Rema’s ‘Rave & Roses’ becomes first African album to hit 3 billion Spotify streams
Rema’s feat now sits at the top of Spotify’s all-time African albums chart.
In just three years, Nigerian music star Rema has turned his debut album into a global streaming juggernaut. Rave & Roses (Ultra), the expanded version of his 2022 debut, has officially crossed 3 billion streams on Spotify, making it the first African project to achieve the milestone.
The record-breaking moment was confirmed Thursday by multiple global music tracking platforms, cementing Rema’s position at the forefront of Afrobeats’ international takeover.
Unsurprisingly, the album’s crown jewel, the Calm Down (Remix) featuring American pop star Selena Gomez, did much of the heavy lifting. Between its original and remix versions, Calm Down accounts for more than 2 billion streams on Spotify alone. The rest of the album’s 20 tracks combine for the remaining figure, a testament to the singular power of that crossover hit.
When Calm Down first dropped, few could have predicted the cultural ripple it would cause. In 2023, it became the first African song to surpass 1 billion Spotify streams, effectively making Rema a global ambassador for Afrobeats. The track dominated charts in the US, UK, India, and across Latin America, marking one of the most successful cross-continental collaborations in streaming history.
Released under Mavin Records and Jonzing World, Rave & Roses (Ultra) is a genre-blending project that folds Afrobeats into pop, trap, and R&B, peppered with international collaborations that helped push it into new territories. The project not only expanded the sonic boundaries of Nigerian pop but also proved the commercial viability of African albums on a scale never seen before.
Rema’s feat now sits at the top of Spotify’s all-time African albums chart. Trailing him is South African singer Tyla, whose self-titled debut has amassed over 2 billion streams. Nigerian music superstar Burna Boy's African Giant and Love, Damini albums, Wizkid's Made in Lagos: Deluxe Edition album, and CKay's CKay the First album have also crossed the billion-stream mark, together shaping an African streaming era that is rewriting the rules of global pop culture.
Emmanuel Oyedeji
