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Billboard chart: Rema closes on South African legend, Masekela’s record after surpassing Wizkid.
Nigerian phenomenal afrobeats artist Divine Ikubor, known professionally as Rema is getting closer to matching late South African music icon Hugh Masekela’s record for the highest-charting African song on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart after overtaking Afrobeat superstar Wizkid.
The artist released a remix version of his famous song ‘Calm Down,’ which included American singer Selena Gomez, and it peaked at No. 4 on this week’s Hot 100 chart, setting a new Nigerian record.
The export of African music to a worldwide audience is being driven by Nigerian superstars, whose genre, afrobeats, is quickly overtaking all others as the most popular in the world.
One of the most popular Afrobeats exports, Rema’s “Calm Down” has gained worldwide acclaim. As it continues to break records on the streaming platform and gain popularity throughout the globe, the song has no plans to slow down.
Rema currently has the second-highest charting single by an African singer on the Hot 100 in history.
Rema’s ‘Calm Down‘ surpassed ‘Essence,’ which reached at number 9 last year, establishing Wizkid as the highest-charting Nigerian artist in US Billboard Hot 100 chat history.
However, ‘Calm Down‘ is expected to reach a new high next week.
Meanwhile, Wizkid and Tems have topped the Hot 100 chart as guests rather than main artists.