Selena Gomez and Rema‘s hit “Calm Down” has celebrated a lot of firsts since it came out, and now, it can add another one to the list: It’s just become the first track led by an African artist to reach one billion streams on Spotify.
Selena responded to the good news on social media, writing, “I’m so grateful. Love you @heisrema!”
Meanwhile, Rema, who’s from Nigeria, said on Instagram that the milestone is a “blessing.”
“It’s not just a big win for me, my team and family, it’s also a big one for the culture,” he adds. “I feel really happy and I’m really proud of the fans as well for going back to the song and putting people on the song. Shout out to the DJs and everyone who made this possible.”
The Selena/Rema remix of “Calm Down” first came out back in August of 2022. It’s since peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also topped the publication’s Pop Airplay, Adult Pop Airplay and Radio Songs charts.
In 2022, Rema told Pitchfork that “Calm Down” was inspired by “the events that led me to finding love at the time.”
“It started at a party where I saw a girl who stood out from other girls so I felt like shooting my shot,” he explained. “We spoke and danced … but her friends didn’t let me get any closer which killed the vibe, but afterwards when they weren’t there, we stayed in touch and hit it off.”
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