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REMA Drops Down From Billboard After 57 Weeks

By Itunu Azeez Kareem

17 October 2023   |   12:16 pm

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Nigerian Afrobeats sensation, Rema, has achieved an impressive milestone as his hit song "Calm Down" drops off the Billboard Hot 100 chart after a record-breaking 57 weeks. The song's exceptional success earned it the title of the "longest-charting and most successful African song of all time," according to music monitoring platform Chart Data. "Calm Down"…

Nigerian Afrobeats sensation, Rema, has achieved an impressive milestone as his hit song “Calm Down” drops off the Billboard Hot 100 chart after a record-breaking 57 weeks.

The song’s exceptional success earned it the title of the “longest-charting and most successful African song of all time,” according to music monitoring platform Chart Data.

“Calm Down” surpassed the previous record held by fellow Nigerian Afrobeats star Wizkid’s “Essence,” which charted for 35 weeks.

This chart-topping track made its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 in September the previous year, just seven months after its release.

Described by Billboard magazine music analysts as a “melancholy slow jam with a subtle hypnotic draw,” the song has captivated music enthusiasts worldwide.

One of the factors contributing to its global popularity is the participation of American pop star Selena Gomez, even if her role in the song was relatively small.

Remarkably, “Calm Down” reached the third position on the Billboard Hot 100, marking it as the highest-charting song where an Afrobeats artist served as the lead artist.

Fans of Rema and Selena Gomez celebrated the song’s historic achievement even as it exited the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

This chart-topper has shattered numerous records, including becoming the most-streamed Afrobeats song on Spotify last month and the first African artist-led track to reach one billion streams on the platform. 

“Calm Down” also made history as the first song to spend an entire year on the Billboard Afrobeats chart and its YouTube video garnered a staggering 673 million views, making it the most-watched music video by a Nigerian artist.

With this remarkable international success, 23-year-old Rema joins the league of renowned Afrobeats artists like Wizkid, Burna Boy, and Davido. Moreover, the song secured the title of the Best Afrobeats song at the MTV VMA Awards, further solidifying Rema’s place in the music industry.