Young JV during the shoot for ‘Shake, Shake’ video.

His name must be frowning at the thought of growing old. But it seems that Young JV is attracting great positive energy by maturing without skipping a beat. He recently won Best New Artist plum from both Urban Music and Myx Music Awards, stressing that at this early stage of his career, both comrades and critics have found his act adorable.

The son of military man and Edsa I key player Red Kapunan is scoring victories with music hip-hop music as weapon. His album “Ready Or Not” is both a high-class material that loudly announced that the soldier’s boy is no doubt ready for battle.

“Ayokong tawaging work ang ginagawa ko kasi (“I don’t want to call it work because) I’m having real fun. Tumaas talaga ang confidence ko (My confidence level has gone up) with all the appreciation I’m getting,” Young JV recently told the Manila Bulletin in an interview prior to shooting his music video for “Shake, Shake,” the latest single from his debut album.

According to director Marla Ancheta, the music video combines live and minimal 2D graphics/special effects and showcases him as “a party starter in an underground hip hop society.” An abandoned building along Ermin Garcia in Quezon City was interestingly picked as venue for the shoot.

With 40 videos to her credits, the prolific lady director who previously worked with Young JV (in a song he collaborated with Kyla) felt so thrilled about the idea of creating a dance craze via the video. “Mas malaki ang naimprove niya this time. Sa rehearsal pa lang evident na, (He improved a lot and that was already evident during the rehearsal).”

A few minutes before the shoot, the highly-achieving act was seen perfecting his dance steps, definitely living up to his role as heart of the party. He expressed excitement about his latest video and the widening acceptance of urban music in the country.

Young JV shared, “Mas masaya ang video na ‘to. We’re seeing more party and dancing scenes and that goes with my plan to launch a dance competition soon. I’m really happy lots of people are helping me promote our kind of music.”

Released by Polyeast Records, “Ready Or Not” contains 15 tracks, including numbers with guest singers Marcus Davis and Kris Lawrence. Most music critics have found his record appealing and technically competitive beyond expectations, arguably helping him score great gigs especially on TV. For obvious reasons, his entry in showbiz is a welcome addition to local hiphoppers.