Dancehall artist Byron Messia has hit the jackpot with his song “Talibans,” but he nearly committed career suicide after fans seemingly washed their hands of him and his music after claiming it had no Jamaican music.
Messia was born in Jamaica but revealed that he was adopted at two months old and taken to St. Lucia by his adopted mother. His journey into dancehall music came as a teen, and he seemed to get the break he was looking for with “Talibans” after several collaborations with other dancehall heavy hitters.
Byron Messia, who became popular largely thanks to Jamaicans picking up his music, said in a now-deleted The Fix interview that his music was not influenced by Jamaica despite him claiming his Jamaican-ness and naming his songs like “MOCA” after things Jamaican.
“How big is Jamaica’s influence on you and on your music?” he was asked on the show. “Not really [big],” Messia said, adding, “mi nuh really look up to people. Mi waa look up to mi self,” and adding that the song “MOCA,” “a nuh influence dat. There’s no influence there.”
While speaking with Winford Williams on OnStage, Messia backtracks his previous comments that his song is an Afrobeats song with “Caribbean griminess.”
“Well, the storyline behind it, it is a dancehall storyline. At the end of the day, only we speak about dem situations and what not weh me a song about, Talibans. There is a debate about it being an Afro [beat] song but I won’t call it Afro [beat] song at all, it is a dancehall song.”
The artist added that the song changed his life thanks to the song connecting with fans. “It has opened so many doors for me. The song hit 20 million views three days ago and a lot of international artists have been reaching out to me trying to be on the remix,” he said.
Among those who have expressed interest in collaborating are 21 Savage, Burna Boy, and others. However, the artist said he did not intend to remix “Talibans” because it was a major hit by itself, but he wanted to work with other artists on new music.
Byron Messia revealed that he is signed to Interscope, and he is getting ready to travel to the United States and the United Kingdom.
The artist also addressed the debate by fans over him repping St. Kitts versus Jamaica but said he was amused by it but was happy for the support.
In the interview, Messia describes himself as a Jamaican dancehall artiste and says his biggest inspiration is Masicka, who he looks up to along with Chronic Law and Vybz Kartel.
He previously worked with Jashii, Rytikal and Govana, and Jada Kingdom.
