single, EPs (extended play) and albums became well received the past two years, including the new one, Good Girl and his latest viral hit, ILY (I Love You).
Thanks to TikTok duo Abdul and Marcy, who pushed the viral popularity of ILY after they made a dance challenge on TikTok.
“Nakakataba ng puso after I saw that,” admitted YB, whose real name is Jay Jay Marabe. He started using Young Blood Neet four years ago. “I never asked them to do a TikTok challenge for the song. Masaya ako na nag-hit pa ang song.”
YB penned ILY in October 2023. However, the song took off in June this year after the dance challenge posted by Abdul and Marcy, which YB caught online.
“Nothing was planned,” Marcy said. “I’ve been hearing of other artists using YB’s music. Ang branding ko, pa-tweetums lang, pa-sweet. So, I made the song more flirty. Then I told Abdul to do his part. Sumabay na siya. The following day, the dance challenge went viral. We didn’t prepare or plan for it.”
The TikTok challenge happened four months ago. “We just started doing TikTok only last March,” said Marcy.
Abdul said they really didn’t expect that what they did on TikTok would go viral. “It was all for fun, but YB (Young Blood) joined us,” Abdul said. “Initially, we were just eyeing to meet him soon, but he was destined to collab with us.”
Abdul and Marcy have known each other for a long time, since they were batchmates at San Beda College, where they took up marketing.
“We were still in college and we’ve known each other already,” Marcy offered. “We were both members of the San Beda Red Corps, the pep squad since 2013.”
They later joined a construction firm, where they both worked until early November, when they left their jobs. “The first few months, we were just seriously working,” Abdul said. “Occasionally, our manager would launch contests like Miss Gay Philippines.
“The real gays were not allowed to join, only straight guys. But we have friends from the LGBT+ (lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders) sector. So, we were trained. When we started to do TikTok, it wasn’t expected, too.”
“When we first uploaded our dance on TikTok, it became a hit right away. That wasn’t also planned. Then, we decided to do it regularly. We stood by our decision. We became content creators. The decision became mutual for us.”
Embracing fame and popularity is no longer new for Abdul and Marcy. “I tried acting on indie films before,” admitted Abdul, who was tagged as Israeli by his officemates, but was originally known by his real name, David. “I did bit roles in films to augment my income. It was just luck for me.”
However, when they both entered the recording world, Abdul knew it’s a gamble on their part. “We know we have to take a risk in everything we do,” he said. “Between corporate and content creation, I guess that’s the same.
In the future projects that Abdul and Marcy will do, they agreed to represent themselves as a duo. “Package deal na kami,” Abdul explained. “They can give us the salary for one talent, but we can both do the job. Hating magkapatid kami.”
As content creators, Abdul and Marcy feel the pressure of their job. “What we do is when ILY went viral, we don’t depart from that strategy,” Abdul said. “At least no one will blame us. We stayed on that strategy.”
“We already uploaded new videos, but we don’t expect everything to become a hit right away. Nag-trending na kami. Pumutok na ang song. We do not know what will become a hit next. We carry YB’s songs. We act them out.”
YB previously did similar things like Abdul and Marcy. He did theater and expressed his acting onstage.
“From what I noticed, what we all did became a hit with the public because of our authenticity,” YB maintained. “We didn’t copy anybody. Even Abdul and Marcy, when they did their content, it was original.”
YB was influenced by the late Inozent One of Juan Thugs, who became his inspiration. “I remember when I was still young, isa sila talaga sa mga influences ko,” he shared.
Proudly, YB writes all his songs that took inspiration from “streets, culture, motivation, way of life” of people. “I just create songs, then release them,” YB said. “Whether or not it becomes a shit, that’s okay.”
Early this week, Abdul and Marcy finally met face-to-face with YB. Thanks to Believe Music, their recording outfit, who made the meeting possible.
“We were all surprised when we learned that we were going to see each other,” Marcy said. “We didn’t expect that we would officially become part of Young Blood Neet’s music. Our hearts were overwhelmed.”
“Until now, our hearts are still beating fast. We could not believe that we are here and he is with us. We are really happy.”