People

Album

Single

Label

Sony Music (Formerly American Record Corporation (1929–1938) Columbia Records, USA (1938–1966) CBS Records (1966–1991) Sony Music Entertainment, Inc. (first incarnation; 1991–2004) Sony BMG Music Entertainment (2004–2008))

Genre

Afrobeats

Duration

4:00

Composer(s)

Libianca Kenzonkinboum Fonji;Orhue Moses Odia

Entered Chart

May 20, 2023

Peak Date

Jul 1, 2023

Released

December 6, 2022

Recorded

Unknown

Born in the United States and raised in Cameroon, Libianca grew up in a musical environment. She later moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and took part in the 2021 season of The Voice. Libianca ended up on Blake Shelton's team and was eliminated in the Top 20 playoffs. She released this single on December 5, 2022, through 5K Records Limited. Here, Libinanca emphasizes that despite people claiming to know you, they actually don't because there are many unknown aspects and empty spaces within a person's life they are not aware of. After Libianca released the melodious single, it went viral on TikTok. The song entered charts worldwide and Libinanca became the first Cameroonian to top the UK Official Afrobeat chart. Libianca suffers from cyclothymia, a chronic mood disorder causing repetitive periods of depression followed by periods of normal or slightly elevated mood. Sometimes, she can sink into these deep depressions, which even the steady consumption of alcohol cannot counteract. This song was directly inspired by a low period Libianca went through. "I was just like, I don't know how much of this I can take," she recalled to Rolling Stone. "It's getting ridiculous. I was really struggling. Depressive symptoms, harmful thoughts, just trying to push myself through." During this difficult spell, Libianca invited friends over for a Thanksgiving celebration at her home. As the evening progressed, she struggled to enjoy the event. Libianca went to the bathroom to cry and compose herself before returning downstairs. Her friends offered her a shot of Casa, which she accepted, but after taking the shot, she realized that drinking was not helping her current state, and she had been drinking more than usual in recent days. Libianca decided it was best for her to leave the gathering. No one noticed she'd left. Libianca's friends didn't even notice she was suffering, and that inspired this song. After leaving the Thanksgiving bash, Libianca went to one of the recording studios because she felt she needed to record something - it had been two days since she'd posted on social media and she needed new material. At first, she didn't feel like doing it because she just wanted to sit in her room and cry, but she started looking for beats on YouTube and found an instrumental by Mage the Producer that caught her attention. Libianca imported it into her Logic software and started recording. "I closed my eyes and it just came out really," she said. "I didn't necessarily write it. It was exactly how I was feeling." Asked by Rolling Stone if anything changed from the original version to the final version, Libianca replied, "I never intended for the very first part of the song, 'I've been drinking more alcohol' to be the actual hook. It was supposed to be just that verse, but everyone loved that specific part so much and I was like, 'Well, we might as well make it a hook.'"

Oh, yeah, mm, mm
From Bamenda, it's Libianca, oh

I've been drinking more alcohol for the past five days
Did you check on me?
Now did you look for me?
I walked in the room, eyes are red
And I don't smoke banga
Did you check on me? (Did you check on me?)
Now did you notice me?
Nobody will know the paranoia, oh
'Cause I put a smile on my face
A facade you can never face (ooh)
And if you don't know me well, well, oh
You won't see how buried I am inside my grave
Inside my grave

'Cause you see people, people, people
People don't really know you
They don't really know you
'Cause you see people, people, people
They don't really know you
They don't really know

I've been drinking more alcohol for the past five days
Did you check on me?
Now did you look for me?
I walked in the room, eyes are red
And I don't smoke banga
Did you check on me? (Did you check on me?)
Now did you notice me?
Oh, holy father
Oh, holy father, I di try fo hold my head
I say make you no leave me diko
Oh, holy father, yeah
Oh, make you try fo understand
Yahoo girl no dey for here

'Cause you see people, people, people
People don't really know you (they don't really know)
They don't really know you (oh)
'Cause you see people, people, people
They don't really know you
They don't really know

I've been drinking more alcohol for the past five days
Did you check on me?
Now did you look for me?
I walked in the room, eyes are red
And I don't smoke banga
Did you check on me? (Did you check on me?)
Now did you notice me?
I've been drinking more alcohol for the past five days
Did you check on me?
Now did you look for me?
I walked in the room, eyes are red
And I don't smoke banga
Did you check on me? (Did you check on me?)
Now did you notice me?

I've been drinking more alcohol for the past five days
Did you check on me?