Adedokun Waliyu 
‘Rave & Roses’, Rema’s debut project, has set a new record as the longest charting album on Billboard 200 by a Nigerian artiste.
In March 2022, the music star released the 16-track body of work.
In the album, Rema featured international music stars such as 6lack, Chris Brown, AJ Tracey, and Yseult.
This week, Rema broke the record as the Nigerian artiste with the longest-running album in the US Billboard 200 — a feat which was held by Sunny Ade, the ace musician, for four decades.
In 1982, the legendary musician had put out ‘Juju Music’, his critically-acclaimed album.
The album spent 29 weeks — from May 1, 1983 to September 1, 1983 — on the Billboard 200 chart. It was the longest-running Nigerian project in the chart’s history until recently.
‘Rave & Roses’ has now spent its 30th week on the chart this week, setting the new record.
Rema, whose real name is Divine Ikubor, has been enjoying massive reception from music lovers since he came into the limelight.
Rema signed a record deal with D’Prince’s Jonzing World, a subsidiary of Mavin Records, in 2019.
The singer released his eponymous debut EP ‘Rema’ in 2019, which peaked at number 1 on Apple Music Nigeria.
In May 2021, Rema named his sound Afrorave, a subgenre of Afrobeats with a touch of Arabian and Indian music.
Rema won the ‘Next Rated’ gong in 2019 and was nominated for Viewer’s Choice at the 13th edition of The Headies.
In January 2020, he received the Soundcity MVP Awards for ‘Best New Artiste’.
In April, ‘Calm Down’, a track off the album, became the longest-charting African song on Billboard Hot 100.
