The music star won the award for his international hit single ‘Calm Down,’ which recently became the first song by an African act to surpass 1 billion streams on Spotify. The single also broke the record for the longest-charting song by an African act on the Billboard Hot 100.
In his acceptance speech, Rema gave accolades to the Nigerian acts that paved the way for him and other African acts to break records and stand on an international stage.
“I’m so happy to be representing African music tonight. I want to give a shout-out to the people who opened the doors for me. Shout out to Fela, who started Afrobeat, 2baba, Don Jazzy, Timaya, Dprince, D’banj, Runtown, Timaya, Wizkid, Burna Boy, and Davido. I also want to give a shout-out to the new generation of African musicians” he said.
Selena Gomez also expressed her gratitude to Rema for choosing her to be a part of the song that has broken records.
In 2021, Wizkid became the first African artist to win any category at the MTV Video Music Awards. He won the Best Cinematography category for his collaboration with Beyonce on ‘Brown Skin Girl’.
