Sensational Nigerian singer Divine Ikubor, aka Rema, has broken Wizkid’s record for the longest-running African song atop the Billboard World Digital Song Sales.
Rema’s hit song with Selena Gomez, ‘Calm Down’ has spent a record 18 weeks at No. 1 on the chart this week, surpassing Wizkid and Tems’ 2020 ‘Essence’ which spent 17 weeks atop the chart.
However, ‘Calm Down’ slipped one step down to No. 5 this week on the main Billboard Hot 100 chart.
It should be recalled that the song reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart last week, making it the highest-charting and longest-running Nigerian song in the history of the chart.
‘Calm Down’ also debuted at No. 5 on the official Billboard Song of the Summer chart, making it the first African song to appear on the chart. The only Ugandan star to have a song featured on Billboard Hot 100 is none other than Eddy Kenzo. His collabo Gimmie Love featuring Matt B entered in the top 50 songs on the countdown.
This week on Tuesday, Nigerian hip-hop star Olamide celebrated Rema as ‘Calm Down’ became the most streamed African song on Spotify.
‘Calm Down’ hit 800 million streams on Tuesday, June 13, 2023. Olamide tweeted with “Greatness”, with his Rema’s pic.
Earlier this year, the same song, Calm Down, was recognised by Guinness World Book of Records. They wrote: “Rema puts forward a fresh, globalized, brave take on Afrobeats that seems to work for the international market.”
Enock Mugabi aka iWitness is a Journalist, Seasoned Writer and Music Analyst with a passion for sports.
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