Taken from this week’s Future Pop mailer. Click here to subscribe.
Queen Naija had been trying to make it as a singer, including auditioning twice for American Idol, when she became famous as part of a YouTube couple. She and her high school sweetheart-turned-husband Chris Sails gained millions of followers, but had a dramatic public breakup in 2017. Luckily for Queen (yes, that’s her real first name) it didn’t damage her career. Instead, the 22-year-old from Detroit signed to Capitol, and is now enjoying an online hit with debut single Medicine. The revenge-themed track has 12 million Spotify plays and the video got 22 million YouTube views in its first month. Her ex Chris is also trying to launch a music career but with much less success – no surprise, considering his poor rapping skills and silly hair/beard combination. Queen Naija, in comparison, is talented, fun and likeable. With a major label behind her, she definitely has the potential to become established as an artist in her own right and outlive the YouTube drama.