Nigerian star Rema has become the first African artist to record over one billion streams for a song in the United States.
Rema’s ‘Calm Down’ has garnered over a billion streams, won awards, topped multiple charts, making it the biggest seller from Africa.
In another historic feat, Rema’s song ‘Calm Down,’ alongside Selena Gomez, is the first Afrobeats and African song to accumulate over one billion streams, becoming a widely acclaimed song in the USA.
This was revealed in a Chart Data post on June 17, 2024. The popular song is one of the tracks from Rema’s debut album ‘Raves & Roses,’ released in March 2022.
After enjoying commercial success, the single gained even more momentum and impact after Selena Gomez joined the remix released as one of the songs on that version.
The remix became hugely popular worldwide, especially in the USA where it set several Afrobeats and African artist records.
The “Calm Down” remix became the highest-charting modern African song at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the second after Hugh Masekela’s 1968 chart-topping hit “Grazing In The Grass.”
Rema’s ‘Calm Down’ holds the distinction as the first and only Afrobeats song to surpass one billion streams on Spotify.
With over 596 million original views and 893 million views on the remix, it also holds the record for the most-viewed music video by a Nigerian artist on YouTube.
