Is Calm Down Nigeria’s All-time Biggest Song?
‘Calm Down’ by 22-year-old Nigerian music star Rema keeps breaking barriers and setting records for Afrobeats genre worldwide.
In the last few days, the remix which he did with American singer Selena Gomez became the first African song to peak at number one on the Billboard Global 200 chart.
‘Calm Down’s impact is so big that it’s been certified platinum in the US, gold in the UK, diamond in France, 3X Platinum in Portugal, and other countries. All of these under one year of release!
Is Calm Down Nigeria’s All-time Biggest Song?
Currently, only two Nigerian songs can be put in the same coversation as ‘Calm Down’ in terms of global domination and cultural impact.
These songs are ‘Love Nwantiti’ by CKay and ‘Essence’ by Wizkid (featuring Tems).
CKay’s ‘Love Nwantiti’ holds the all-time record for the highest certified African song in the history of RIAA. It is 4X platinum in the US.
Wizkid’s ‘Essence’ has bagged more international awards and nominations than any Nigeria’s song in history. It’s equally the second highest certified African song, after ‘Love Nwantiti, in the US.
Are they bigger than ‘Calm Down’?
While ‘Essence’ and ‘Love Nwantiti’ have really performed well internationally, ‘Calm Down’ is still ahead. If we consider the time frame between the three songs, it’s clear that ‘Calm Down’ has achieved way more in the shortest time.
For instance, it set record as the most viewed Afrobeats music video on YouTube, surpassing fellow Nigerian artist CKay’s global hit ‘Love Nwantiti’, in just 11 months of release.
On Spotify, it has accumulated more streams than Wizkid’s ‘Essence’ and may likely overthrow ‘Love Nwantiti’ too before it completes 2 years of release.
It’s only a matter of months for ‘Calm Down’ to surpass all the achievements ‘Essence’ and ‘Love Nwantiti’ made and officially become Nigeria’s all-time biggest song!
Over to you: do you agree ‘Calm Down’ is Nigeria’s all-time biggest song?
