Nigerian singer Divine Ikubor, aka Rema, has explained all the efforts he took to rebrand himself before the release of his sophomore album, ‘HEIS,’ last year.
The singer rebranded by dropping his signature mask and teddy bear and embracing tattoos, smoking, and darker colours. He also changed his sound and aesthetics.
Speaking on the first anniversary of his sophomore album on Thursday, Rema clarified that his rebranding, including smoking, was just an expression of art and not a betrayal of his personality, as many presumed.
ALSO READ: Uriel Blasts Netizens For Dragging Tacha’s Surgery Body
He explained that the controversial album cover was inspired by the Japanese anime series Naruto character, Itachi Uchiha.
On his X handle, he wrote, “HEIS, the Anniversary.’
ALSO READ: Femi Adebayo Says He Earned 20k As A Lawyer Before Acting
“I expressed a lot of surface level reasons why I released this project over a course of interviews when it came out but, here are few “SYMBOLIC” details that wrap around the ENERGY of the project I kept for myself but now, I’d like to share.
“The cover was inspired by Itachi in Naruto. The Truth masked as illusion, Love buried under what y’all thought was betrayal ( change of sound, smoking , looks, aesthetics & choice of color ).”
READ MORE: Rema is Nigeria’s Most-Streamed Artist On YouTube for the first Quarter
Rapper Shallipopi also made similar claims last year. He stated that he doesn’t smoke despite posing with cigarettes in his pictures and videos.
He claimed that he uses cigarettes for aesthetics.
In April, Rema made history as the most-streamed Nigerian artist on YouTube in the first quarter of 2025.
With this historical lead, Rema has surpassed Afrobeats giants like Burna Boy, Davido, and Wizkid.
According to data reported by music charts, his global hit “Calm Down” played a significant role in this feat, surpassing 1 billion streams and setting a new standard for Nigerian music on the global scene.
