According to Rema, the song's lyrics are inspired by a real-life encounter at a party:
The track's commercial performance set several historic benchmarks for African music: Rema, Selena Gomez - Calm Down
Rema spotted a girl in a yellow dress who stood out. Despite her friends being initially "stuck up," he approached her and told her to "calm down" so they could talk. According to Rema, the song's lyrics are inspired
It was the second best-selling global single of 2023, according to the IFPI , earning 1.89 billion subscription stream equivalents. Song Meaning & Narrative According to Rema
The song spent a record-setting 58 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart and became the first African song to spend an entire year on the Hot 100.