Rema’s ‘Calm Down’ becomes second longest-charting no 1 African song in India

‘Calm Down’, Rema’s hit track, is topping India’s IMI singles chart for the 13th consecutive week.

It has also become the second longest-charting number 1 African song since the chart’s inception.

The IMI (Indian Music Industry) is a trust that represents the recording industry distributors in India.

Backed by the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry), an organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide, the trust charts the top 20 singles across India on a weekly basis.

‘Calm Down’ is a song by Rema, listed among the tracks of the singer’s debut studio album titled ‘Rave & Roses’.

It was released on February 11, 2022, through Jonzing World and Mavin Records as the album’s second single.

A critically acclaimed remix of the song with Selena Gomez, the American singer, was released on August 25, 2022.

The remix version has now had a 50-week run on the IMI singles chart, topping it for the 13th consecutive week.

India has a population of over 1.4 billion people and an estimated internet penetration rate of over 48 percent.

With 692 million internet users and 65 percent under-35 citizens, the country is a market to crack for musicians.

Rema’s song with Selena Gomez has had impressive numbers on other equally prestigious music charts globally.

It reached number one on both Billboard’s US Afrobeats Songs and Billboard’s Global Exclusive US chart.

The song peaked at number three on the Global 200 chart and at number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100.

This made the ‘Calm Down’ remix Rema’s first Billboard top-ten hit and Selena Gomez’s ninth.

With over 393 million views, the visuals of the song became the most-viewed Nigerian music video on YouTube.

The video of the remix had raked in over 394 million views on YouTube as of April 11, 2023.

‘Calm Down’ was featured in a list of the favourite 2022 tracks for Barack Obama, the former US president.