Rema’s ‘Calm Down’ turns into the primary track led by an African artist to affix Spotify’s Billions Membership.
Spotify pronounces that Nigerian star Rema’s track “Calm Down” that includes Selena Gomez has joined the Billions Membership — the elite listing of songs to achieve one billion streams on the platform. The achievement is the primary time an African artist-led monitor has reached a billion streams on Spotify.
The corporate’s information reveals that the very best variety of “Calm Down” streams are from the US, India, Mexico, Brazil, and the UK and has been added to greater than one million Spotify playlists. Rema is among the high 10 most-streamed Afrobeats artists on the platform.
“It’s a blessing. It’s not only a massive win for me, my crew, and household; it’s additionally a giant one for the tradition,” mentioned Rema. “I really feel actually pleased, and I’m actually pleased with the followers as nicely for going again to the track and placing folks onto the track. Shout-out to the DJs and everybody who made this doable.”
“This milestone is completely outstanding for Rema, marking a pivotal second for this proficient artist and your entire Afrobeats neighborhood. It’s clear that the style is making a major impression and gaining substantial affect on the worldwide music stage, and we’re excited to proceed supporting it at Spotify,” mentioned Victor Okpala, Spotify’s Artist and Label Partnerships Supervisor for West Africa.
As one in all Nigeria’s fastest-rising artists, Rema is a “worthy champion” for Spotify’s Billions Membership, and his new standing within the membership serves as a shining second for Afrobeats music because the style continues to evolve and develop.
However Spotify additionally cites the ability of musical collaboration in serving to genre-spanning international artists attain new audiences. A major instance of cross-cultural musical fusion, “Calm Down” offers a catchy mixture of Afrobeat rhythm and melody married to Rema’s and Selena’s vocals, leading to “a bona fide billion-strong hit.” The monitor initially dropped in August 2022.