Nigeria: Rema Becomes First African to Perform At Ballon d'Or Awards

31 October 2023
The New Times (Kigali)
By Eliane Irakoze

Nigerian multiple award winning artiste Rema gave a performance of a lifetime at the night of the Ballon d'Or ceremony, 2023, making him the first African artist to ever do it.

During the event, the singer, real name Divine Ikubor, graced the stage with a mesmerizing rendition of his chart-topping track, "Calm Down," leaving the football stars in the audience with a lasting impression.

The Afrobeat music star performed in front of this year's Ballon d'or winner and Inter Miami player, Lionel Messi, Mbappe, Haaland, Jude Bellingham among others.

Rema also posted a video of himself on his Instagram stories walking through Paris, France, where the French football award ceremony was going to take place.

He is the winner of Best Afrobeats Song for his remix with American singer Selena Gomez, ' Calm Down' at the MTV Video Music Awards. The song changed Rema's career by making him a worldwide sensation and he was recently in Kigali during the Trace Africa Awards on October 21, at BK Arena. He scored in the Global African Artist, and Song of the Year category, with "Calm Down".

ALSO READ: Trace Awards: Rema, Davido lead winners

His most recent EP, 'Ravage', is more evidence of his success; just a few hours after its release on Friday, October 26, 2023, it debuted on the charts in over 50 countries.

Born on May 1, 2000, Rema is an Afrobeat singer-songwriter. He gained initial recognition with the release of "Dumebi" in 2019. He was signed to Jonzig World, a record label owned by Nigerian singer, D'Prince and affiliates to Mavin records. Some of his hit songs include ' ginger me', 'bounce', 'charm' and 'beamer'.

Read the original article on New Times.

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