By Charles Mgbolu
As the clock winds down on 2023, Nigerian singing sensation Rema is taking a much-needed rest to take care of his health.
He announced late last month that these were ‘’strict instructions’’ from his doctors and has cancelled all shows to mark the end of the year.
However, he has a lot to be thankful for in 2023.
His album Rave and Roses has been streamed over 3 billion times across multiple platforms, and his single ‘Calm Down’ off the same album has broken multiple records.
Why was this 23-year-old so successful this year? What did he do?
We shall attempt to answer these questions as we look back at the year and the remarkable success of this young entertainer.
Five solid international collaborations
Barely one month after releasing ‘Calm Down’ as a single on February 11, Rema struck while the iron was hot, dropping his debut studio album Rave & Roses on March 25, 2022.
Rave and Roses unwrapped a 16-track list featuring Chris Brown (USA), 6Lack (USA), AJ Tracy (UK), and Yseult (France).
The collaborations were brilliant, helping Rema cut across a music market with musical icons whose influences stretched across the globe and into uncharted markets for Afrobeats.
Breaking records in the American and European markets opened up Rema to a global music arena, and the rest, they say, is history.
Early tours
Rema began his tour days after the album's launch, doing media runs, concerts, and shows all in a bid to get the conversation going. He had sold-out concerts in North America and Europe, including the O2 Arena in London.
The popularity of his materials was very organic and self-driven. He only needed to create a spark, and the virality of the songs grew into a fiery blaze.
There was also good influence from collaborators such as Selena Gomez, who posted a photo of herself and Rema on her social media on August 17, 2022, captioning it "coming soon.".
It created heightened pleasure for her legion of over 400 million followers on social media, which further pushed the algorithms.
New markets
Data from streaming giant Spotify shows that the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) ranks Afrobeats superstars Rema, CKay, and BurnaBoy as some of the most streamed musicians in the region.
Their combined music materials topped the Indian International Music Chart and MENA, with Rema earning a Guinness World Record as the first number-one song.
The release of Rema's materials coincided with Afrobeats' success in the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia.
'Lazy lyrics'
In all of Rema’s songs, audiences' reviews showed appreciation for the simplicity of his words.
His lyrics were initially slammed by critics as lacking in depth, but this has worked as its charm.
The enticing, ambient feel helped Rema’s music travel beyond land borders and language.
The album oozed with Rema's signature style of Afrobeats, which he calls Afro-rave—a subgenre influenced by his love for hip-hop, African music, lo-fi, and alternative.
Calm Down
Perhaps it’s safe to say the best has been saved for last.
‘Calm Down’ was Rema’s magic wand - he broke into markets and shattered records with this single.
It was already a huge inferno as a single, and the collaboration with American singer Selena Gomez was only going to take it to the next level.
The single proudly sits in Spotify’s Billion’s Club, earning that mark in September when it crossed 1 billion streams on the streaming platform.
The massive success of this single opened up the world to Rema, with audiences asking for more.
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