Billboard Faces Criticism For Calling Rema ‘One-Hit Wonder’

United States entertainment publication, Billboard, has been criticised on social media after labelling singer Divine Ikubor, popularly known as Rema, a “one-hit wonder”.

The post shared recently on the magazine’s official X account referred to a June 2025 ranking titled “The 25 Biggest One-Hit Wonders of the 21st Century,” where Rema was placed at No. 6 based on the U.S. chart performance of his 2022 global chart-topping hit ‘Calm Down’, especially the song’s remix featuring American superstar Selena Gomez.

After the release of the original “lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-wo-wo-wo-wo” -ing version of ‘Calm Down’ in 2023, Rema noticed it breaking on the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart.

He took a chance and recruited Gomez for the female vocal and, shockingly, she accepted. “I had my fingers crossed,” he told Billboard, according to reports. The remix of Calm Down shot it into mainstream success, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, according to Billboard.

The publication pointed out that although Rema has since recorded six top-10 entries on the U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart as of June 7, 2025, he has not returned to the Hot 100.

The ranking prompted online responses, with critics arguing that the label does not reflect Rema’s broader international success.

Enthusiasts referred to Rema’s extensive music record, including tracks such as Woman, Dumebi and Iron Man, and his debut album Rave & Roses, which reached the top 10 of the UK Albums Chart.

They equally stressed on his international tours, festival appearances and collaborations with artists such as Chris Brown and 6lack.

Nevertheless, others stood by Billboard’s rankings, pointing out that the classification seems to be firmly based on performance within the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and not international chart achievements.