Divine Ikubor (born 1 May 2000), popularly known as Rema, is a Nigerian singer-songwriter and rapper. He gained recognition with his 2019 song " Dumebi". That same year, he signed with

D'Prince Charles Enebeli (born 23 October 1986), known by his stage name D'Prince, is a Nigerian Grammy Awards, Grammy-67th Annual Grammy Awards, nominated music executive, singer, songwriter, entrepreneur, Promoter (entertainment), promoter, and philant ...

's record label, Jonzing World. He achieved international recognition with his 2022 single " Calm Down", which spawned a remix with American singer

Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, producer, and businesswoman. Gomez began her career as a child actress, appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), a ...

that peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song also led ''Billboard'' Afrobeats Songs chart for a record-setting 58 weeks. "Calm Down" emerged from Rema's debut studio album, '' Rave & Roses'' (2022), which peaked at number 81 on the ''Billboard'' 200. His fourth commercial EP, '' Ravage'', was released in 2023. His second album, '' Heis'' (2024), was supported by the single " Benin Boys" (with Shallipopi). The album received a nomination for

Best Global Music Album The Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album is an honor presented to recording artists for influential music from around the globe at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors i ...

at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards, earning Rema his first career nomination at the Grammys.

Early life

Divine Ikubor was born into a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

family in

Benin City Benin City serves as the Capital city, capital and largest Metropolitan area, metropolitan centre of Edo State, situated in Nigeria, southern Nigeria. It ranks as the List of Nigerian cities by population, fourth-most populous city in Niger ...

Edo State Edo State, Edo, officially known as Edo State, is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South, South-South Geopolitical zones of Nigeria, geopolitical zone of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As of 2024, the state was ranked as the List of Ni ...

, Nigeria. He is from Igbanke in Orhionmwon LGA of Edo state. He discovered his passion for music during his secondary school days at Ighile Group of Schools in Edo State, where he began singing and rapping. After losing his father and elder brother, Rema was raised by his mother, who played a significant role in shaping his life.

Career

2019–2021: Career beginnings and record deals

Rema started his music career performing in churches with his collaborator Alpha P in 2019. He gained recognition after posting a viral freestyle on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

's song "Gucci Gang". Impressed by his talent, D'Prince flew him to

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

and offered him a record deal with Jonzing World, a subsidiary of

Mavin Records Mavin Records (also known as the Supreme Mavin Dynasty) is a Nigerian corporation and record label founded by record producer and recording artist Don Jazzy on 8 May 2012. The label's inception came to fruition following the closure of Mo' Hits R ...

owned by music executive and producer

Don Jazzy Michael Collins Ajereh (born 26 November 1982), known professionally as Don Jazzy, is a Nigerian music executive, record producer, singer, songwriter, businessman, and philanthropist. He founded the record label Mavin Records in 2012, as a sub ...

. In 2019, Rema released his self-titled debut EP '' Rema'', which topped

Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...

's Nigerian charts. The music video for "Dumebi", a breakout song from the EP, was released on 21 May 2019, featuring a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

from Diana Eneje and has since gained 85 million views on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. Later that summer, another popular song from the EP was featured on former United States President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

's annual summer playlist. In September 2020, Rema's songs were included on the ''

FIFA 21 ''FIFA 21'' is an association football simulation video game published by Electronic Arts as part of the '' FIFA series''. It is the 28th installment in the ''FIFA'' series, and was released on 9 October 2020 for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switc ...

'' official soundtrack. In September 2021, he was unveiled as a brand ambassador for

Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...

, alongside his label mate

Ayra Starr Sarah Oyinkansola Aderibigbe (born 14 June 2002), known professionally as Ayra Starr, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter born in Benin Republic. She achieved mainstream international recognition in 2022, with the release of her hit song "Ru ...

Toya Delazy Latoya Nontokozo Buthelezi, who is known professionally as Toya Delazy, is a London-based South African singer, producer, pianist, dancer and performer from KwaZulu-Natal. She is known for her music genre called Afro rave, which fuses techno, ...

, a South African music producer and artist, originated the genre "Afrorave" in 2019, combining elements of

garage A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicl ...

, Zulu lyrics, and other African styles. In May 2021, Rema adopted the term "Afrorave" to describe his own music, which blends

Afrobeats Afrobeats, not to be confused with Afrobeat or Afroswing, is an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Ghana, Nigeria, and the UK in the 2000s and 2010s. Afrobeats is less of a st ...

with Arabian and Indian influences. This distinct sound has resonated with fans, earning him a dedicated fanbase known as Ravers.

202223: ''Rave & Roses'' and ''Ravage'' EP

After releasing three EPs, Rema debuted his first album, '' Rave & Roses'', on 25 March 2022, under Jonzing World. The album features 16 tracks, including collaborations with

6lack Ricardo Valdez Valentine Jr. (born June 24, 1992), known professionally as 6lack (stylized as 6LACK, pronounced "black"), is an American R&B singer and songwriter. Born in Baltimore, Maryland and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, he gained recognitio ...

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...

AJ Tracey Ché Wolton Grant (born 4 March 1994), known professionally as AJ Tracey, is a British rapper and record producer from Ladbroke Grove, London. Tracey rose to popularity in 2016 and was listed by ''The Guardian'' in a list of "best new acts to c ...

, and Yseult. It charted 10 songs on the US ''Billboard'' Afrobeats Chart in its debut week. The single " Calm Down" gained international recognition, it reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 after a remix with

, breaking multiple records. Rema received various awards, including the MTV Video Music Award for Best Afrobeats Video and the ''Billboard'' Music Award for Top Afrobeats Song and many other awards. On 7 November 2022, he was awarded for achieving 1 billion streams worldwide during his London concert. In February 2023, he won the Digital Artist of the Year award at the Soundcity MVP Awards held at the Eko Convention Centre in Lagos. In April 2023, he released ''Rave & Roses Ultra'', which became the first African album to cross two billion streams on Spotify. On 26 October 2023, Rema released the '' Ravage'' EP, and on 30 October 2023, he performed at the

Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual association football, football award presented by French magazine ''France Football'' since 1956 Ballon d'Or, 1956 to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season. Conceived ...

ceremony held Theatre du Châtelet in

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

2024: Second Studio Album; HEIS

On 11 July 2024, Rema released his second studio album titled HEIS. The title of the album is said to be derived from the Greek word for "numeral 1". The album consists of 11 songs.

2025: ''Baby (Is It a Crime)'' and ''Bout U''

On 7 February 2025, Rema released the single ' Baby (Is It a Crime)' which samples

Sade Sade may refer to: People * Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), French aristocrat, writer, and libertine; namesake of the word ''sadism'' * Sade (singer) (born 1959, Helen Folasade Adu), British Nigerian musician and lead singer of the eponymous band * ...

's 1985 classic ' Is It a Crime'. The song quickly gained popularity, becoming one of the most streamed Nigerian songs of 2025. On 11 April 2025, Rema released another single titled ' Bout U'.

Personal life

On 28 September 2020, Rema tweeted accusations against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) regarding their involvement in the death of his father, Justice Ikubor, a former chieftain of the party. Although Rema gained admission to study at the

University of Lagos The University of Lagos (UNILAG) is a Public university, public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria, which was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the education in Nigeria#First generation universities, first generation universities in ...

in 2022, he was forced to leave the institution in 2023 due to the ongoing

ASUU The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is a Nigerian union of university academic staff, founded in 1978. ASUU is an offshoot of the Nigerian Association of University Teachers (NAUT) which was established in 1965. At that time, NAUT con ...

teaching union strike.

Impact

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' said "Rema has undoubtedly and proudly become an emblem of

global rise." Writing for ''

Business Day A business day normally means any day except a legal holiday. It may also mean a business day of operation, any of the days an organization operates. It depends on the local workweek which is dictated by local customs, religions, and business ...

'' Anthony Udugba remarked Rema has "expanded the horizons" of African musical impact on the global stage. ''

The Guardian Nigeria ''The Guardian'' is a Nigerian independent daily newspaper, established in 1983, published by Guardian Newspapers Limited in Lagos, Nigeria. History ''The Guardian'' was established in 1983 by Alex Ibru, an entrepreneur, and Stanley Macebuh, ...

'' opined "As the

landscape continues to flourish, Rema’s success sets a high standard, showcasing the global appeal and dominance of Nigerian music on the international stage." ''

The Native ''The Native'' (stylized in all caps) is a Nigerian-based music magazine publishing in Lagos. Founded in 2016, ''The Native'' focuses primarily on music, style, and art, championing the sounds and culture of tomorrow, today. History ''The Na ...

'' stated "It’s impossible to erase the mark he has left on Afrobeats history." Victor Okpala said "Rema’s sound has cemented his place as a true musical trailblazer." Many

critics A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governme ...

have praised him for breaking barriers and inspiring other African music artists. “Rema is solidifying his place as one of the greatest Afrobeat artists of his generation, with a legacy that will be remembered for years to come.”

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Rave & Roses'' (2022) * '' Heis'' (2024)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{authority control 2000 births Living people Musicians from Benin City Nigerian male rappers 21st-century male rappers Nigerian male singers 21st-century Nigerian musicians 21st-century Nigerian male singers 21st-century Nigerian rappers Nigerian Afrobeats musicians The Headies Award for Next Rated The Headies winners Nigerian male singer-songwriters English-language singers from Nigeria 21st-century Nigerian singer-songwriters