P-pop group SB19’s “Gento” has been approved as an official entry to the US Recording Academy’s 66th Grammy Awards, Sony Music Philippines announced on Friday, 13 October.
The hit song will be considered in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category.
“Share until it gets to the voting members of the Recording Academy before October 20,” Sony Music Philippines wrote alongside a “For Your Grammys Consideration” poster of Gento.
Should “Gento” make the cut, it will go against “Karma” (remix) by Taylor Swift feat. Ice Spice, “Barbie Dreams” by FIFTY FIFTY featuring Kaliii, “Cupid” by FIFTY FIFTY, “The Loneliest Time” by Carly Rae Jepsen featuring Rufus Wainwright and “Vulgar” by Sam Smith and Madonna.
Official nominees will be announced on 10 November, with the 66th Grammy Awards happening on 4 February 2024.
“Gento” offers a catchy wordplay of ganito (like this), ginto (gold) and gento, the Caviteño word for ganito. It draws inspiration from SB19’s transformational change as the group has achieved milestone after milestone in the local and global music scenes.
The song landed at eighth spot on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart in June, joining worldwide artists such as BTS, Fifty Fifty, Enhyphen and Selena Gomez. It also inspired a global dance craze among K-pop idols such as The Boyz, Ateez, Stray Kids, Minzy, Eunhyuk, and Hollywood artists like Jamie Miller and Cha Chi Gonzales.
SB19, composed of members Pablo, Stell, Josh Justin and Ken, debuted in 2018 with “Tilaluha.” They shot to popularity with “Go Up,” since then followed by a string of hit songs, among them “MAPA,” “SLMT,” “Alab (Burning),” “Bazinga,” “WYAT (Where You At),” “Crimzone” and “I Want You.”
In 2022, Ken, who also goes by the mononym Felip, became the first full Filipino music artist to perform at the Grammy’s Global Spin stage with his single “Bulan.”