Queen Naija Is Crowned

BY: Rudie Obias

YouTube star and Detroit’s own Queen Naija surprised her fans and the music industry with the breakout hit “Medicine” earlier this year. The 22-year-old is enjoying the spoils of celebrity, while it seems bittersweet that her newfound popularity in music comes after a brutal and public breakup with her then-husband Chris Sails, a fellow YouTube star.

The couple launched a relationship-focused YouTube channel shortly after they started dating in 2013. The channel quickly gained millions upon millions of followers due to their obvious love and affection for each other. Well, those years of bliss came to an end late last year. Fans noticed that Queen Naija started her own YouTube channel, as rumors of the couple’s breakup spread through their comment sections.

As a way to answer her fans’ questions about her relationship, Naija wrote “Medicine” and released a music video, directed by Azzie Scott. She uploaded the song and video on SoundCloud and YouTube, respectively, and it spread like wildfire. The song chronicles Sails’ alleged extra curricular activities with other women, as Naija, who was also a contestant on American Idol in 2014, gets revenge on her man to give him a taste of his own “medicine” with lyrics like:

“Already got the screenshots
So there is no need to deny
You been creepin’ and freakin’ and sneakin’
Like you’ll never lose me
Steady claiming that everyone know we together
But you steady choosing”

Queen Naija believes the popularity of the song is due to the double standard of relationships, as she explained to Billboard.com,  “You know how a girl can cheat, and a guy will just leave them, but a guy can cheat, and a girl [is expected to] give them chance after chance? As soon as you give [an adulterer] a taste of their own medicine, they want to trip out — [as if] they didn’t do a million things to you.”

“Medicine” debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #45, and peaked at #8 on the chart’s Hot R&B Songs. It’s also now available on Spotify and Apple Music.