SB19’s Justin’s new song ‘kaibigan’ is for unrequited love

WE all have experienced countless sleepless nights for various reasons. While others spent their nights for their studies or careers, some kept their eyes wide open yearning for someone they could never have as a romantic partner.

This bittersweet feeling was something that Justin De Dios of P-pop boy group SB19 dealt with in his comeback single “kaibigan,” which he dropped on Friday, July 19.

It was accompanied by a seven-minute and 41-second music video, starring the SB19’s youngest member, Nicole Omillio from the musical adaptation of “One More Chance,” and RJ Cruz of pop-rock band The Juans.

The clip tells the story of three friends who go on a trip, revealing De Dios’ romantic feelings for Omillio. One would probably think that these two are ‘more than friends’ with their sweet moments flashed in the beginning—but every story has its own interesting plot twist.

It turns out that Omillio is unaware of De Dios’ feelings when she reveals her romantic relationship with their other friend, Cruz. 

Singing his unrequited love, De Dios said in the outro part of the song, “Oh, sinabi mo na nakatagpo’t para bang kayo’y perpekto; Oh, sinabi mo na sigurado na kayo hanggang sa dulo; At ako ay ngumiti habang nakatitig; At umagos ang luha sa aking pakikinig.”

Production

“Kaibigan” is a collaborative effort of De Dios and the production duo Radkidz, composed of SB19 member Pablo and his brother Josue, whom he joined forces with for his debut single “surreal.” De Dios wrote “kaibigan,” while the duo produced the single.

“At first, it was more of a solemn and calm song, but as we navigated deeper through the collaboration and explored the material and its story, we came up with something that ripped out the emotional layers in the latter part,” De Dios said in a press statement. 

Some fans may get curious about the reason behind De Dios’ creativity for the song, but the P-pop idol revealed that he had “no actual or specific inspiration” for “kaibigan.”

“I wrote this tune from the perspective of an observer and wanderer: a person who enjoys movies with coming-of-age slant,” he stressed.

De Dios also conceptualized the music video, but Radkidz helped him come up with the storyboard and the shot list.

“I even sent movies and not just music video pegs for them to really understand what we wanted to achieve,” he said.

“The music video is very easy to digest. And that’s what I want: for people to relate to it and feel the story of the music and the music video,” he added.

Fans relate

It seems that De Dios was successful in his mission to make “kaibigan” and its music video relatable.

Several netizens shared their own experiences of heartbreak, particularly their unrequited love.

“I liked a boy in college, we were so close na umaakbay, nagho-holding hands na kami habang nakaupo or umaakbay na ‘pag kasama tropa,” one social media user narrated.

“[Tapos] nalaman kong may gusto pala siya sa friend ko. Matagal na. So umasa ako na ako talaga gusto nya pero wala na ako magagawa friend ko gusto nya eh,” they added.

Another fan shared a story about their long-term crush who had romantic feelings for their other friend.

Meanwhile, a netizen jested, “Sana pala natulog nalang ako, para di na ako nasaktan. Dami kong naalala mamen!”

“Kaibigan” followed “surreal,” which was released in February 2024.