Nigerian singer, Divine Ikubor, known as Rema, expressed his gratitude to late music icon Fela Kuti, as well as contemporary stars Wizkid and Davido, among others after winning the first ‘Best Afrobeats’ award at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards.
Rema won the inaugural award category on Tuesday during the award show that took place in Newark, New Jersey, USA.
He won the award for his hit song with international star, Selena Gomez, on the track ‘Calm Down.’
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The award category for Best Afrobeats was introduced in the 2023 edition of the show.
Rema’s ‘Calm Down’ competed against songs such as Burna Boy’s ‘It’s Plenty,’ Davido’s ‘Unavailable’ featuring Musa Keym Ayra Starr’s ‘Rush,’ Libianca’s ‘People,’ Wizkid’s ‘2 Sugar’ featuring Ayrra Starr, and Fireboy DML’s ‘Bandana.’
“First of all I want to give big thanks to God, and my fans, I want to give a big shoutout to my team, Selena Gomez.
“This means so much seeing Afrobeats grow this big and being here on their stage representing Afrobeat tonight, I’m so happy.
“One thing I will not forget to do tonight is forget to shoutout to people who opened the doors for me, big shoutout.
“To Fela who started Afrobeats in the first place. 2Baba, Don Jazzy, D’banj, D Prince, Runtown, Timaya, Wizkid, Burna Boy, Davido. I just want to give a big shoutout to the new generation of Afrobeats (artists), we are here to take it to the rest of the world,” Rema said while accepting his first VMA awards for Best Afrobeats Song.
"Big shoutout to Fela who started Afrobeats in the first place. 2Baba, Don Jazzy, D’banj, D Prince, Runtown, Timaya, Wizkid, Burna Boy, Davido…"
— Joey Akan (@JoeyAkan) September 13, 2023
— Rema, accepting his first #VMA awards for Best Afrobeats Song.
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The song “Calm Down” by Rema spent 27 non-consecutive weeks in the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart. It peaked at number 3.
The remix of the song with Selena Gomez was even more successful, reaching number 1 on the Billboard US Afrobeats Songs and Billboard Global Excl. US charts, and number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also topped the Pop Airplay, Adult Pop Airplay, and all-genre Radio Songs charts in the US.
“Calm Down” attests to the growing popularity of Afrobeats music in the UK and the US.