2019 is half gone and if the music industry is already clear about some victories, Rema is one.
Born Divine Ikubor in the ancient city of Benin, Rema, like most recent superstars making incursions into the music scene, arrived by way of technology-enhanced serendipity and a smidgen of luck.
Regardless, he now sits on the roster of the most consistent record labels in the land, Mavin Records. Add to this his co-signing with the affiliate Jonzing records, a nifty business decision by the crooner turned scout, D’Prince. Whichever is the case, it is within the family and in a spate of months, Rema has become Nigerian music’s roaring rhema.
A week ago, he released his latest body of work, the Freestyle EP. A four-track long bit-sized record lasting a little more than 8 minutes, Freestyle EP updates some of his recent trap-leaning impromptu freehand performances.
Compared to his self-titled EP, Freestyle switches up the tempo and hi-fives American trap music rather too vigorously.
In retrospect the outlier ‘Why’ on his debut has become a template for an entire foray into the reaches and depths of trap music.
Dealing with unrequited love, braggart moments, hate reporting and love (perhaps as an aspect of the American dream), Freestyle thumps through the room in its limited time with a militant percussion fundamentally different from the shuffling percussion of Afrobeats. However, Rema’s constant smoky silk-thin voice carries the day, with elegant turns of phrases and deliberate improvisation.
Much of his achievement as a musician has been an emphasis on melody and rhythms. Relying remarkably on the popularity and range of Wizkid’s vocal ability, Rema sits at the crossroads of the new school within the Afrobeats canon. It has been over eight years since the last seismic change in the music scene and it appears the year 2019 will not abate without retiring a few old hands or at least introducing a few heirs.
Rema is one, obviously. Good looks to a hilt. An oxytocin-invoking baby-faced innocence and a tinny silky voice, this essentially is Wizkid redux, or simply read, Wizkid’s nemesis.
His biography also appears similar if you replace Benin with the Ojuelegba address. A tendency to rap compares with a tendency to trap. Maternal love and reverence. Boyish charms that may have now faded in Wizkid’s case.
This comparison may also be useful to project into Rema’s future. Already throttling with his talents, picking momentum and a cult-following, en route widespread mainstream acceptance, Rema needs a clutter of hits to assure a listening audience that there are more hits in the kitty where Dumebi came from.
His ability to switch styles between the shuffling Afrobeats rhythms to the energetic trap music; to draw out his voice in a manner reminiscent of Hindi music assures us that we have a star in our hands.
How long before the baby mama drama and the signs of substance dependence?
For now, Rema can do no wrong. He has a formidable but punishingly slim body of work. With less than a quarter hour of music, we have been convinced that a new star has been born.