Byron Messia continues to enjoy some musical success as his breakout hit “Talibans” is officially certified Gold in the UK just over a year after the song was released. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) updated its database on Friday (February 23) to reflect the latest set of gold and platinum singles.
For a single to be certified Gold in the United Kingdom, it needs to sell at least 400,000 copies. “Talibans” met that criterion and was officially certified by the BPI some six months after the song was certified silver in the UK last August, with sales surpassing 200,000 units.
“Talibans” was released on January 20, 2023, a few days after Byron Messia and his team previewed the song on social media and received rave reviews from fans who urged him to drop it. The Jamaican-born Kittitian deejay obliged, and the rest is history. The song was produced by Kelly Beatz, Ej Fya, and Spaceship Billy and released on the Ztekk label, to which Messia is signed.
Commercially, “Talibans” music video has since surpassed 65 million views on YouTube, while “Talibans II” featuring Burna Boy has since surpassed 26 million views after seven months. Burna later included the song as a bonus track on his I Told Them… album.
The song also peaked at No. 99 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and made its presence felt on several more Billboard charts. “Talibans” was also instrumental in Byron Messia’s album, No Love, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard Reggae Album chart and going on to spend 32 weeks on said chart. The Burna Boy version of “Talibans” also peaked at No. 3 on the Afrobeats chart behind Rema’s “Calm Down” at No. 1, and “Essence” by Wizkid and Tems. After 29 weeks on the Afrobeats chart, “Talibans II” remains in the top 10 at No. 9.
While “Talibans” was one of the biggest dancehall songs in 2023, Byron Messia sparked controversy when he seemingly labeled the song an Afrobeats single in an interview where he explained why he recorded it on an Afrobeats beat.
“It was me telling me self say yow, yo know say when yuh a listen to Afro[beats], a gyal song I was about to build on it yuh know,” Messia said. “And den mi seh ‘Nah, yuh know seh when yuh listen to Afro[beats], is bare rebellious and love songs yuh only a hear? Yuh nah hear no war or no griminess pon dem beat deh… If you really think bout it.”
Byron Messia is currently working on a new project due sometime this year and has a song coming later this month with rapper Lil Baby.
