Ben&Ben

Filipino folk-pop group The Benjamins, also known as Ben&Ben, started life as a duo comprising the Guico twins, aka Paolo Benjamin and Miguel Benjamin Guico, who first found fame with their 2015 single “Tinatangi." Recorded by Cookie Chua and Bayang Barrios, the song won second runner-up at the Philippine Popular Music Festival in 2016. Shortly after, the brothers changed their name to Ben&Ben and released a seven-track EP before expanding their lineup in 2017 to add electric guitarist Poch Barretto drummer Jam Villanueva, bassist Agnes Reoma, keyboardist Patricia Lasaten, percussionists Toni Muñoz and Andrew de Pano and violinist Keifer Cabugao. The newly souped-up ensemble released their debut album Limasawa Street in 2019, which went double platinum in the Philippines. They issued the follow-up in 2021, the same year they set a new record in the folk-pop genre, with "nearly 300 million streams in [over] 170 countries". Pebble House, Vol. 1: Kuwaderno featured an array of guest collaborators, including Filipino singer-songwriter Moira Dela Torre and Filipina singer and rapper KZ Tandingan and its second single, "Magpahinga," was dedicated to the victims of COVID-19. 2022 saw the release of several new singles from Ben&Ben, including "The Ones We Once Loved" and "Langyang Pag-ibig."