Rema won the award for Best Afrobeats Artiste at the MTV Video Music Awards 2023.

Rema, a young talent signed to Mavin Records, took home the award for Best Afrobeats at last night’s MTV Video Music Awards for the remix of his single “Calm Down” that featured Selena Gomez.

He triumphed over Burna Boy, Davido, Wizkid, Fire Boy, Ayra Starr, and Labianca, all of whom are prominent figures in the Afrobeats genre.

According to Channels TV, the “Calm Down” song has been played more than a billion times on Spotify since the weekend.

Rema, upon receiving the award, remarked, “Seeing Afrobeats grow this big means so much to me.”

While Shakira shook her hips and performed hits from across her career to accept the evening’s top honour, Taylor Swift took home the hardware.

Swift won the most prestigious award in the industry, Video of the Year, for her smash hit “Anti-Hero,” and she continued her reign around the world by winning Best Song, Best Pop, and Best Direction.

Swift, who is set to post the first billion-dollar tour, fanning her cheeks as NSYNC, the turn-of-the-millennium teen heartthrobs, reunited onstage for the first time in a decade to present her with the Best Pop award.

Swift said, “This is unbelievable,” as she accepted the evening’s top prize, which she also won in 2022. “I’d like to express how much it means to me that this is a fan-chosen award,” she said.

Instead of taking the stage on a night that was more about the show than the actual awards, she sat back and enjoyed the music of artists like Olivia Rodrigo, Anitta, and Doja Cat.

Swift was seated near the main stage next to Ice Spice, the viral Bronx rapper who has collaborated with the pop phenom and who won the evening’s prize for Best New Artist. The made-for-broadcast show was held this year in Newark’s Prudential Centre.