Afrobeats star Divine Ikubor a.k.a Rema said at the listening party of his new album “He Is” there are a lot of fake people in the Nigerian music industry.
Rema who was explaining the meaning of his song “Now I know” said: “There are a lot of fake people in the [music] industry, the industry is fake.
“So when people come and say ‘Yo, I love this guy,’ nobody should come at them that they’re chasing clout. No, it’s real.
“When somebody comes out it’s because they’ve seen someone that’s real among everybody in the crazy industry mixed with both the fake and the real. And that’s what this song [‘Now I Know] is all about. Now I know who dey for me. All those I loved turned enemies. Now I know who dey for me. All those I trust turned enemies.”
The 11-track album was released on Mavin Records, with guest features from Shallipopi and Odumodublvck.
Meanwhile, The hashtag, #HEISbyRema, is currently trending on Twitter, with fans worldwide joining in on the conversation.
Fans are flooding social media platforms with posts, tweets, and comments, expressing their thoughts, opinions, and reviews of the album.
“Rema’s album is possibly one of the most successful sonic explorations I’ve ever heard.
“Every song is a bold statement that you can’t help but listen to. It’s African, it’s strong, it’s unique. I’ve never heard anything like this before,” Anthony Azekwoh said on X.
Joey Akpan says, “Once you click on the new Rema, just know you are signing up to the soundtrack of your greatness.
“High octane, enduring pacy tempo, bringing you to the point of overstimulation. Outsized beats, suitable to the club and raves.
“If you can hold that tempo, this is your project,
“Heis” means “number one” in Greek,” he said.
@mbahdeyforyou says, “Rema sang every song on his album with pidgin english, Going international didn’t stop him from staying true to his people.
@olumideog says, “I still maintain that Rema’s forward thinking on HEIS is what the Afrobeats industry needs at the moment.
“The sound has become too predictable and stale for the lack of a better word. We need more artists who aren’t afraid to experiment.
“His sound has always been different from everyone else and as he has dropped more mainstream Afrobeats music in the past.
“This album feels like the final form of that experimentation, hence the album he really wanted to make.”
On the contrary, popular critic on X, Daniel Regha, said Rema’s new album ‘HEIS’ was by far his worst project to date.
“He’s shown no growth or improvement after all these years and he is fast becoming a mediocre artiste.
“A few songs were catchy due to Rema’s rhymes, but that’s all. The lyric visualizers also seem occultic, same with the album cover.
“Tracks like “Ozeba” is simply noise on beats, while the rest were just him bragging unnecessarily.
“Another cause for concern were the balenciaga references. The album is a 2/10, mostly thanks to production. No offense,” he said.
Rema