Popular Nigerian singer, Divine Ikubor, better known as Rema, has spoken out to address the controversial lyrics in his hit song ‘Holiday.’ The song, which featured in his 2021 album “Rave & Roses,” had stirred up controversy when he seemingly boasted about stealing his friend’s laptop during his struggling days in Benin.
While many had accused Rema of glorifying crime, the singer has now clarified that it was never his intention. Speaking in a recent interview with Cool FM Lagos, Rema explained that the lyrics were intended to describe a real-life scenario, but not to glorify stealing. He further stated that it was unfortunate that some people misunderstood the lyrics and saw it as a celebration of crime.
“The lyric was good enough to explain the whole scenario. It’s not that deep. I really don’t want to glorify stealing, but it was just very unfortunate [that happened at that time],” Rema said.
In addition to clarifying the lyrics in “Holiday,” Rema also addressed misconceptions about the album cover art for “Rave & Roses.” Many people had thought the upside-down burning house depicted in the artwork was a church, but Rema explained that it was just an embodiment of himself, consisting of a cross and fire.
“A lot of people had a lot of misconceptions [about the album cover], they said it’s a church. Anything they just see cross, they say it’s a church. It’s not a church. The cover art inspiration was an embodiment of me consist of a cross and a fire. The whole house actually kind of signifies me,” Rema clarified.
Overall, Rema’s interview provided more insight into the inspiration behind his music and cleared the air on some of the controversies surrounding him.
