African Voices Changemakers airs on CNN International Saturday 5th October 2024 at 0830 SAST
In the latest episode of African Voices Changemakers, CNN’s Larry Madowo meets Nigerian singer, rapper and songwriter Divine Ikubor, famously known as Rema, to discuss how he is blazing a trail into the new wave of Afrobeats sensations.
In 2018, Rema rose to stardom as his freestyle over the song ‘Gucci Gang’ went viral. Since then, he has skyrocketed to fame with his breakout hit ‘Dumebi’. Rema represents the country’s rich musical heritage and contemporary artistry on the global stage, garnering fans internationally, including former US President, Barack Obama. Rema speaks about how it feels to be part of Obama’s summer playlist, “It feels good because it’s been back-to-back to be honest since 2019. So, it’s a blessing. I feel like I don’t just have my music crossing his parts. It’s like I got a friend in Barack Obama. Yeah, so it’s just beyond like what music is popping like he actually likes stays in touch.”
The singer reminisces on when he fell in love with the music movement, “My brother used to play a lot of like, hip hop. My dad used to play hip hop too and a lot of Afrobeats. My mom used to play a lot of cultural music because she came from the village.” He continues, “My mom she played gospel and I tapped in with the gospel music because it was very emotional. It had so much soul to it, and I feel like that’s what I really like. I’m paying attention but then I just started rapping because I like rap still, but I wanted it to have soul and then I just took the rap that I got inspired from what my brother was playing and tapping with the soul from the music my mom was playing.”
Rema lost his father and brother before the age of 16. He tells Madowo about these losses, “If the father is gone, the senior has to like take over, right? And the senior is gone. So, it’s like, who’s the next man in the house? I know I’m the middle child. It’s like it just automatically sets on me. The pressure just hit me, the pressure, a trauma. It’s like so much weight on my chest, on my shoulder.” He continues on how music became of form of income for him and his family, “I didn’t know music was gonna do what it was gonna do. I was just like, I gotta do anything to actually make some bread, you know, like I just have to put my family in a comfortable like state. So, I was doing all I could to provide for a family.”
For Rema, the music that started out as a hustle, a means to an end, led him to his purpose. He describes how his rise to fame came about, “I did the freestyle in the car then I posted it and I tagged everyone that was in the song D’Prince, Davido, Don Jazzy and yeah D’Prince reached out to me and told me to link up. I had to just think about it because going into music, I’d have to stop hustling. It’s like I have to go back into the grind and the sacrifice. Yeah, I gave the hustle life up and I told my mom I was heading to Lagos.”
Once Rema landed a record deal with Mavin Records, he began making waves. In 2019 he released his debut ep “Rema” and immediately changed Afrobeats with new and innovative sounds. Rema talks about the EP’s breakout hit, ‘Dumebi’, “I was just being free with my music. I got advice from OG D’Prince at the time I played the song for him and I was like, this is just a vibe that I made. I’m not finished cause like, I was just getting new to Afrobeat. I think that was like the second Afrobeat song that I ever made.”
He continues on how his unique blend of unconventional lyrics and diverse cultural influences, showcase how he has captivated audiences worldwide, “It was quite genius to make people dance to something that don’t even exist. Because if you think about it, English was created by man, regardless every language, you know, was created by man created by a community. And whatever it was like, might as well just create a Rema language.”
Despite his success, Rema is still grateful for his roots, representing his city in the single ‘Benin Boys’ on which he collaborates with fellow native, Shallipopi. He tells Madowo, “I’ve got Benin blood rushing in my veins, you know. So, I just had to do it because there’s one project where I felt like I was connecting back to the roots fully because it’s been like five years of like global expansion.”
Rema shares a message to his hometown fans, “I just wanna say thank you. And I just wanna let other people know like it’s very possible, you know, stadium shows, especially in this generation of Afrobeats. Back home is not a big thing, you know, we’re very used to shorting on arenas outside of home, but it’s like, I feel like that is something we should do constantly. At the end of the day, we’re trying to let people back home know we’re doing this for them, we love them, we appreciate them and we appreciate the hardship that we all went through together and I excelled and you can do it too.”
African Voices Changemakers airs on CNN International at the following times:
Saturday 5th October 2024 at 0830 SAST and 1200 SAST
Sunday 6th October 2024 at 0430 SAST and 1900 SAST
Monday 7th October 2024 at 0330 SAST and 0400 SAST
Saturday 12th October 2024 at 0830 SAST and 1200 SAST
Sunday 13th October 2024 at 0430 SAST and 1900 SAST
https://edition.cnn.com/specials/africa/african-voices-changemakers
