Historic: Rema Joins Wizkid In Record Peak For Nigerian Artistes On Billboard Charts

The talented Nigerian musician, Rema, has proven to be a force to be reckoned with in the music industry as he has achieved an incredible feat that only a handful of Nigerian artists have accomplished. Specifically, he has recently broken the record for the highest peak position with a Nigerian song on the US chart, which is a remarkable feat in and of itself. However, he has also claimed the coveted number-one spot, which puts him on par with the likes of the renowned Grammy award-winning artist, Wizkid. As such, Rema has firmly established himself as one of the most promising and talented musicians to emerge from Nigeria in recent times.

Rema’s latest hit, the Calm Down remix featuring renowned singer Selena Goez, has achieved a remarkable feat by reaching the number one spot on the Radio Songs chart in the US. This achievement puts Rema in the same league as Big Wiz as the only Nigerian artist to have accomplished this feat in history. It’s worth noting that Wiz reached the top spot with his groundbreaking song Essence featuring Tems.

It’s worth celebrating that the singer’s song recently reached a new milestone, becoming the first Nigerian song to top the US Pop Airplay chart in May 2023. Billboard officially confirmed this achievement in its most recent publication.

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).

According to recent reports, the track “Calm Down” has climbed to the third on the charts. Upon analyzing the song’s performance, Billboard staff have identified several potential factors that might have contributed to its success. Many have suggested that the song’s popularity could be attributed to various reasons.

What has benefitted “Calm Down” is that the song isn’t tied to a specific cultural moment. Burna Boy’s “Last Last” was tied to the Summer of 2021, and Wizkid & Tems’ “Essence” to the summer before that. While massive cultural moments can boost a song’s commercial success, you 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 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.”