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.
His 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 Marsy, who pushed the viral popularity of “ILY” after they made a dance challenge on TikTok. Surprisingly, YB ever asked them to do a TikTok challenge for the song.
“Masaya ako na nag-hit pa ang song,” admitted YB, whose real name is Jay Jay Marabe. He started using Young Blood Neet four years ago.
“Nakakataba ng puso after I saw that,” YB added.
YB penned ILY in October 2023. However, the song took off in June this year after the dance challenge posted by Abdul and Marsy, which YB caught online.
“Nothing was planned,” Marsy 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 took off four months ago. 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,” he said. “Initially, we were just eyeing to meet him soon, but he was destined to collab with us.”
Embracing fame and popularity is not really new for Abdul and Marsy. “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 was 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 Marsy 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 Marsy 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.”
Just this November, Abdul and Marsy finally met face to face with YB. Thanks to Believe Music Philippines, their recording outfit who made the meeting possible.
“We were all surprised when we learned that we were going to see each other,” Marsy 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.”
