‘Double Take’ hitmaker Dhruv on SB19’s Justin: So humble, talented

While he already knew of the P-pop boy band SB19, London-born singer-songwriter Dhruv didn’t really know what to expect from member Justin de Dios when they linked up for a recent live performance.

“I grew up in Singapore, so in general, I try to keep tabs on what’s going on in the region … in Southeast Asia. That’s why I was aware of Justin and SB19 beforehand. However, I didn’t know much about his personality, or what he was going to be like,” Dhruv told the Inquirer in a recent interview arranged by Sony Music Philippines.

Dhruv is the artist behind the massive pop-R&B song “Double Take.” During a Manila mall show last weekend to promote his upcoming debut album, “Private Blizzard,” he brought out Justin onstage for a duet on the aforementioned hit, whose official releases on both Spotify and YouTube have collectively amassed 1.1 billion streams since 2019.

“He turned out to be such a sweetheart. He’s such a lovely person … He’s so humble, so modest, but just so talented,” Dhruv said.

No hiccups

The 25-year-old music artist also found Justin “very easy” to work with.

“There weren’t any hiccups. He sounded great. We rehearsed for 30 minutes and the show was really fun. We hung out before the show and caught up with each other after. We had a chat about different stuff,” added the singer, who also performed stripped-down versions of well-loved hits and fresh singles, including “Airplane Thoughts,” “Speed of Light,” “Moonlight” and “Tragedy.”

For Justin—who did well despite feeling under the weather—sharing the stage with Dhruv was “such an honor.” “Earlier, when we were rehearsing for this song, I got goosebumps,” he said after their performance. Justin also has a new single out, titled “Kaibigan.”

Asked if he would be interested in collaborating with Filipino or other Southeast Asian acts for future projects, Dhruv said he would, “100 percent.” “There’s just so much talent that exists here in this region. I find it mind-blowing that there are so many names here that aren’t huge everywhere else in the world.”

“For me, it’s all about chemistry and the vibe among artists … whether it makes sense for us [musically],” Dhruv added. “But yeah, definitely, I would love to do collaborations.”