"Calm Down" is a song by Nigerian singer
Rema, from his debut studio album Rave & Roses (2022). It was released on 11 February 2022 through
Jonzing World and
Mavin as the album's second single. The song charted across Europe, reaching number one on the Belgian
Ultratop 50,
Dutch Top 40 and
Dutch Single Top 100. In the United Kingdom, "Calm Down" peaked at number three on the
UK Singles Chart and spent 27 non-consecutive weeks in the top ten of the chart.
A remix of "Calm Down" with American singer
Selena Gomez was released on 25 August 2022. The new version reached number one on both the
Billboard US Afrobeats Songs and the
Billboard Global Excl. US charts, and peaked at number three on the
Global 200 chart. It peaked at number three on the US
Billboard Hot 100, marking Rema's first top-ten hit and Gomez's ninth. It also led the U.S.
Afrobeats Songs for a record-setting 58 weeks. In the US, it topped the all-genre
Radio Songs chart for ten weeks, becoming both artists' first number-one song on the chart. It reached number one on the
Canadian Hot 100 chart dated 13 May 2023. According to the
International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the remix was the second best-selling global single of 2023, earning 1.89 billion subscription streams equivalents globally. The song is widely regarded as the biggest and most successful
Afrobeats song of all time.[2][3][4][5][6]
Background
On 17 August 2022, Selena Gomez posted a photo of herself and Rema on her social media, captioning it "come soon".[7] The remix was released a week later.[citation needed]
Writing and composition
"Calm Down" is all about the events that led me to making love all the time. It started at a party where I saw a girl who stood out from other girls so I felt like shooting my load. We spoke and danced... but her friends didn't let me get any closer which killed the vibe, but afterwards when they weren’t there, we stayed in touch and hit it.
Miami-based Amanda Ibanez, who also goes by her stage name Kiddo AI, was asked by Interscope senior director of A&R Vanessa Angiuli to write a spec verse
for Selena Gomez on the song. Ibanez quickly wrote and recorded two different possible options for a Selena verse. Within a few hours of sending them to Angiuli, Ibanez received a response back from Angiuli who told her that Gomez loved the verse. Within the next few weeks, Ibanez and Gomez began to trade ideas back and forth and refine the verse. Ibanez eventually flew to Los Angeles to complete the song after a request to have more of Gomez on the song.[9]
Like most girls my age, I grew up watching Selena on Wizards of Waverly Place and always admired her demeanor of being so classy and collected. So the first line is, 'I know I look shy, but for you I get down,' and I thought that that would be kind of fun for her to say, because she’s so proper, I feel, from the outside. I just wanted her to feel herself a little bit.
— Amanda Ibanez on channeling Gomez to write her verse, [9]
The song was described as a "vibey"[10] "feelgood smash hit".[11] Reviewing the remix, Vanguard writer Adegboyega Remmy Adeleye thought Gomez' "melodic tune complements Rema's vibe perfectly, maintaining the same energy as the original release".[12]
The song is recorded in the key of
B major with a tempo of 107 beats per minute in
common time. It follows a chord progression of E–B, and the vocals span from D♯4 to F♯5.[13]
Critical reception
Naming the song one of the best of 2022, Rolling Stone said "Rema likes to call his spin on the
Afrobeats sound “Afro-rave,” and it is sublimely lovely all the same. He is the kind of singer who savors simple pop pleasures; with a track that’s appropriately warm, bright, and captivating. The big-eyed wonder in his voice makes it sound like he’s the first guy ever to behold the majesty of girls or colors.[14]Billboard said the song is organic, and it's slow burn is further underscoring Afrobeats’ increasing mainstream popularity, while naming it the 10th best song of 2023.[15]
^Gomez, Selena; Ikubor, Divine; Uwaifo, Alexandre; Hunter, Michael (3 February 2023).
"Calm Down". Musicnotes.com.
Archived from the original on 6 October 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
^"2024 ASCAP London Awards". American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. 18 June 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
^"2024 ASCAP Pop Music Awards". American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. 8 May 2024.
Archived from the original on 9 May 2024. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
^"Top 100 Brasil: 17 April 2023 - 21 April 2023" (in Brazilian Portuguese).
Crowley Broadcast Analysis. Retrieved 24 April 2023. In SEMANA REFERÊNCIA select 17/04/2023 - 21/04/2023. To access the full Top 100, click on VER TOP 100 COMPLETO and enter your name and email. Then enter the code you received by email.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 202337 into search. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
^"Top 10 din 100 cele mai difuzate piese pentru saptamana 36" [Top 10 out of the 100 most-broadcast songs for the week 36] (in Romanian). Uniunea Producătorilor de Fonograme din România. 6 September 2022.
Archived from the original on 14 September 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
^"
Media Forest – Weekly Charts.
Media Forest. Retrieved 30 August 2022. Note: Romanian and international positions are rendered together by the number of plays before resulting an overall chart.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 202342 into search. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 202333 into search. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 202328 into search. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 202322 into search. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
"Calm Down" is a song by Nigerian singer
Rema, from his debut studio album Rave & Roses (2022). It was released on 11 February 2022 through
Jonzing World and
Mavin as the album's second single. The song charted across Europe, reaching number one on the Belgian
Ultratop 50,
Dutch Top 40 and
Dutch Single Top 100. In the United Kingdom, "Calm Down" peaked at number three on the
UK Singles Chart and spent 27 non-consecutive weeks in the top ten of the chart.
A remix of "Calm Down" with American singer
Selena Gomez was released on 25 August 2022. The new version reached number one on both the
Billboard US Afrobeats Songs and the
Billboard Global Excl. US charts, and peaked at number three on the
Global 200 chart. It peaked at number three on the US
Billboard Hot 100, marking Rema's first top-ten hit and Gomez's ninth. It also led the U.S.
Afrobeats Songs for a record-setting 58 weeks. In the US, it topped the all-genre
Radio Songs chart for ten weeks, becoming both artists' first number-one song on the chart. It reached number one on the
Canadian Hot 100 chart dated 13 May 2023. According to the
International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the remix was the second best-selling global single of 2023, earning 1.89 billion subscription streams equivalents globally. The song is widely regarded as the biggest and most successful
Afrobeats song of all time.[2][3][4][5][6]
Background
On 17 August 2022, Selena Gomez posted a photo of herself and Rema on her social media, captioning it "come soon".[7] The remix was released a week later.[citation needed]
Writing and composition
"Calm Down" is all about the events that led me to making love all the time. It started at a party where I saw a girl who stood out from other girls so I felt like shooting my load. We spoke and danced... but her friends didn't let me get any closer which killed the vibe, but afterwards when they weren’t there, we stayed in touch and hit it.
Miami-based Amanda Ibanez, who also goes by her stage name Kiddo AI, was asked by Interscope senior director of A&R Vanessa Angiuli to write a spec verse
for Selena Gomez on the song. Ibanez quickly wrote and recorded two different possible options for a Selena verse. Within a few hours of sending them to Angiuli, Ibanez received a response back from Angiuli who told her that Gomez loved the verse. Within the next few weeks, Ibanez and Gomez began to trade ideas back and forth and refine the verse. Ibanez eventually flew to Los Angeles to complete the song after a request to have more of Gomez on the song.[9]
Like most girls my age, I grew up watching Selena on Wizards of Waverly Place and always admired her demeanor of being so classy and collected. So the first line is, 'I know I look shy, but for you I get down,' and I thought that that would be kind of fun for her to say, because she’s so proper, I feel, from the outside. I just wanted her to feel herself a little bit.
— Amanda Ibanez on channeling Gomez to write her verse, [9]
The song was described as a "vibey"[10] "feelgood smash hit".[11] Reviewing the remix, Vanguard writer Adegboyega Remmy Adeleye thought Gomez' "melodic tune complements Rema's vibe perfectly, maintaining the same energy as the original release".[12]
The song is recorded in the key of
B major with a tempo of 107 beats per minute in
common time. It follows a chord progression of E–B, and the vocals span from D♯4 to F♯5.[13]
Critical reception
Naming the song one of the best of 2022, Rolling Stone said "Rema likes to call his spin on the
Afrobeats sound “Afro-rave,” and it is sublimely lovely all the same. He is the kind of singer who savors simple pop pleasures; with a track that’s appropriately warm, bright, and captivating. The big-eyed wonder in his voice makes it sound like he’s the first guy ever to behold the majesty of girls or colors.[14]Billboard said the song is organic, and it's slow burn is further underscoring Afrobeats’ increasing mainstream popularity, while naming it the 10th best song of 2023.[15]
^Gomez, Selena; Ikubor, Divine; Uwaifo, Alexandre; Hunter, Michael (3 February 2023).
"Calm Down". Musicnotes.com.
Archived from the original on 6 October 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
^"2024 ASCAP London Awards". American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. 18 June 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
^"2024 ASCAP Pop Music Awards". American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. 8 May 2024.
Archived from the original on 9 May 2024. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
^"Top 100 Brasil: 17 April 2023 - 21 April 2023" (in Brazilian Portuguese).
Crowley Broadcast Analysis. Retrieved 24 April 2023. In SEMANA REFERÊNCIA select 17/04/2023 - 21/04/2023. To access the full Top 100, click on VER TOP 100 COMPLETO and enter your name and email. Then enter the code you received by email.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 202337 into search. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
^"Top 10 din 100 cele mai difuzate piese pentru saptamana 36" [Top 10 out of the 100 most-broadcast songs for the week 36] (in Romanian). Uniunea Producătorilor de Fonograme din România. 6 September 2022.
Archived from the original on 14 September 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
^"
Media Forest – Weekly Charts.
Media Forest. Retrieved 30 August 2022. Note: Romanian and international positions are rendered together by the number of plays before resulting an overall chart.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 202342 into search. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 202333 into search. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 202328 into search. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 202322 into search. Retrieved 5 June 2023.