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Rema joins Wizkid as the only Nigerian artist in history to accomplish this.
The king of ravers, Rema has become the second Nigerian artist in history to do this in the US chart.
The artist has continued to row quickly, and he is currently tied with Wizkid as the only Nigerian artist to do this in the US chart.
Rema and Wizkid are the only Nigerian musicians to have hit the number-one spot on the US chart, shattering the previous record for the highest peak position for a Nigerian song.
Rema’s Calm Down remix, which features international vocalist Selena Gomez, has achieved a new milestone, joining Big Wiz as the first Nigerian musician in history to hit number one on the US Radio Songs chart. Wiz reached number one on the charts with his chart-topping song Essence featuring Tems.
This accomplishment comes only weeks after the singer’s song became the first Nigerian song to reach the top of the US Pop Airplay chart in May 2023.
Billboard also confirmed this achievement in an official publication which confirmed that,
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).
Calm Down has also peaked at number three on the charts, and Billboard, in a discussion with its staff identified what could have led to the rise of the song on the chart. Some revealed, I think what has really benefitted “Calm Down” is that the song isn’t tied to a specific cultural moment. Burna Boy’s “Last Last” was tied to Summer 2021, and Wizkid & Tems’ “Essence” to the summer before that. While having massive cultural moments can absolutely boost a song’s commercial success, you also 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 in tandem 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.”
#REMA joins #Wizkid as the only Nigerian artists to reach #1 on the US Radio Songs chart! 💪🥇🇳🇬👨🎤👨🎤💥🥇🇺🇸📻🎶📈❤️🔥👑👑💚🤍💚 pic.twitter.com/LoiIhdAgVP
— World Music Awards (@WORLDMUSICAWARD) June 27, 2023