Breaking Down the Success Of Rema's “Calm Down”

Although “Calm Down”is not the first Nigerian or African song to amass global attention, its current stats place it above the rest as one of the most successful Afrobeats songs of the decade, begging the question of how and what factors came together to make that possible.

First, there was “Essence”

When the story of Afrobeats' latest global wave is told, “Essence,” the hit song from Wizkid’s 2020 album Made in Lagos,featuring Tems, tends to come up in conversation. The song, amongst several achievements, brought renewed attention to an already highly achieved genre. There were co-signs from stars and fans across the world and a remix from Justin Beiber, which pushed the song to Billboard’s Top 10 R&B and Hip-Hop Songs.

The featured artist, Tems, has gone on to break ground in the global music industry — collaborating with Rihanna and Beyonce, winning a Grammy for her feature on Drake and Future’s hit record “Wait For U” and scoring an Oscar nomination for her song credits on the Black Panther soundtrack, “Lift Me Up.” “Essence”’s rise came around the time Ckay’s “Love Nwantiti,”which was also a huge hit on TikTok and peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100. The success of both songs, many say, served as a stepping stone of sorts for the success “Calm Down”is currently achieving

“'Calm Down’ benefited greatly from the impact of its Afrobeats predecessors and it was also well positioned,” Adebiyi says. “The global music infrastructure had taken notice of Afrobeats and Rema’s ‘Calm Down’ benefitted from their desire to show support and propel the movement as the new frontier.”

So, how did Rema get a hit this huge on his hands?

According to industry experts, a lot of the success “Calm Down”boils down to perfect timing and the simplicity of the song’s composition. “It’s a good song with catchy and simple arrangements. Just like other songs that had enjoyed global success before it, ‘Calm Down’ was very easy to sing along to and it was also melodious which helped it to break language barriers. Same way a ’Kulosa,’ ‘Peru,’ ‘Love Nwantiti’ and ‘Ameno Amapiano’ thrived on its sonic appeal and African cultural identities,” Adebiyi posits.

Many of the Afrobeats songs that have found global success have been defined by their simplicity and catchy, easy-to-follow hooks and choruses. As Adebiyi further points out, there was Davido with “Fall,” Wizkid with “Ojuelegba,” Oxlade with “Ku Lo Sa” and many other songs, who alongside their easy grooves, are also grounded in a Nigerian style, devoid of Western influences.

“‘Calm Down’ took Afrobeats growing success a notch higher and I think what made the difference is the timing of its release. The song came at a time when the global attention was on Afrobeats and it was the song best positioned to enjoy that huge patronage. It also had a powerhouse in UMG pulling the stops that brought it to a historic success in the U.S. The song had more support than any song from Nigeria has ever enjoyed in the U.S.,” Adebiyi says.

Selena Gomez’s fanbase was also significantly instrumental in making “Calm Down” a global hit. Some of the successes the song has achieved include a win at the 2023 MTV VMAs, becoming the longest charting African song on the Billboard Hot 100, the most streamed Afrobeats song in Spotify History, a Guinness World Record and now, a billion on-demand streams.

Still, the biggest takeaway from this milestone is what it stands to do for the Afrobeats genre. For Adebiyi, one billion streams is the beginning of another potential billion. “It shows the global appeal of Nigerian music and its commercial viability in the U.S., where there are paying consumers that will encourage more investment in the Nigerian ecosystem,” Adebiyi says. “And it increases the chances of having multiple global stars enjoying success simultaneously, as labels and investors recognize the huge market share Afrobeats can carve out on a global scale.”