St. Kitts-based dancehall artist Byron Messia is the only Caribbean artist that has made the list of Billboard Magazine’s list of 100 Best Songs of 2023.
‘Talibans,’ the hit song by the Jamaican-born artist ranked at #75 on the chart.
“Slippery but emphatic, sing-song yet full of menace, ‘Talibans’ served as a mesmerizing breakout for Messia, who was born in Jamaica but grew up in St. Kitts and Nevis. The beat is cadaverous, an empty, swaying shell of electronics and drums, putting all the focus on Messia’s voice — angelic, threatening — and delivery: staccato cadences rarely sound this fluid,” Billboard said of the song.
The 2023 hit served as the breakout song for Byron Messia, who moved to St. Kitts from Jamaica at two months old.
The song earned a Silver certification in the United Kingdom and a Gold certification in Canada. It peaked at No. 8 on the Rap Airplay chart and charted on several others.
The ‘Talibans II‘ remix, featuring prominent Afrobeats artist Burna Boy, reached its highest position at No. 3 on the US Afrobeats Songs chart and No. 99 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, which tracks all genres.
The massive success of the single also led to Byron Messia receiving a multi-album deal from major U.S. label Interscope Records early this year.
His 2023 album, No Love, peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart.
Before No Love, Messia released six albums: Different Perspectives (in 2017), Top 10 (2017) (2017), Byron Messia (Top 2018) (2020), S.I.G.H. (2020), HitsTapes (2020) and Pills Nd Pain (2021).
