How Rema rewrote the rave code All the ingredients of the ultimate rave

«All my Ravers in the house tonight… this is what we do, we rave. This is not a concert, this is a Rema party. You can't be at a Rema party and not dance!» Rema - hyped & assertive - reminded everyone at the packed-out, 20,000 capacity O2 arena in London this month. Fitting, but you could go as far as stamping the one off concert as the rave of all raves, since Rema - real name Divine Ikubor - has also been crowned the spearhead of the AfroRave sound too. He definitely knows how to throw a party. «We waited a whole year for this. I don’t know when I'll be able to tour here next so now we have the chance to build that connection», Rema shares with gratitude. The 23-year-old has a lot to celebrate, and who better with than his Rema day ones, and new fans who came out «on a work night and spent their hard-earned money» at the legendary dome-shaped venue. He showed up off the back of being the first to bag 1 billion streams on Spotify with the viral hit Calm Down, and becoming the first winner in the VMA afrobeats category with Selena Gomez. Not forgetting, his monumental performance at the Ballon D’or ceremony - in front of a tense Messi and Mbappe - that lightened up a serious crowd of players.

I also notice the seriousness of Rema prior to and during the show. Much like the confrontational & dance-enthusing DND on the new EP, he was zoned out and over all distractions. Everything felt forted, to protect his energy and keep his focus. Only a lucky few of us got the call up to attend, some even being denied backstage access by security. Rema and I had spoken at length last year, comfortably. This time around, he insisted that he say less and I take it all in - bts, documentary style. With a heightened sense of responsibility for his biggest production yet, Rema really wanted me to hear from his collaborators on this journey too. It made sense why. During & after the show I spoke with his trusted photographer, who was scouted all the way from Germany. Capturing the candid moments on film, Negative by Nature confirmed Rema’s sentiment saying, «This whole project has been all about teamwork. It’s very impressive to see how many people were involved. You can almost feel the pressure in the air to make this show perfect. I’m just happy to be a part of this big step in Rema’s rise to the top of the performing world and to be able to document it.»

With three fashion-forward changes (including on-trend oversized belt buckles), pyro flames, two showers of confetti, and a talking teddy bear intermission, Rema does tap back into his light-hearted & lothario side with the likes of “Bounce” and “Woman” as the concert goes on. It can’t be an easy feat keeping a crowd turnt up and dancing for 2 hours+ with your own voice and tunes back to back. Even to the point of risking a speculated £600,000 fee for going overtime on stage! «They tried to get me off the stage,» Rema mischievously exclaims. That one night in London has for sure re-written the live performance code and raised the bar even for seasoned artists. «The best show I've seen thus far,» young designer Liz said. An energizing concert of that magnitude should indeed be spoken about in rave terms, for years to come (maybe even a Guinness World Record stamp of approval). Plus, just like the true rave scene, Rema went from underground to global real quick. Only good things can be said of that rise.