Nigerian Afrobeats sensation Rema is smiling ear to ear following his hit single “Calm Down” topping US streams record with 1billion views.
Earlier this week, the song made history as it has outperformed in streams in the United States with over 1 Billion, becoming the first Afrobeats song to achieve such reach.
Calm Down was the ultimate jam of 2023 worldwide from viral TikTok clips, mesmerizing Instagram Reels, unrelenting radio play at home and abroad, becoming a mainstay at shindigs, to record breaking milestones.
This means that across streaming services, at the request of listeners, Calm Down has been played over 1 billion times, defining on-demand. This includes platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and user-generated content.
The Nigerian jam single was released in February 2022 as the second single off Rema’s debut album, Rave & Roses, his most pronounced work with Mavin Records thus far. The track experienced gradual success; despite being released in 2022 and witnessing moderate success, the mellow tune skyrocketed in appeal in 2023, securing a plethora of accolades.
The single earned Rema a Headies Award for Best Music Video in 2023 and the remix went on to record several achievements, including being the first African artist-led track to reach one billion streams on Spotify, the first African song to spend an entire year on the Billboard Hot 100, and becoming the highest-charting hit from an Afrobeats lead artist in Billboard Hot 100 history.
It also won notable accolades such as the iHeartRadio Music Award for Best Collaboration in 2024, the Billboard Music Award for Top Afrobeats Song in 2023, the MTV Video Music Award for Best Afrobeats in 2023, and the African Entertainment Awards USA Song of the Year in 2023.
