Full Name: Divine Joshua Ikubor
Born: May 1, 2000, Benin City, Edo State
Labels: Jonzing World, Mavin Records, Interscope
Genres: Afrobeats, Afro-rave, Pop, Trap
Losing His Father, Then Finding His Voice
Rema's early life was shaped by genuine tragedy before it was shaped by music. His father, Justice Ikubor — a high-ranking chieftain in the People's Democratic Party — was found dead at the Precious Palm Royal hotel in Benin City under circumstances Rema has called suspicious. In 2020, he publicly stated he believed the PDP was connected to his father's death, and he has said he continues to seek justice for him. He also lost his elder brother several years later. Raised primarily by his Christian mother after both losses, Rema has spoken about the responsibility it placed on him early — at one point working in Ghana to help support his family.
He started singing in church and formed a rap group called RNA with childhood friend Alpha P, writing raps and songs through his secondary school years in Benin City.
The Freestyle That Changed Everything
In 2018, Rema posted an Instagram freestyle over D'Prince's Gucci Gang beat. It caught D'Prince's attention, who brought it to Don Jazzy, and Rema was signed to Jonzing World — a Mavin Records subsidiary — that same year. His self-titled debut EP, Rema, followed in 2019 and included Dumebi, which went viral and introduced him as one of Afrobeats' brightest new names. The EP also included Iron Man, which was included in Barack Obama's 2019 summer playlist — a significant early stamp of international credibility for a teenager who'd been freestyling on Instagram less than a year earlier. He released two more EPs that same year, Freestyle and Bad Commando, cementing his style fast.
Afro-rave as a Genre Philosophy
Rather than stay inside conventional Afrobeats, Rema branded his sound Afro-rave — a deliberate blend of atmospheric production, trap textures, and tonal hints pulled from Indian and Middle Eastern music alongside his Nigerian foundation. Fans have taken to calling him Rave Lorde. It wasn't just a marketing label; it positioned him from the start as an artist building his own lane rather than working inside someone else's.
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Rema ft. ODUMODUBLVCK – War Machine (HEIS Album)Calm Down and the HEIS Era
His 2022 debut studio album, Rave & Roses, produced Calm Down, which became one of the most-streamed African songs in history after the Selena Gomez remix — entering the Billboard Hot 100, crossing a billion Spotify streams, and becoming the most-viewed Afrobeats music video at the time. His second studio album, HEIS, released 2024, already covered on this blog through War Machine featuring ODUMODUBLVCK, earned a Grammy nomination for Best Global Music Album in 2025, making Rema only the second Nigerian solo artist to receive that nomination. He briefly enrolled at the University of Lagos in 2021 to study Creative Arts, though the demands of touring and recording made it difficult to focus on coursework.
From a viral freestyle made while grieving his father to a Grammy-nominated album built around the German word for "pure," Rema's catalogue has consistently turned personal hardship into deliberate, forward-looking sound — Afro-rave as both genre and survival strategy.
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