Byron Messia‘s hit song Talibans is now certified gold in the United Kingdom, thirteen months after its release.
According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the song was issued the Brit Certified Gold Award on Friday (February 23) after it sold over 400,000 units in the UK, as measured by The Official Charts Company. It had been certified Silver (for surpassing 200,000 units) in August 2023.
Released on January 20, 2023, Talibans appeared on Messia’s No Love album (Ztekk/Simple Stupid/Geffen), which has spent 32 weeks on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart, peaking at No. 3.
A remix of the song, titled Talibans II, was released on July 21, 2023, through On A Spaceship/Bad Habit/Atlantic Records with Burna Boy. It was included as a bonus track on the Afrobeats star’s I Told Them… album, which was released on August 24.
In the United States, the remix entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 99 and climbed its way to No. 3 on the Billboard US Afrobeats Songs chart.
The song has also spent several weeks on the UK Singles chart, where it peaked at No. 12.
Talibans’ music video, featuring a guest appearance from Jamaican starlet Jada Kingdom, referenced in the song’s second verse (‘AK shake like a Jada Kingdom’), has racked up over 44 million views on YouTube.
The beat for Talibans, an amalgamation of Afrobeats and Trap, was a joint production by Ztekk Records and California-based EJ Fya.
Messia had said that he had initially intended for the song to be a ‘ladies’ track, but he decided to go against the grain and inject some ‘griminess’ into the Afrobeats genre, known for love and little or no violent content. In an interview with The Shade Room, he had expressed surprise at the global reception of the song he had envisioned as a street record, given its edgy title and raw lyrics.
“You know, I wasn’t expecting the feedback and the love from around the world that the song’s getting…” he said.
“I thought it would’ve been a street record because, you know, we’re talking — I’m crazy on it, you know, it’s “Talibans.” It’s a title. I never expected it to blow up globally, like how it did.”