Rema Falls Off Billboard After Setting New Record

After an astounding 57 weeks on the charts, the Nigerian Afrobeats sensation, Rema, has seen his hit song “Calm Down” exit the Billboard Hot 100, marking the end of a record-breaking run.

The music monitoring platform, Chart Data, hailed “Calm Down” as a history-making track, labeling it the longest-charting and most successful African song of all time. It managed to shatter the previous record held by another Nigerian Afrobeats star, Wizkid, whose song “Essence” held strong for 35 weeks.

This extraordinary journey for “Calm Down” began in September the year prior, about seven months following its release. The song, described by Billboard magazine’s music analysts as a “melancholy slow jam with a subtle hypnotic draw,” has captivated music enthusiasts globally.

One contributing factor to its global popularity was the presence of American pop star Selena Gomez as a featured artist, even though her contribution was relatively modest. At its peak, “Calm Down” soared to the third position on the Billboard Hot 100, a remarkable achievement for an Afrobeats musician as the lead artist.

Fans of both Rema and Selena Gomez have celebrated this historic milestone, recognizing the song’s incredible journey on the Billboard Hot 100.

But the records didn’t stop there. Last month, “Calm Down” secured its place as the most streamed Afrobeats song on Spotify and became the first African artist-led track to hit one billion streams on the platform. Spotify itself acknowledged this achievement with enthusiasm.

In addition to these feats, “Calm Down” also holds the distinction of being the first song to spend a full year on the Billboard Afrobeats chart. Its accompanying YouTube video, boasting 673 million views, claims the title of the most-watched music video by a Nigerian artist.

The unwavering international success of this song has elevated 23-year-old Rema to the ranks of prominent Afrobeats artists like Wizkid, Burna Boy, and Davido. In fact, last month, the song clinched the inaugural title of Best Afrobeats Song at the MTV VMA Awards, surpassing tracks from other well-known Afrobeats artists.