Rema and Swizz Beatz on the Difference Between Flashy Possessions and Art | Musicians on Musicians

Swizz Beatz, the Bronx-bred superproducer turned art collector, and Rema, the upstart Nigerian artist who’s become a global superstar, are sitting in one of the larger rooms at the Record Plant in Hollywood. This is the type of place where Swizz, 45, has worked since he was a teenager, and into which the 23-year-old Rema has scarcely ventured. Right now, though, the topic isn’t music — it’s the custom chain around Rema’s neck, a piece inspired by the artwork for his 2022 debut album, Rave & Roses. “It’s one of the best chains I’ve seen in a long time,” Swizz says, as Rema explains that it took three months to design.

Earlier this year, the Selena Gomez-assisted version of Rema’s single “Calm Down” became the first song led by an African artist to stream more than 1 billion times on Spotify, but that almost seems beside the larger point of how thoroughly Rema has penetrated the culture at home and abroad. Swizz has some big numbers on his side, too; two years ago, ASCAP estimated he was responsible for more than 350 million record sales. But again, that barely measures the impact he’s had since he began crafting hits in 1998 as the nephew of the founders of the pioneering rap label Ruff Ryders. An expert controller of chaos, and Alicia Keys’ proud husband of more than a decade, Swizz has made his mark both in and out of hip-hop.

As the pair discuss Rema’s upbringing in Benin City, the conversation drifts back to Rema’s chain, and to the role that visual art, especially those pieces produced with bronze, has played in Nigeria’s history. There are numerous Nigerian masterpieces in museums around the world, Rema points out — especially in Britain, pilfered and never returned.

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