Rema becomes first African artiste on Rolling Stone cover

Nigerian music sensation Divine Ikubor, popularly known as Rema, has made history as the first African artiste to be featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

The prestigious American publication, known for its coverage of music, politics, and pop culture, announced Rema as the cover star for its April edition, celebrating his role in taking Afrobeats to the global stage.

Mavin Records, Rema’s label, highlighted the groundbreaking achievement with an Instagram post: “Rave Lordé Rema the Afrobeats Visionary, makes history as @Rollingstone USA’s First African Cover Star!”

To mark the milestone, the Calm Down crooner delivered an electrifying performance at the Rolling Stone concert, thrilling audiences with hit songs like Dumebi, Woman, and Calm Down.

This latest recognition further cements Rema’s status as a trailblazer in African music. It comes on the heels of his recent feature on the cover of Dazed magazine, another major international platform.

Born in 2000 in Benin City, Rema shot to fame in 2019 after signing with Mavin Records. His meteoric rise has been instrumental in pushing Afrobeats to the global stage, particularly with Calm Down—a song that broke multiple records, including becoming the most-streamed Afrobeats track in history. The remix featuring Selena Gomez crossed a billion streams on Spotify, making it the first African-led song to achieve such a feat.

The track also became the first African song to top the world’s first regional streaming chart and the official chart in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), earning Rema a Guinness World Record.

In 2023, he became the first African artiste to perform at the prestigious Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris.

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