Nigerian singer Rema’s hit song “Calm Down” has achieved a historic milestone, becoming the first African song to reach one billion on-demand streams in the United States.
According to Chart Data, a music monitoring platform, “Calm Down” has surpassed this impressive mark in the United States. This achievement follows another historic feat, as the remix of “Calm Down,” featuring Selena Gomez, became the first African song to hit one billion streams on Spotify last September.
Additionally, the original version of “Calm Down” was recognized by Guinness World Records as the first number-one song on the Middle Eastern and North Africa (MENA) regional streaming chart.
The song was released in February 2022 as a single off Rave and Roses, Rema’s debut album. Rema, whose real name is Divine Ikubor, partnered with US singer Selena Gomez a few months later for a remix of the song. Last year, Chart Data had already described the track as the “most successful African song of all time.”
—Ezinwanne Onwuka reports for TruthNigeria from Abuja.
