With her song “People” taking the world by storm is Libianca the next big African star? Who knows!
Speaking to Rolling Stone Magazine, she tells of how the song came about after feeling invisible in a gathering and her mental heath was not in a great state.
She said “I was hosting a Friendsgiving at my house, and eventually, I wasn’t feeling the vibes,” I went to the bathroom, I cried, tried to pull myself together, and then I came back downstairs. And everyone’s like, ‘Oh, Libby, you want to take a shot of this Casa[migos]?’”
Her mental state of mind, translating that into a song is what is helping her heal.
More so, her success lies in many “people” relating to every lyric of the song from their own experiences and everyday lives, drawing the energy she put into it and healing from that.
It shows mental health is a disease that is not just confined to one place, but worldwide.
Born Kenzonkinboum Fonji to Cameroonian parents in America, the 22 year old moved with her mother and siblings to Bamenda, Cameroon at the age of 4. Her father remained in the US for work.
She began singing aged 5 while still in Cameroon, and started writing songs aged 10, she tells Rolling Stone.
Aged 13, she moved back to the USA and continued to pursue music, joining choirs, signing to a record label at 16 years of age where she learnt all things music including sound engineering and song mixing.
Her parents were very supportive of her career, mum paid for her voice lessons while dad attempted to manage her for a while. But family and business did not mix well, she revealed.
She audition for The Voice USA in 2021 and made it through to the live finals before being voted off.
Libianca continued on her grind, releasing covers of songs and her own music. She would use beats from YouTube and add her lyrics to it.
Until people shined her to the world.