Who are the Hasht5?

Boy bands are known to make girls swoon with their catchy songs, good looks, and smooth dance moves. Internationally, there are boy bands like One Direction, N*Sync, the Backstreet Boys, and Westlife. Locally, we have Gimme 5, Chicser, and Harana. But who are these five boys who call themselves Hasht5 and are trending all over social media?

Based in General Trias Cavite, the Hasht5 describe themselves as “true friends.” They became internet sensations because of their parodies, dance moves, and other quirky and funny social media uploads. The group is composed of five boys namely Marlou Arizala, Erick Oxford Ebreo, Vincent Binocas, Jhimwel Macanlalay, and Carl Cee Jhay Eliero.

Their internet fame started with a simple video introducing the group (and their newest member) which, to date, has gotten more than 880,000 views.

In just one week since the video was released and their Facebook page was created, the number of their “likers” mushroomed from 1,000 to more than 100,000. At almost 140,000 likes as of this writing, many believe though, that the new fans are actually haters who want to see what the group is currently up to.

Interestingly, though, the group makes so-called mall tours and fan signs. Some posts even offer meetups and dates with fans, which many find both funny and creepy. Netizens marvel at their audacity to post and act as if they’re good-looking fellows, but at the same time find it inspirational that they’ve embraced their true selves and are confident to put themselves out there and be the subject of ridicule and humor. There are also rumors that these five boys used to be “rugby boys” (out-of-school youth who would get high by inhaling rugby fumes) but have reformed. Now they’re high on energy and entertainment.

Hasht5 hasn’t reached television stardom yet, but it seems it’s only a matter of time before they get picked up for interviews.

Love them or hate them, take your pick. The group feels that they deserve to be treated better and are saddened by the negative reactions they garner from some netizens, but they have hopes that they can soon win them over. After all, the group isn’t seemingly doing anything wrong and seems to be doing these things for the fun of it, nothing more, nothing less.