9 February: Rema talks working with Selena Gomez and creating of Calm Down remix

When Rema noticed the single (Calm Down) beginning to take off, he knew he had to capitalize on the momentum, so he trusted his gut and recruited a woman “take it up to the next level” — and immediately knew that Gomez was the right fit. The “Calm Down” remix reaches a new No. 26 high on this week’s Billboard Hot 100 and holds its top position on the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart for a 23rd week

“It started with being a fan and supporting her music. She actually came across my music too, and she also wrote to me. Our teams got familiar and we started working towards this good music that came out. It started that from friendship, to colliding our teams together, and everyone is like a big family right now. It was very much organic, and we made it happen, and its just so huge. Im amazed.” – Rema on how Calm Down remix with Selena had happened

“The song was already blowing up, so I felt like we needed someone that could take it up to the next level. From our discussions, planning, and available contacts and friendship, Selena was the best bet. I had my fingers crossed she would agree. Luckily for us, she did and we felt no need to reach out to anybody else.” – Rema on how he choose Selena for a collaboration

“That was all Selena and her team. I dont really know what her creative process is like, but we did it remotely and she was very concerned about how the record was supposed to turn out. Every move she made on the song, she always wanted to know if I was good with it. Some artists just be like, “Whatever I did is dope. Have it,” but she wanted to know if I resonated with whatever she did on it — and I did. I loved it. The only part I switched was with my producers: we touched more parts of the beat and let her verse breathe, but nothing else.” – Rema on creative process with Selena

“When she started working on it, she called me on FaceTime, and we talked a little about it. The mixing, the music video, making sure that she didn’t take from it. It wasn’t like, “Oh, its Selena Gomez, so we have to switch the whole idea to something else,” she just embraced it. Shes such a hard worker, knowing how much she does. She acts, she has a makeup line, she does music. She has busy to do, but shes been promoting to her fanbase and has been very genuine, loving, kind and supportive of me. Even aside from “Calm Down,” her fanbase (Selenators) also supports my other music, just because I did a collaboration with Selena. That’s amazing.” – Rema on working with Selena

Source: www.billboard.com