NEMA Chart: Rema’s “Calm Down” sets record

NEMA: Signed under Nigerian record label Mavin, the young rapper Rema topped the charts worldwide with his hit single “Calm Down”.

The singer has been steadily on the rise ever since his debut, counting on an ever-growing fanbase and racking up international fame.

At the moment of writing, “Calm Down” stands at almost 388,000,000 streams on Spotify, while its viral remix with US artist Selena Gomez achieved a whopping 717,512,920 streams on the same music platform.

The 2022 international hit made history when it skyrocketed to the top of The Official MENA Chart, shortly after the launch of the chart itself. 

That makes “Calm Down” the first-ever No.1 hit on The Official MENA Chart.

The hit – the second lead single of Rema’s debut album Rave & Roses – talks about the singer’s quest for love. 

At a party, the singer meets a girl in a yellow dress that stands out from the others and decides to try to get closer to her.

The hit bagged several nominations and steadily placed at the top of international charts, reaching Top 3 in Belgium, France, Portugal and Netherlands (amidst other countries). 

In 2023, the remix featuring Selena earned a nomination at the Global Awards as Best Social Trended Song.

On 29 November 2022, the IFPI (Federation of the Phonographic Industry) announced that the track was the first ever to top the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) music streaming chart.

NEMA Chart: Rema’s “Calm Down” sets record

The recently launched Official MENA chart is a regional platform where “music fans will be able to celebrate the top streaming tracks on a weekly basis with the regional top 20 tracks.”

Announced every Thursday, the weekly Top 20 collects data from 13 MENA countries, covering a population of more than 300 million people combined.

The markets monitored by the platform are Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates.

Moreover, the regional chart keeps track of all the major streaming platforms at all times: from YouTube to Deezer, Spotify and Apple Music, the service aims to be as inclusive as possible.

The platform also allows users to follow artists and record labels, to keep up with their favourite names as well as with the most recent trends.

Rema, who is only 23 but certainly not new to success, was excited to hear the news.

“I’d like to thank all of my fans across the region who streamed ‘Calm Down’ and helped it to become the first ever Official MENA Chart #1! I am so happy that you are enjoying the song and very proud to be the first artist to reach #1. Thanks also to the team at my label for their support.”

NEMA Chart: Rema’s “Calm Down” sets record