Divine Ikubor (born 1 May 2000), known professionally as Rema, is a Nigerian rapper, singer and songwriter. He gained initial recognition with the release of his 2019 song "Dumebi". That same year, he signed with D'Prince's record label, Jonzing World. He received wider recognition for his 2022 single "Calm Down", which spawned a remix with American singer Selena Gomez that peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, and led the United States Afrobeats Songs chart for a record-setting 58 weeks. Furthermore, it became regarded as the most internationally successful song in the Afrobeats genre.
Early life
Divine Ikubor was born into a Christian family in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. He grew up singing and rapping while he was in secondary school. He attended his primary and secondary school education at Ighile Group of Schools in Edo State. His father and elder brother are deceased, and Rema was left to look after his mother.
Career
He started his music career in churches with Alpha P. In 2018. Rema posted a viral freestyle on Instagram to D'Prince's track "Gucci Gang". The post caught the attention of D'Prince who flew him to Lagos to offer a record deal to the young talent. Rema signed a record deal with D'Prince's Jonzing World, a subsidiary of Mavin Records owned by record producer Don Jazzy, in 2019. He went on to release his self-titled debut EP "Rema" in 2019, which peaked at number 1 on Apple Music Nigeria. On 21 May 2019, Jonzing World, and Mavins released the music video of "Dumebi", a major breakout song from his self-titled EP, featuring a cameo appearance from Diana Eneje. The video was directed by Ademola Falomo and currently has 70 million views on YouTube. Later that summer, In 2019, one of his other most popular songs from the EP gained more popularity when it was placed on former president of the United States of America, Barack Obama's summer playlist.
In September 2020, Rema's songs were included on the FIFA 21 soundtracks.
In September 2021, Rema was unveiled as a brand ambassador for the popular soft drink Pepsi alongside his label mate Ayra Starr.
2022–present: Rave & Roses and Ravage EP
After Rema signed a record deal with Jonzing World in 2019, he released his debut EP Rema. After two more EPs (the Freestyle and Bad Commando EPs), he released his debut album Rave & Roses on 25 March 2022. The album includes 16 tracks and features from 6lack, Chris Brown, AJ Tracey, and Yseult. The album charted 10 songs on the US Billboard Afrobeats Chart following its debut week. His single "Calm Down", including a sample from fellow Nigerian artist Crayon's track "So Fine", then began charting five months after its official release. It then became the most-viewed Afrobeats video on Youtube. The song became internationally famous because of Selena Gomez, who recorded a remix of the song. "Calm Down (Remix)" with Selena Gomez was released August 26, 2022, and gradually gained popularity, reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100, spending 57 week there, and topped many international charts, as well as setting and breaking many world music records, and winning the MTV Video Music Award for Best Afrobeats Video, Billboard Music Award for Top Afrobeats Song and many other awards. On 7 November 2022, Rema received an award on stage during his London concert as his songs achieved 1 billion streams worldwide.
In February 2023, Rema received the Digital Artist of the Year award at the Soundcity MVP Awards which were held at the Eko Convention Centre in Lagos. In April 2023, Rema released a version of his debut album Rave & Roses titled Rave & Roses Ultra containing an additional six tracks: "Charm", "Hov", "Reason You", the remix of "Calm Down" with Selena Gomez, "Holiday", and "Dunno Me", which became the first African album to cross one billion streams on Spotify.
On 26 October 2023, Rema released a 5-title EP named Ravage. On 30 October 2023, Rema performed at the Ballon d'Or ceremony which was held at Theatre du Châtelet in Paris, France.
Afrorave
In 2019, South African music producer and artist Toya Delazy introduced a genre titled "Afrorave". The genre was described by Delazy as combining genres such as garage with Zulu lyrics.
In May 2021, Rema announced he would be calling his sound "Afrorave", a subgenre of Afrobeats with influences of Arabian and Indian music which has led to him having one of the strongest fanbases in the country known as Ravers.
Personal life
Although Ikubor gained admission to study at the University of Lagos in 2022, he left the institution in 2023 due to a strike by the ASUU teaching union.
On September 28, 2020, Rema tweeted accusations against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the death of his father, Justice Ikubor, who was a former chieftain of the party.
