Nigerian superstar, Divine Ikubor known as Rema has become the first African artist to record over one billion on-demand streams from his song ‘Calm Down’ in the United States.
Rema’s ‘Calm Down’ featuring Selena Gomez is the first Afrobeats and African song to accumulate such a feat.
According to a post released by Chart Data on Monday, the hit song is one of the lead singles of Rema’s debut album ‘Raves & Roses’ released in March 2022.
It added that after enjoying commercial success, the single would get a Selena Gomez remix released as one of the tracks on the deluxe version.
The remix would become a mega smash hit globally, especially in the United States where it set several notable records for an Afrobeats record and a song by an African artist.
‘Calm Down’ remix peaked at NO. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 which is a record for a contemporary African song and second only to Huge Masekala’s 1968 chart-topper ‘Grazing In The Grass’.
The song also spent over 52 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached the summit of the Billboard Pop Airplay Chart which are both African records. Its success in the United States is also reflected in its 4X platinum RIAA certification.
Rema’s ‘Calm Down’ holds the distinction as the first and only Afrobeats record to surpass over a billion streams on Spotify.
It also holds the record for the most viewed music video by a Nigerian artist on YouTube with both the original surpassing 596 million views and the remix garnering 893 million views.
