Ex Battalion (colloquially abbreviated as Ex B) is a Filipino hip hop collective from Muntinlupa City, Philippines, primarily known for the hit singles "Hayaan Mo Sila" in 2017 and "No Games" in 2016. The group was originally formed as a rap battle group and now a hiphop collective by Honcho (formerly Bosx1ne), who mostly writes the hooks of each of their songs, alongside Flow G. Later members included JRoa, King Badger, Brando, and O.C. Dawgs member Skusta Clee. The collective gained prominence nationwide after releasing several hit songs in 2018 such as "Ikaw Kase" and "Follow My Lead". To date, they are considered as the most successful mainstream hip-hop collective in the country with a total of over 1.6 billion views and over 4.8 million subscribers on YouTube.[2][3]

Ex Battalion
Ex Battalion (from left to right; Flow G, Emcee Rhenn, then-member JRoa, Honcho and Skusta Clee) performing in a gig on Tondo, Manila
Background information
Origin	Muntinlupa City, Philippines[1]
Genres	Pinoy hip hop trap Auto-Tune
Years active	2012–present
Labels	Ex Battalion Music Viva Records
Members	Skusta Clee Flow G Brando Emcee Rhenn King Badger JRoa
Past members	Honcho

History and career

In 2012, Ex Battalion was formed and founded by Bosx1ne and rap battle emcees Jekkpot and Cent as a rap battle group. They had joined several barangay rap battles before being into music.[4] In January 2016, the group was formed into a musical group and as a hip hop collective and released their first album entitled "X" on digital platforms. They eventually recruited several artists to join their group after the release. The first three members were former reality talent show participant JRoa, rapper Flow G, singer and rapper Skusta Clee, and their founder Bosx1ne. JRoa's vocals were included in the hook of their first single that became their first hit as a group entitled "Kakaiba" which was released on the same month. Singer and rapper Skusta Clee started associating with the group since early 2016 and has collaborated in most of their singles until eventually becoming a member.[5]

On 25 September 2016, three months after the release of their first smash-hit single, they released another single called "No Games".[6] The track's music video was immediately uploaded on YouTube and subsequently garnering over 16 million views.

On 6 December 2016, they released "Tell Me" and the track's music video on YouTube.

In January 2017, the collective scored their first Billboard Philippine Top 20 hit entitled "No Games" which entered the local chart and peaked at number 10 after several weeks.

However, on 7 November 2017, JRoa announced his intent to leave the group to focus on his solo musical career after releasing just one album in the label and appearing in several songs with the collective. Roa said that the group will still be the same "with or without him". Other members like Flow G and Bosx1ne accepted Roa's decision and pledged to support him on his future plans. (Roa (which renamed and reverted as John Roa, joined Viva Records days after his departure in the group. Meanwhile, during his departure, His participation in the track "Hayaan Mo Sila" as the main version remains.) On the same day, Ex Battalion released another single entitled "Hayaan Mo Sila" (lit. Let Them Be) along with its official video on YouTube. The track was inspired by DJ Khaled's "I'm the One", and it immediately debuted in the Philippine Top 20 chart at number 2, their second hit single appearing on the chart.

On 3 January 2018, the official music video of "Hayaan Mo Sila" was taken down by YouTube after hitting almost twenty million views due to a copyright claim by the producer of the beat, Diamond Style, who claims that Ex Battalion only purchased a $25 lease which covers up to 2,000 streams and up to 250,000 views only. After the event, speculations swirled online regarding the alleged use of the beat without permission; Ex Battalion explained and admitted that they have not purchased the exclusive rights of the beat by which they only got from the producer's YouTube channel.[7][8] After a few days, it was also removed from streaming services and digital stores. It was eventually restored in the stores including the music video on YouTube, after the issue was resolved two weeks later. Due to the massive attention, the track also rose up the charts, peaking at number 2 on the Philippine Top 20 and at number 10 on the Philippine Hot 100 in just one week. However, Billboard Philippines then ceased from publishing weekly charts. On 12 March 2018, the collective released their new single entitled "SouthBoys" on YouTube in another collaboration with O.C. Dawgs. Special appearances in the video included Huddass, Jnske, and Bullet-D. All of which are from O.C. Dawgs. The video became the number 1 trend in the YouTube PH platform several hours after the upload.[9] On 13 March 2018, it was announced that the collective will be handled and managed by Filipino comedian Ai-Ai delas Alas, who they previously collaborated with in Delas Alas' track entitled "Walang Pinipili" (lit. Choosing Nobody), after signing a management contract.

In early 2019, Delas Alas resigned as the group's manager. Delas Alas stated her reason as her inability to handle the ego of certain members who are "behaving unprofessionally".[10] After Ex Battalion starred in their first box-office film, Sons of Nanay Sabel in May 2019, it was reported that Bosx1ne announced his separation from the group on 9 May 2019, citing personal reasons. However, Bosx1ne remaining with the collective was confirmed when he still appeared with his own verse in the music video of their single entitled "Pakinabang" which they released on 5 August 2019. Bosx1ne changed his screen name to Honcho in mid-2020.[11]

In September 2020, Flow G released a track named "Deym" in a video advertisement for their clothing line "Brand for 199x", involving Skusta Clee as an ambassador of the brand. Netizens slam the two members for allegedly plagiarizing the song "Ddaeng" by BTS, released on SoundCloud in 2018, and have made #SkustaCleeisGoingtoJailParty a trending topic on Philippine Twitter.[12] However, a few weeks later, the group's management denied allegations and stated that the two pieces are 'inherently different' and claimed that they used a generic triplet flow. The management also added that "There will be no jail time involved even if there is a conviction of copyright infringement".[13]

On 14 December 2020, John Roa (or simply JRoa) returned to the group by releasing his own single "Woah" under Ex Battalion Music. The track lyrics is under Viva Records while the Official Vertical Music Video of "Woah" is under the group's YouTube channel.[14]

On 4 February 2021, Flow G teamed up with Gloc-9's talent management Asintada.[15]

In April 2021, Honcho announced a lenten special EP titled "Rosario", which he would be releasing on YouTube one track a day from 1 to 4 April, starting with the first song entitled "Ulap" featuring Jekkpot, Brando, and MC Einstein.[16]

On 5 April 2021, the collective released their new single entitled "Yearly" on YouTube with special appearances of the sub-members in the video included Jekkpot, Yuri Dope, MC Einstein, Huddass, E.I.J, and JRoa, the collaborative track is produced by Flip-D and Thyro Alfaro. OneMusicPH described it as "a piercing and elaborately structured diss track."[17]

In November 2021, the group announced that they will be holding their first major stage concert in the next month, with the whole collective performing and former member John Roa also guesting, their first show is entitled "EVOLUXION".[18]

Members

Current members

• Honcho – leader, rapper, vocalist[19]
• Skusta Clee – rapper, vocalist[19]
• Flow G – rapper, vocalist[19]
• Brando – rapper[19]
• Emcee Rhenn – rapper[19]
• King Badger – rapper, vocalist[19]
• JRoa – vocalist[19]

Other members

• Bullet D of O.C. Dawgs – rapper[20]
• Jnske of O.C. Dawgs – rapper[20]
• MC Einstein – vocalist, hypeman[21]
• Yuri Dope – rapper[22]
• Kent MNL – rapper[20]
• Jekkpot – rapper[20]
• Huddass[20]
• Cent[20]
• Ritzz[20]
• Reid[20]

Discography

Singles

As a lead artist

Albums

Extended plays

Charts

Filmography

Films

Television

• ExB Rules! (Under GMA ONE: ONline Exclusives), 2018
• Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho, 2018
• Celebrity Bluff, 2018
• Magpakailanman, 2018
• iJuander, 2018
• Daig Kayo Ng Lola Ko, 2018
• Inday Will Always Love You, 2018
• My Guitar Princess, 2018
• Victor Magtanggol, 2018
• Daddy's Gurl, 2019
• Studio 7, 2019
• Eat Bulaga, 2020

Awards and nominations

References