Young Blood Neet credits TikTok duo Abdul and Marcy for viral hit

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.

- By LEAH C. SALTERIO

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."