Rema, known as the king of ravers, is the second Nigerian artist in history to achieve this feat on the US chart.
He is currently tied with Wizkid as the only Nigerian artist to achieve this on the US chart. The artist has continued to row quickly.
Rema and Wizkid are the only musicians from Nigeria to reach the top spot on the US chart, breaking the previous record for the highest peak position held by a Nigerian song.
Together with Big Wiz, Rema’s Calm Down remix, which features international vocalist Selena Gomez, has made history by becoming the first Nigerian musician to reach the top spot on the US Radio Songs chart. With the hit song “Essence,” which he co-wrote with Tems, Wiz reached the top spot on the charts.
This accomplishment comes only weeks after the singer’s song became the first Nigerian song to reach the top of the US Pop Airplay chart in May 2023.
Billboard also confirmed this achievement in an official publication which confirmed that,Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down” ascends to No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart (dated May 13). The song, released on Jonzing World/Mavin/SMG Music/Virgin/Interscope Records, marks Rema’s first leader on the list. Gomez adds her fourth Pop Airplay No. 1, following three, tallied consecutively, in 2015-16: “Hands to Myself” (for one week in April 2016), “Same Old Love” (two weeks, January 2016) and “Good for You,” featuring A$AP Rocky (two, September-October 2015).
Calm Down has also peaked at number three on the charts, and Billboard, in a discussion with its staff identified what could have led to the rise of the song on the chart. Some revealed, I think what has really benefitted “Calm Down” is that the song isn’t tied to a specific cultural moment. Burna Boy’s “Last Last” was tied to Summer 2021, and Wizkid & Tems’ “Essence” to the summer before that. While having massive cultural moments can absolutely boost a song’s commercial success, you also risk people moving on once the moment has passed. With “Calm Down,” attention on the song wasn’t concentrated for two or three months. Instead, the song grew in tandem with Rema’s rising global profile, and the Selena Gomez remix arrived at the right time to keep some wind in the song’s sails. Moreover, “Calm Down” has been chugging along for a minute now, so it was also able to benefit from the groundwork Rema laid with “Soundgasm.”
#REMA joins #Wizkid as the only Nigerian artists to reach #1 on the US Radio Songs chart! 💪🥇🇳🇬👨🎤👨🎤💥🥇🇺🇸📻🎶📈❤️🔥👑👑💚🤍💚 pic.twitter.com/LoiIhdAgVP
— World Music Awards (@WORLDMUSICAWARD) June 27, 2023