In 2023, Cameroonian-American artist Libianca made waves in the UK music scene with her hit single ‘People’. The song, blending emotional depth with captivating rhythms, landed among the top 10 most played tracks in the UK, amassing over 100 million streams across various platforms.
Libianca, who relocated from Cameroon to the US at the age of four, shared in a BBC interview how ‘People’ was inspired by her experiences at a Thanksgiving gathering. She described feeling overlooked and desperately needing support, emotions that deeply influenced the song’s creation.
Her success was a highlight in a remarkable year for female artists in the UK. Libianca joined a prestigious lineup including Miley Cyrus, SZA, Taylor Swift, and Ellie Goulding, as one of the seven female acts dominating the top 10 UK singles chart.
The year also marked significant achievements in the Afrobeats genre. Nigerian sensation Rema’s track ‘Calm Down’, featuring Selena Gomez, was the eighth most streamed song globally on Spotify. He made history as the first African artist to surpass one billion streams on the platform. This milestone underlines the remarkable growth of Afrobeats, which has seen a 550% increase in global streams since 2017.
