Libianca Kenzonkinboum Fonji (born 2000 or 2001), known mononymously as Libianca, is a Cameroonian and American singer. She is best known for her breakout

Afrobeats Afrobeats (not to be confused with Afrobeat or Afroswing), or Afro-pop or Afro-fusion (or Afropop or Afrofusion), is an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Nigeria, Ghana, and ...

single "

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

" (2022). She previously competed in the 21st season of American TV show ''The Voice'' in 2021.

Early life

Fonji was born in 2001 in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. In an interview with ''

BBC News Pidgin BBC News Pidgin is an online news service in West African Pidgin English that was launched by the BBC World Service in 2017.- It is based in Lagos, Nigeria. Pidgin, first used by British and African slavers to facilitate the Atlantic slave trad ...

'', Fonji recalled that when she was four years old, her family experienced issues with immigration. Her mother decided to have the family relocate to Bamenda, Cameroon, before they could be deported. In her upbringing in Bamenda, Fonji sung in gospel choirs and attended a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

, where she learned how to play the guitar.

Career

2021–present: ''The Voice'' and "People"

In 2021, Fonji competed on the twenty-first season of NBC's ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'', where

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music singer and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single " Austin". The lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" spent five weeks at ...

was her coach. She made her way to the top 20 before being eliminated. Her covers of "

Everything I Wanted "Everything I Wanted" (stylized in all lowercase) is a song by American singer and songwriter Billie Eilish, and co-written by Eilish and her brother Finneas O'Connell, who also produced it. Darkroom and Interscope Records released the track ...

" and "

Woman A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

" on the show were later released as singles via West Side Creative Agency. Fonji signed to 5K Records and

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

in 2022. In December of that year, Fonji released "

", a song inspired by her

cyclothymia Cyclothymia ( ), also known as cyclothymic disorder, psychothemia/psychothymia, bipolar III, affective personality disorder and cyclothymic personality disorder, is a mental and behavioural disorder that involves numerous periods of symptoms of ...

. The song debuted at No. 2 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

chart, at No. 1 in UK Afrobeats chart, peaked at No. 2 in UK Official chart, and received wide attention across social media. Fonji performed as an opening at

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

' 2023 Keys to the Summer Tour.

Artistry

Fonji takes influence from genres prevalent in her upbringing,

Cameroonian music The music of the Cameroon includes diverse traditional and modern musical genres. The best-known contemporary genre is makossa, a popular style that has gained fans across Africa, and its related dance craze bikutsi. The pirogue sailors of Douala ...

Nigerian music The music of Nigeria includes many kinds of folk and popular music, styles of folk music are related to the multitudes of ethnic groups in the country, each with their own techniques, instruments, and songs. Little is known about the country's ...

, and

Highlife Highlife is a music genre that started in present-day Ghana in the 19th century, during its Gold Coast (British colony), history as a colony of the British Empire and through its trade routes in coastal areas. It describes multiple local fusions ...

. She describes her music as an "intersection of R&B,

, nd

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

". Her songwriting has been praised by publications such as ''

Complex UK Complex Networks is an American media and entertainment company for youth culture, based in New York City. It was founded as a bi-monthly magazine, ''Complex'', by fashion designer Marc (Ecko) Milecofsky. Complex Networks reports on popular a ...

'', for its honesty.

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

Awards

Africa Entertainment Awards USA

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The Future Awards Africa

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2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

, Herself , Prize for Music , ,

MTV Video Music Awards

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, Best Afrobeats , ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fonji, Libianca 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers American people of Cameroonian descent Living people The Voice (franchise) contestants Afrobeats musicians 2001 births