Byron Messia Regrets ‘Not Influenced By Jamaica’ Comment 

Jamaican-born, St. Kitts and Nevis-based Dancehall artist Byron Messia has clarified comments he made in a since-deleted The Fix Podcast episode, in which he denied Jamaica’s influence on his music.

In a recent appearance on BBC’s 1xtra with Seani B, Messia was quizzed about his incendiary remarks, which downplayed the island’s impact on his current success.

Asked Seani B: “[Following the] kickback of ‘I’m not influenced by Jamaica’, how do you look back at that comment now?”

Messia, who was observably nudged towards an apology, initially disclosed that he was just being petty when he made the comments.

“Mi ago be real wid you, that was me being petty at the time to,” Messia revealed.

Seizing the moment, Seani B seemingly implored the young star to apologize, asking him: “Is this the opportunity that we can say – that you can apologize, maybe, to the people that took offense?”

In response, Messia pointed to his regret that fans of his, who clearly expressed an affinity for his music, were equally disappointed in what he had said.

He explained to Seani B: “Di ting about dat is – a di fans dem did really feel a way enuh. A people weh actually been a listen to mi music, a dem did feel some type a way. Even when mi a go through mi comments, mi a see comments a seh ‘Yow, di yute bad enuh, but dat just piss me off!”

Messia, who then transitioned into his apology, expressed: “Me a tek di time out now, faawud all di way a London pon Seani B BBC 1xtra fi tell di people dem seh it neva dat serious.”

“So, mi jus’ a apologize fi dat sed way,” he shared.

Messia, who was born in Jamaica, currently rules Spotify’s official Dancehall chart with his hit single, Talibans, produced by Ztekk Records and EJ Fya.

After the track went viral, Messia embarked on a series of interviews, one of which was a stop at the podcast show, The Fix.

After explaining that he had fans all over the world, Messia was quizzed about his future ambitions. He reasoned that he sees himself as a rapper and as such, he would be collaborating with a number of rappers in the future, with Rod Wave being at the top of his dream list.

He was then asked about collaborations with Jamaican artists, at which point he touched on working with Govana, Jada Kingdom, Chronic Law and Jahshii. That response prompted a question about Jamaica’s influence on his music.

“How big is Jamaica’s influence on you and on your music?” one of the hosts asked.

“Not really [big],” Messia responded, “mi nuh really look up to people. Mi waa look up to mi self.”

With reference to his song about Jamaica’s anti-crime task force, MOCA, Messia was asked the question again. “Nah man, a nuh influence dat. There’s no influence there,” he responded.

After the interview premiered, Messia was flooded with backlash, and his team ultimately moved to have the interview taken down.

Fix host Naro confirmed this recently, telling fans of the show: “He and his team asked us to take it down. It’s as simple as that. We put it out, they saw that he was getting backlash for his comments… and they asked. So, we took it down.”