Renowned singer Divine Ikubor, widely recognized as Rema, abruptly left the stage during his performance at the 2024 Dreamville Festival in North Carolina on Sunday. 

While singing his popular track ‘Calm Down’ on Day 2 of the festival at Dix Park in Raleigh, Rema halted his performance to express dissatisfaction with the sound quality before exiting the stage.

 The “Calm Down” artist emphasized the need for African artists to receive the same level of sound quality as their Western counterparts when performing on international stages.

He said, “Hold on, there are too many sound issues. It’s messing up my whole performance. I’m seriously not feeling this sh*t.

“I’m representing Africa, this is too messed up. If the sound cannot be perfect for every artist that get on this stage… Africa is in the house and you are messing sh*t up?”

Dreamville Festival was established by the American hip-hop sensation, J. Cole. Rema’s latest EP, Ravage, stands as a testament to his success, debuting on charts in over 50 countries within hours of its release on Friday, October 26, 2023. 

This achievement follows the singer’s historic win as the first African artist to receive a Chinese Music Award. This milestone was reached after his remix of the song ‘Calm Down’ with American superstar Selena Gomez clinched the Best Collaboration of the Year at the 2024 Hito Music Awards in the Republic of China. 

Rema joined Jonzing World, a subsidiary of Mavin Records owned by D’Prince, in 2019, and has since garnered immense popularity among music enthusiasts. In 2019, he released his eponymous debut EP ‘Rema’. 

His smash hit single ‘Calm Down’ continues to achieve remarkable success on streaming platforms, shattering records and receiving accolades. 

In December 2023, Rema was recognized as one of the leading artists dominating the charts of most exported musicians in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) on Spotify. Additionally, at the 2023 Billboard Music Awards (BMAs), Rema and Burna Boy, the Afro-fusion star, etched their names in history as the inaugural winners of the newly established Afrobeats Awards.