The song, which features American singer, Selena Gomez, has clinched the number 7 spot on the Billboard charts, making it its highest-charting African song.
By Hope Ibiale
Nigerian artiste, Divine Ikubor, popularly known as Rema, has crossed a new milestone on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, with his hit song “Calm Down.” The song, which features American singer, Selena Gomez, has clinched the number 7 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, making it the highest-charting African song.
“Calm Down” moved from the No.8 position to the 7th spot, breaking the record previously held by Wizkid’s “Essence.”
(Read also: Davido’s Timeless Becomes the First African Album to Top US iTunes Chart)
Asides from becoming the highest-charting African song on the charts, “Calm Down” was also the fastest song to get over 100 million streams on Spotify after its release. Now, the song has surpassed 600 million streams on Spotify.
Recently, the music video for “Calm Down” became the most-viewed Nigerian song on YouTube with over 400 million views. The song, which is a track off his debut album, Rave & Roses, has also sold 2.5 million RIAA units in the US. A week ago, Rema also performed the top-charting song on the Jimmy Fallon Tonight Show.
The Billboard Hot 100 charts, established in 1913, is the music industry’s standard record chart in the United States. Unlike the Billboard Global Charts, which collects data from different countries, excluding the U.S., the Billboard Hot 100 charts are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming in the United States.