SACBxY has been entertaining you for years, you just don’t know it. Born and raised in Sacramento, SACBxy, real name Phil Tayag is here to prove his love for both dance and music can coexist.
Being one of the original members of the world-renowned Jabbawockeez, the Filipino-American creative won America’s Best Dance Crew with the dance group back in 2008.
Since then, he’s performed on the world’s biggest stages including the NBA All-Star Game with Shaq O’Neal and even the NBA Finals for 3 years.
SACBxY recently unleashed the official music video for “in mY way,” which similar to his name, pays tribute to his hometown of Sac. He even performed the record alongside dance crew TRYBE inside the Sacramento Kings’ Golden 1 Center, on Filipino Roots Night.
4 years back, he had the privilege of performing with Bruno Mars at Super Bowl 50. Shortly after, he starred in Bruno’s “Finesse” video featuring Cardi B, later performing alongside the pop stars at the 60th Grammy Awards.
Beyond the music, SACBxY is a father and entrepreneur who founded his own brand BWBE back in 2005.
AllHipHop: What inspired your name SACBxY?
SACBxY: They call me SB, SB is for SacBxy. In 2005, they used to call me Swagger Boy. When I used to record, they’d be like “bro, you’re Swagger Boy.” Because people were using the word swag a lot. I started going by SB, then it evolved into SACBxY. I’m from Sacramento, but keeping it in the private. Keeping it cool.
AllHipHop: Talk about being from Sac, and also being Filipino.
SACBxY: We’ve always felt like underdogs. Because I have family who’s from Frisco and from LA in Cerritos, I’ve always had family in a bigger city. Sac, we’ve always been this underdog so it’s been stained in my mind. Probably for a lot of people I was around coming up, people thought we’re from some butt crack ass city.
AllHipHop: How did you make it out?
SACBxY: Because we were so different. We were given the opportunity to come into our own, sticking with the dance and music. Creating our own identity where now, we’re starting to be recognized. We’re a part of this movement in Northern Cali, where people would say the Bay Area. We’re one city away so there’s a technicality of us being in the valley. The culture is still very similar, or even to some people the same. We’ve always felt like these underdogs but because there’s always been that hunger, we turned it into something. Used that as gas to get to where we are.
AllHipHop: Bring us back when you first joined TRYBE, what were those days like?
SACBxY: TRYBE is a collective of not only rappers or dancers. Because I’ve been part of the business aspect of being an artist, so it’s a collective of different types of artists. We need to eat, so we have chefs who are rocking with the TRYBE. Graphic designers. It’s really a collective as opposed to one thing. This isn’t just a rap group or clothing line, it’s a collective of artists pushing to be free.
AllHipHop: At what point did you realize this music thing was for real?
SACBxY: I wrote my first verse in second grade. I was messing around then, I had just got the Regulate Warren G tape. I’ve always been into rap. I grew up in that s##t, so probably since then. Some people know me as a dancer, but some know me as a rapper. To me, there’s never been this pivotal moment. It’s something I’ve always been doing since I was young, I never stopped.
AllHipHop: What inspired “In my Way”? What made you shoot it in your hometown of Sac?
SACBxY: It was just out the gate, this comeback. I was doing my last project I had dropped in 2012, then I got really busy getting this other company off the ground. It actually got really big, I got caught up doing that. Now I’m in this space where ultimately my motivation isn’t so much money or anything material, it’s freedom-driven. Yes I love to dance, but I love to make music. I love to rap. I love to create clothes. Everything’s based on what I really want to do in my heart. With “in mY way,” I’m having fun. It wasn’t any particular crazy agenda. This is who I am, I’ve been like this, and I just need to run it. Be who I am.
AllHipHop: Do you still feel like the underdog?
SACBxY: I guess music-wise, because I haven’t been dropping. I’ve been on this campaign. Some people might look at me as maybe I am, but I do have a bunch of years under my belt.
AllHipHop: Were you nervous to perform with Bruno Mars at Super Bowl 50?
SACBxY: What’s funny about that is it’s been a while since I’ve performed without a mask. It hit me a few minutes before I went on stage, I’m like “oh s##t, what am I supposed to do with my face?” [laughs] It was a trip. Jumping on stage is like being on a roller coaster. As soon as you take that first dip [snaps], it’s go. That’s it.
AllHipHop: Best memory from the “Finesse” video w/ Cardi B?
SACBxY: It’s really doing s##t I like to do, not feeling confined. Even with Cardi, she could be looked at as an underdog in her own way. People wouldn’t think she’s a super MC. Everyone’s going to put titles and have all of this criticism to try and fit somebody into a box.
Even between those 2 artists alone, they’re ultimately people who are comfortable with themselves. When you force that upon the market like “hey this is how I am,” you become relentless about it. You’re unapologetic about it. That’s what we have in common, this sense of it is what it is. I just so happen to be who I am or look the way I do, but I do this s##t. Run It.
AllHipHop: Who’s in your Top 5 in 2020?
SACBxY: I always have to say Hov always. I definitely have to put Beyoncé up there. Even with them 2, I was fans of them separately before they even got together. Bruno’s my dude, he’s really solid. Bruno for sure. I’ll put Drake up there. I’m a Libra so I’m indecisive. I’ma say Erykah Badu.
AllHipHop: Anything else you want to let us know?
SACBxY: We dropped this video called “Dance” with my brother Ru AREYOU, he’s from our collective TRYBE as well. We’re about to keep dropping s##t.