Nigeria Star Rema Makes History With First-Ever MTV Afrobeats Win

Nigerian singer Rema and American pop star Selena Gomez made history at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) by winning the inaugural Afrobeats award for their song "Calm Down."

The collaboration beat out other top Afrobeats tracks, including Ayra Starr's "Rush," Burna Boy's "It's Plenty," Davido feat. Musa Key's "Unavailable," Libianca's "People," Wizkid feat. Ayrra Starr's "2 Sugar," and Fireboy DML's "Bandana."

Rema is the first African artist to win the award, which was created this year to celebrate the growing global popularity of Afrobeats. In his acceptance speech, he thanked God, his fans, and his team. Gomez thanked Rema for choosing her to be part of "an incredible song that's able to break records".

Spotify recently announced that Rema had become the first African artist to garner a billion streams on his collaboration with Gomez, a feat he called "a blessing and a win for the culture."

This article appeared on allAfrica.

Image via HAVOK.