His worldwide hit may be ”Calm Down”. But Rema is not calming down any time soon. His tale is one of survival, consistency, hard work, faith and a little splash of luck.
So, before the global acclaim, charting wonders, numerous achievements, collaboration with international stars, the shut down of India and his song with Selene Gomez becoming the highest charting Afrobeats song on the Billboard Hot 100 surpassing ‘Essence Remix’ by Wizkid, Justin Bieber and Tems.
Good morning everyone and welcome to another edition of #NAIJAMUSICFACTS and today we highlight the story of @heisrema and his real name is Divine Ikubor.
— TBN (@BillboardNaija1) March 23, 2023
He is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and rapper. He rose to stardom after releasing the song "Dumebi". pic.twitter.com/DB8IsU61oH
Who was he then?
Born Divine Ikubor, into a Christian family in Benin City. He grew up singing and rapping to the admiration of secondary schoolmates at Ighile Group of Schools, Edo State. Family tragedies pushed him to take music seriously as a means to carter for his family.
He started his music career in churches with Alpha P. They would win a couple of talent competitions, drop several songs and some music videos before going their separate ways.
😱 Rema and Alpha P (RNA) in 2015.#NeverGiveUp pic.twitter.com/v6bOoOmEkV
— 🐬 @𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗷𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗯𝗼𝘆 (@OneJoblessBoy) November 12, 2021
In 2018, he posted a viral freestyle on Instagram to D’Prince’s track “Gucci Gang”. The post caught the attention of D’Prince who flew him to Lagos to offer a record deal to the young talent. He would then sign a record deal with D’Prince’s Jonzing World, a subsidiary of Mavin Records owned by record producer Don Jazzy, in 2019.
His major breakout single ‘Dumebi’ came from his self-titled EP. The video was directed by Ademola Falomo and has garnered over 65 million views on YouTube. It would become one of his other most popular songs from the EP in 2019 and it gained more popularity when it was placed on the former president of the United States of America, Barack Obama’s summer playlist. It also earned The Headies Next Rated award the same year.
He would continue to grind, releasing other great tunes, collaborations and music projects that received near-universal acceptance. But his major international dig came in 2022 when he worked with Selene Gomez on the remix of ‘Calm Down’ off his debut studio album Rave & Roses. The song made its entry on the Billboard Hot 100 at No 74. It would go on to peak at No 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hold down the U.S. Afrobeats Songs for a record-setting 39 weeks. The song has gotten over 2 billion streams across all platforms.
Since then he has been on a burgeoning path. Rema has attained a Guinness world record, as the first artist to top the inaugural Middle Eastern and North Africa (MENA) with his single ‘Calm Down’. His song topped the Indian Music Industry chart, a place he wished someday Afrobeats would penetrate and dominate.
His distinct sound “Afrorave”, a subgenre of Afrobeats which enjoys heavy influences of Arabian and Indian music was initially mocked by some fans and critics alike. But it seems to have paid off for him as he held the nation of India to a standstill with his electrifying and stylish performances.
I dare say he has been venerated to King status in India. This is not surprising as Legendary musician 2 Baba once tipped Rema as the future of the Nigerian music industry and indeed he is the future which I believe is in safe hands.
This young chap’s story is still unravelling, call it a cliche but there is a reason it is used because it works and I am convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that the best is yet to come from him.
No be to pepper Anybody, only for motivational purposes 🤲🏾 @FCBarcelona #ultra pic.twitter.com/CC6MtYkjxd
— REMA (@heisrema) June 3, 2023
Great article! Love to see more of these reviews