YouTube flagged and removed Byron Messia’s hit song “Talibans,” as well as the Burna Boy version, “Talibans II,” from the video-sharing platform on Wednesday after a Jamaican artist filed a copyright claim against the track.
“Talibans” was released in January 2023 on Messia’s debut studio album, No Love. The song was an immediate hit and is now certified gold in the UK and Canada. It went on to be remixed by Grammy-winning artist Burna Boy.
Byron Messia, who was born in Jamaica but moved to St. Kitts and Nevis with his parents at two months old, posted a screenshot from YouTube revealing the song’s removal. “Hi Byron Messia TV, we received a copyright removal request for your video,” the message read. On his YouTube page, the official music video was nowhere to be seen.
“God Alone Know,” he captioned the screenshot and praying hands emoji. “Uno win,” he added in another post.
On social media, many fans reacted to the song’s removal, with some alleging that Byron had copied dancehall artist Jeff Fullyauto’s song “Big Guns.” The song’s cadence and riddim have some similarities, as pointed out by Jeff’s fans.
“Byron Messia really stole the flow of EVERY part of this song frl,” one person commented more than a year ago. Another wrote, “Byron thief e dawg song fi true enuh.” One fan pointed out, “It so f— up bro Byron stole the exact flow and cadence just change the lyrics and song has opened 1000 doors for him globally wireless UK, Chris Brown collab, burna collab, record deals etc.”
In the meantime, checks revealed that “Talibans” was still posted on Spotify and Apple Music. The original song had over 60 million views on YouTube prior to its removal, while Burna Boy’s remix had over 40 million views.
The song is credited with creating the momentum that led to Byron Messia signing a recording deal with Interscope Records in May 2023.
Following the song’s massive success, Byron released other tracks, including “90’z,” “Miss Tight Hole,” and “Choppa,” which has the highest views on his account—16 million—along with others.
Listen both songs below.
