Two years after his debut album “Rave & Roses,” globally renowned Afrobeats icon Rema has released his long-awaited sophomore album “HEIS.” This record follows his meteoric rise to international prominence, propelled by the overwhelming success of hits like “Soundgasm,” his standout verse on the “Soweto” remix, and the “Calm Down” remix featuring Selena Gomez.
2023 was an especially prolific year for the Benin-bred musician. He became the highest-charting Afrobeats artist in Billboard Hot 100 history, a Guinness World Record Holder, and the first African artist to perform at the prestigious Ballon d’Or Ceremony in Paris. In addition to these accolades, he began 2024 with an induction into the esteemed “Billion Club” with over eight billion streams to his name.
Named after the Greek word for numeral 1, “HeIs” is an ascendant landmark project that sees Rema fully settle into his hard-won title as the Prince of Afrobeats. On “HeIs,” the Rave Lorde displays a different kind of intensity, with an overall score that is both rousing and euphoric, yet with undercurrents of danger and artistic genius.
Rema remains rooted in the culture that birthed his unique sound, delving further into the essence of Afrobeats to unearth its raw, uncut elements. He repurposes the highly percussive composition style pioneered by Fela Kuti and infuses elements of 80s synth music, trap, electronic dance music, amapiano, and more to create a frenzied melting pot of sounds from around the world.
In the process of honoring the past, Rema gives life and form to the term “Afro-Rave,” which he has previously used to describe his music. “HeIs” boasts some of Rema’s most memorable and audacious lyrics to date, with songs like “HeHeHe” featuring bold declarations of his supremacy.
Album highlights include the lead single “Benin Boys,” an anthemic ode to his hometown featuring Nigerian rapper Shallipopi, which set the record for the second-biggest opening day streams for a Nigerian song on Spotify. Other standout tracks include “March Am,” a rip-roaring sonic joyride co-produced by Rema and P Priime, and “Villain,” a wild afro-EDM tune also produced by P Priime that begins with a sample of Lana Del Rey’s “A & W.”
One of the focus tracks, “Yayo,” is a psychedelic earworm teeming with youthful exuberance and brazen lyricism. The hair-raising inauguration song “HeIs” features heavenly choral melodies and singers eulogizing him in Swahili. The album also includes Nigerian rapper Odumodublvck on “War Machine.”
“HeIs” is a boundary-defying statement project that sees the Afro-Rave genre fully realized while paying homage to Afrobeats in its oldest, purest form.
HeIs Album Tracklist:
- MARCH AM
- AZAMAN
- HEHEHE
- YAYO
- BENIN BOYS
- HEIS
- OZEBA
- WAR MACHINE
- EGUNGUN
- VILLAIN
- NOW I KNOW
Source: ghmediahub
