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The Nigerian singer-songwriter and rapper Rema (aka Divine Ikubor) hit the world stage in his late teens with the insistently frisky groove “Dumebi”. Now 24, he’s established his star status and amassed a catalogue of huge Afrobeats tunes — in particular, “Calm Down”, which gained more than 1bn Spotify streams and sparked a remix duet with Selena Gomez.
Rema’s “surprise” second album, HEIS, builds on the self-styled “Afrorave” sound of his acclaimed debut album Rave & Roses (2022). It’s also a statement of intent. Rema reportedly felt misunderstood by the mixed response to a headline date at London’s O2 Arena late last year, where some spectators misinterpreted his Gothic-looking visuals (masks, capes, bats) as demonic imagery. The artist later pointed out that these were references to the rich history and culture of his birthplace, Benin City in southern Nigeria. “I have been on this bat shit for a long time,” he drily explained on Instagram. “You would have so much more clarity if you easily Google where I’m from”.
HEIS may be billed as an impromptu release, but its music feels fine-tuned, from the spiky electronic riffs and nervy percussion of the opening track “March Am” onwards. Rema’s distinctive vocals have both mellow charm and an emphatic quality, and these multilingual songs include lyrics in pidgin, Bini (the primary language spoken in Edo State, Nigeria), Yoruba and English.
The new material also splices a wide variety of influences, among them trap, house, pop, west African roots music, melodies from west Asia, and global big-screen soundtracks. Rema’s global success is a reminder that Afrobeats is both a massive phenomenon and a somewhat reductive term; the western mainstream is still catching up with the breadth of contemporary pan-African talent.
The album has already yielded several singles, among them the heady swagger of “Hehehe”, where Rema takes delight in mocking his detractors (“Monday morning, talking about me while I’m making money”); the invigorating dancefloor shakedown of “Yayo”; and the exuberant hometown homage “Benin Boys”, for which he’s joined by fellow local hero Shallipopi: “We be the pride of Benin / Oba [local chief] sef suppose give us medal.”
These bangers are served with bravado and bling, but also some brilliantly original touches, and there’s a sense of cohesion that was arguably missing in Rema’s earlier work. The title track is magnificently atmospheric, with his bold, flowing vocals backed by a mellifluous chorus and grand strings that evoke the film scores of Maurice Jarre. In HEIS, this natural showman proves he has a real blockbuster talent.
★★★★☆
‘HEIS’ is released by Mavin Records/Jonzing World
