Libianca Suffering from Depression: She Open Up On Inspiration Behind Smashing Hit Song “People”
Libianca, a Cameroonian-American music sensation, didn’t anticipate the song “People,” which she wrote and shared with her followers on TikTok, to become a viral hit.
The 22-year-old performs on “Bob Marley’s Tuff Beats” with SiriusXM presenter Brooke Bailey months after the song’s official release.
She discusses how her battles with mental illness inspired her music, how she learned that her song had gone viral, talking about subjects that make people uncomfortable, and more.
See excerpts:
Brooke Bailey: How did you come up with the song? Like where did the inspiration come from?
Libianca: The inspiration came from my depression.
Brooke Bailey: Really?
Libianca: Yeah. Sorry. I don’t know why I’m laughing. What I was going through at the time was, you know, it was just a very low, low moment. I wasn’t feeling, you know, inspired to do anything really. Just wanted to stay in bed, cry my eyes out, shut the world out, isolate, you know, how it goes. So, I knew that writing or just going into this studio would make me feel better. So, I dunno. I do not like, I’m sorry, gimme a second.
Brooke Bailey: For you, it’s a song you made. It’s a personal thing, and then you start seeing like, “Okay, this is going to do more than I expected.” Like, when did that moment come for you?
Libianca: The night after I posted the song on TikTok. I woke up, you know, my manager, he’s my best friend too, but Metro wakes me up in the morning and he’s like, “You have to see this. You have to see this man. You have to see.” I’m like, “What’s going on?” I’m not a morning person, so I’m just, I’m already like, “Come on.” I wake up and we see videos being done to the sound already and it’s already at 80K views.
And at that time, 80K or, you know, anything higher than 50K views, to be honest, was something that will come like maybe every two weeks or so. And so that happened. I was like, “Ah, wow.” And then by the second from there, it was just like, you refresh and it’s like plus 10,000 followers, you refresh it plus another 10K is like, “Okay.” And I just froze. I mean, I didn’t know what to do.
Brooke Bailey: Wow. Like, I’m even freezing. I’m thinking like if that would happen to me, but again, that’s the story. Okay, so the song is at what, what is next for you? Because obviously you have a lot to show the world. You have a lot to bring out. What is next for you after this?
Libianca: I’m just gonna keep being me and using the platform that I have no matter how big, no matter how small to shed light on the things that we are all uncomfortable talking about.
Watch:
Listen to the remix for “People” HERE.