But few have had to do this under the pressure that comes with the unforgiving gaze of the Nigerian public from day one. The man himself says “there’s pressure for every person who vows to take the game to the next level, I won’t deny feeling pressure once in a while…but I don’t let it bother my peace for [too] long.”

While today in 2022, Mavin Records are renowned as a Pop music machine, West Africa’s answer to South Korea’s Big Hit Music (home to BTS), it’s easy to forget that in the first quarter of 2019, this wasn’t quite the case. By this point, Don Jazzy’s name had already been long since etched in the history books of Nigerian music as one of the true greats, but he was embarking on a fresh new journey as a label head. Following Mavin 2.0, the all-things-considered comparatively underwhelming iteration of the legendary post-Mo’Hits label, Jazzy knew something needed to change. So, while there was never a formal announcement of a third act in the house he built following his infamous musical divorce from the once revered D’Banj, the signing of Rema all but confirmed that Jazzy’s iconic walking stick was pointing in a new direction.

Rema was something fresh, something different. I still remember hearing “Dumebi”, his scene-stopping debut single, for the first time, and looking around in sheer disbelief, completely blown away by what I was listening to. Firstly, the absolute audacity to open up your debut single with the phrase “another banger!” – one that we would quickly become a familiar battlecry to mark Rema’s presence on tracks – is legendary in itself. But to then back that up, the way he did, is the stuff legends are made of. Listening back today, what strikes me most isn’t the runaway-hit nature of the hook, or the tongue-in-cheek lyrics that have gone on to define Rema’s writing style, but it’s his most dangerous and least talked about weapon: his voice. A vocal cocktail that, on first listen, sounded somewhere in-between Wizkid and Cruel Santino fka Santi, with a bit of Owl Pharaoh era Travis Scott sprinkled in there, the manner in which a young Divine was effortlessly contorting and manipulating his voice around flows and in and out of pockets, is something that, till this day, sounds alien. An amalgamation of numerous soundscapes, but somehow still sounding like himself – despite the longing to draw comparisons with the familiar voices that came before and undoubtedly inspired him – “Dumebi” was nothing like you’d ever heard before.

“They [Mavin Records] accept my sound for what it is; [as] crazy as it sounds,” Divine told this very publication back in April 2019, in what was his first ever interview. “The Trap and the Rock and everything. Most people would try to change your sound but they believe in mine. I’m not scared of dropping any type of song cause I’m very confident, I’m ready, I’m talented. Every time I get in the studio, I create something crazy.”

Looking at Rema’s ascent today through the lens of this statement from a young(er) Divine, is both at once fascinating and illuminating, as a question of sound would follow him almost at every lofty milestone.

The last two decades has seen a gradual democratisation of music, more recently expedited by the invention and rapid adoption by record labels, artists and fans to digital service providers such as Spotify, Apple Music, Audiomack et al. It has never been easier for anyone to record a song, and have it available to hundreds of millions of people, in just a matter of hours. Whilst the pros and cons of this liberation have been argued across record label boardrooms and Twitter spaces alike, a truly gargantuan spanner was thrown into the already cluttered works in the early months of 2020. No matter how many recipes you learnt, how fit you got, or how much you made off crypto investments, it would be thoughtless for anyone to suggest the peak of the Coronavirus pandemic was anything but a tragedy. On top of the effects it had on the most vulnerable in society, the pandemic ravaged many industries, with the music business being right at the front of this pack. Pollstar, a music business trade publication, estimated that at the end of 2020, the live events industry had lost over $30 billion. For many artists, especially from Africa, live show revenue accounts for the lion’s share of their income. With this being wiped out, out of necessity, many artists started paying greater attention to their digital outlets, such as the aforementioned DSPs, and social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Youtube and Triller. This industry-wide shift to be purely digital aided some artists, who may have been more adept to recording and releasing music, staying online, and interacting with fans from the confines of their homes.

But for artists like Rema, this wasn’t what he signed up for.

“I signed out, but popped up on another floor above the venue and started performing again on a risky platform,” Divine excitedly tells me, when asked about his best experience on his Rave & Roses tour. “The fans had to hold me to stop me from falling. They probably thought I was on drugs,” he says, laughing, “but I don’t do none of that. Seeing them rave after thinking the show was done was wild.”

Yes, he is a recording artist, but more than anything, Rema is a performing artist. He appears most comfortable on a stage, sharing special moments with his adoring Ravers. And crucially, that seems to have been a pivotal influence into how he found his own sound, amongst the diverse skillset he so clearly possesses.

“It hit me,” he says of his invention of Afro-Rave. “I worked consistently… different ideas, [the] same feeling, [the] same tingle. In the process of making a song, I already know what the performance is gonna be like, it adds to the excitement while I’m going off in front of the mic.”

While his OG “Spiderman”-Rema fans may have felt his debut album was missing crucial elements of The Boy from Benin City they initially fell in love with, when you see him perform it live, it becomes increasingly difficult to agree with this summation. Watching him run through the raucous, critic-answering “Are You There” looks like something out of a 2012 Odd Future show. Even sultry numbers like the summer heater “Soundgasm” induced moshpits across North America and Europe over the summer.

For what it’s worth, Rema had no doubts, as he bullishly tells me, “When I first labelled my sound Afro-Rave, I said my album would seal the claim for good, and that’s what I went ahead to do.” On first listen in the confines of your home, this statement may seem misguided, but that is exactly what he has done. To experience Rema live in performance, is to see his Afro-Rave in full power: this sonic fusion of his Rap/rave culture influences, paired with the tried and tested Afropop-centred tutelage of Don Jazzy and his Mavin machine, all underpinned by an incomparable voice, makes for a perfectly – albeit, delicately – balanced pendulum.

“Everything that you hear is from my soul. I rarely have an external principle lead my spirit to create. I’m not boxed in. I can be on [any] genre and still sound like me. Afro-Rave is ME,” he declares triumphantly. His versatility and, as he calls it, “flexibility” in his sound was clear to see this year more than any, and especially so for this writer. Working with Rema on the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Soundtrack was an experience like few others. First, he came in to record a fiery, urgent battlecry over a seemingly Mike Dean inspired sound bed, produced by London, his go-to beat-smith, which ended up being used as the soundtrack for the final trailer for the Marvel blockbuster. Months later, in the proverbial Fergie time of the recording process, he delivered two quick fire verses at the request of the film’s composer Ludwig Goransson, in under 24 hours: one, “Wake Up” a bouncy collaboration with artist and (co-)producer Bloody Civilian – one of the most exciting artists out of Nigeria this year – and another, “Pantera”, a cross-culture bar session with Mexican rapper Aleman, also produced by Goransson. Watching Rema turn these songs around, in the middle of the biggest tour of his life, as his Selena Gomez-assisted pure Afropop smash “Calm Down” ruled the charts, was something to marvel at. Being nimble enough to showcase a completely different side to the sonic palette we had been served all year, paired with a superhuman work ethic that is practically unrivalled in his generation where he’s from, is exactly why he’s such a unicorn in world music today.

For any artist from Nigeria, striking a balance between creativity and profitability once you have “blown” – the infamous term ascribed to artists who the public and the music industry perceive to have crossed over to mainstream consciousness – is one of the most difficult things to do. For Rema, it’s even harder than for most. Coming out of the gate as not just a new Mavin artist, but the de-facto Crown Prince of Don Jazzy’s new empire, the spotlight has been bright from day one.

The week before we see each other in Paris, we’re all in Malta for a music festival whose lineup is dominated by Nigerian artists such as Wizkid, BOJ, BNXN fka Buju, Lojay and Rema himself. Seeing this array of artists, all at different points in their careers, performing at a festival on a European island, was one of the many pinch-me Afropop moments of the year. But more than that, watching them interact with each other is even more heartwarming. They all watched each other’s sets from the crowd, singing along to the plethora of hits across their catalogues, before convening on a joint table to dance the night away at the after-party.

Fuelled by the increasingly rabid stan culture that has risen almost in tandem with the popularity of the genre, it is a phenomenally rare sight for artists across generations to embrace each other in such a genuine way. The various fan groups have seemingly made a living pitting the best artists the country has to offer against each other, taking pages out of the Pop standom books of their US counterparts. Despite moments like DLT Malta showing that there is still a level of camaraderie and legitimate love and respect for one another, it has sadly led to many of Rema’s one-time idols and his age contemporaries becoming rivals in record time.

“As time goes by, I’ve grown to understand that comparisons will happen regardless, even when I try to stop the fans,” he says pensively. “But at least they know I don’t support it…” he sighs, almost resigned to the fact that this is simply where the industry finds itself. “But in this game…competition is inevitable,” he continues, after some thought, “and I’m enjoying it as long as it’s healthy. I know how much work I put in to stand out, the criticisms and the battles I faced to show people the light.”

Rema has always been confident, and rarely shies away from speaking his mind, but one can’t help but feel that, this year, he is embracing his role as not just the leading artist on the most successful record label since the turn of the century, but as a leader of a new generation of artists who are not afraid to welcome healthy competition, whether it’s coming from one of their OGs, or a peer.

“Telling me I can’t/That’s an insult/Drop my shit when the OG drops!”, he barbs on the Paris freestyle, shortly before proclaiming himself to be the Jay-Z of his generation. When I ask him what the first line is about, he just smiles, almost as if to say “whomever the shoe fits.”

And that he has done. A year and some change on from that moment, and Rema has changed the life of his mother, and everyone around him. From the 19-year-old upstart who arrived at his first ever photo-shoot and interview with just his manager Sean, to the young mogul-in-the-making of today, who has crafted a best-in-class creative team around him of producers, stylists, photographers and directors – Rema is doing everything he said he would. He’s worked with brands such as Converse, Pepsi, Monster and BooHoo. He appeared on the soundtrack for one of the biggest movie franchises of our time. His world tour this year has been one of the hottest tickets in town, across any genre, climaxing with back-to-back sold out nights at the O2 Academy Brixton with a slew of A-list surprise guests. Artists from Madonna to Steve Lacy have pulled up to his shows, just as fans. Commercially, he has the most successful debut album by an artist from Nigeria, ever, with “Calm Down” becoming one of the biggest Afropop songs of all time, racking up 400 million streams globally till date. But how does it feel, for the boy that has it all? Is he happy?

“I feel nothing but blessed and honoured,” he says, clearly reflecting on his young but successful career as Rema. “I have peace, I have good wealth, I can control my every move, perception and narrative. I have love and I have wealth – what more does a man really need?” he proclaims, firmly back in character. While he does lament the things Divine can’t do anymore, now that he’s Rema, such as “take a walk, ride a bike or skateboard or even go to the mall,” he is self-aware enough to know that this is part of the package he signed up for. This is what he fought for, all those long days and nights refining his sound, fighting for his own voice.

With rumours of a deluxe album to come, and whispers of the start of an almighty battle for his signature whenever his current deal expires, Rema is as calm as ever. He may not say much, but he hears and sees everything.

As someone who values loyalty above all else, he will not let himself get distracted by anything other than the job at hand. On the outro to the Paris freestyle, he sings in a soft voice, “Too many people depend on me, I can’t stop/ I do this for my family, I can’t stop/ If you can hear me don’t stop…if you can hear me don’t stop…if you can hear me don’t stop…if you can hear me, don’t stop.” Sounding more like Divine than Rema in that brief moment, one could surmise he’s singing to the next young kid from his city who’s trying to make it out. But at the same time, you can’t help but feel he’s singing to himself.

“[Fame] is an opportunity to share your art and speak your truth, while the world’s attention is on you,” he elegantly proffers, as a response to what the concept of fame means to him, today.

Well, right now, all eyes are Still on Divine. And Rema is not stopping anytime soon.