Rema just made history by becoming the first Black African artist to grace the cover of Rolling Stone.
At just 24, the Nigerian superstar has cemented his status as one of Africa’s most influential musical exports, earning numerous nominations and shattering records with his genre-defining sound.
Just last year, Rema made headlines as the youngest African artist to earn a Grammy nomination for Best Global Music Album.
And though he didn’t take home the award, it went to Chicago native Matt B, alongside London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Rema embraced the moment with grace and gratitude.
“I was celebrating people walking up that stage,” he shared with Rolling Stone. “I had my fingers crossed that I’d walk up the stage too, and when it didn’t happen … it happens. It’s not the first award that I got nominated for and didn’t get.”
That same year, the Ozeba artist made history yet again, becoming the first leading African act to surpass a billion streams on Spotify, thanks to his global smash Calm Down (Remix) featuring Selena Gomez.
Though the song was doing great on its own, the Selena Gomez-assisted remix sent it into another stratosphere.
By the close of 2023/2024, Calm Down had racked up numerous accolades, including the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards’ inaugural Afrobeats prize.
It also peaked at #3 on Billboard’s Hot 100, where it remained for over a year, making it the highest-charting song led by an Afrobeats artist and the most successful Afropop crossover record ever.
“I’ve been able to view good heights to get that kind of success by God’s grace,” Rema said. “I would also say, when I was making ‘Calm Down,’ I never thought the rest of the world would vibe to that.”
But Rema’s journey to global superstardom wasn’t without struggle. Beneath the accolades and chart-topping hits lies a past shaped by loss, resilience, and an unwavering hunger to succeed.
Rema (born Divine Ikubor) lost his father, a rising politician in Nigeria’s Peoples Democratic Party, when he was just eight.
After his father’s passing, Rema and his family were shunned by most of their extended family, thanks to a cultural superstition that held that his mom was somehow to blame.
“Just a dark moment that changed my life,” he told the outlet. “We took all the backlash, and then we lost everything.”
Forced to start over, the family moved to his mother’s village, five hours from Benin City, where they lived in what he describes as “a mud house with mad boxes, mad mosquitoes, sun flies” until he was 17.
With university out of reach, Rema made his way to Ghana, landing a job as a server at a beach bar. After a year of hard work, he returned to Nigeria, bought his mother a car, and set everything up before diving back into music—something he had been passionate about since the age of 14.
It was then that D’Prince (Don Jazzy’s brother) discovered him and signed him to Jonzing World, an imprint under Jazzy’s renowned Mavin Records.
Under Mavin’s mentorship, Rema transformed from a rapper into a multi-dimensional artist, teaching himself to sing and crafting a sound that fused hip-hop lyricism with a soft, brassy trill, something Afrobeats had never quite seen before.
Industry titan Don Jazzy, a key architect of Nigerian pop for over two decades, immediately recognized Rema’s rare ambition.
“You come across a lot of artists in this part of the world that are shortsighted,” he told Rolling Stone. “They know that they want to make music, but just in the African terrain. But from day one, he has always had his eyes set on the global stage.”
And though Rema’s first year’s work set him on the path to a global stage, the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to throw him off course. But luckily, and much to his surprise, Drake reached out to offer encouragement.
“The year was not going great,” Rema said. “Getting a DM from Drake telling you ‘Keep going, you’re doing amazing,’ that inspired me to get back in the studio and be like, OK, I want to go make ‘Ginger Me.’ I want to make ‘Woman.’”
Recently, Rema’s name popped up alongside Drake’s again when the rapper’s 100 Gigabytes data dump included footage of him vibing to Mention Me, an unreleased collab between the two.
And while the Dumebi singer appreciates the sport of the Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake beef, he admits to sympathizing with the Canadian rapper’s role as a casualty of pop culture’s wantonness.
“Any story can be made up,” he shared with Rolling Stone. “Random ¬stories have been made up about me being Illuminati, worshiping the devil, drinking blood. I would definitely lose some fans who just believe in anything they see.”
Still, he’d collaborate with Drake in a heartbeat, industry drama aside.
“Happily,” he added
For now, Rema is locked in on creating new music. According to the outlet, the 24-year-old is working on a highly anticipated project set for release in the next year.
He’s also gearing up for a packed tour schedule, including a Coachella appearance and a series of international shows.
“I think this project that we have coming out is a massive step towards him being one of the biggest artists in the world,” his team gushed. “Not necessarily [just one of] the biggest Afrobeats artists in the world.”
As for his love life (because we just had to let you know), Rema is dead set on getting married and having kids, maybe three or four. When asked about his timeline, he said:
“The timeline matters, but I don’t specifically have a time. But I feel like it’s very important, especially because I am not in a big family.”
He continued: “I feel like there’s a need for us to get bigger and become a whole empire if we can. And then neither do I want to wait for it to become a mistake before I decide to be a father. I’m very particular and I don’t really be hoeing around.”
