Nigerian singer Divine Ikubor, popularly known as Rema, has said his smoking and new look were part of an artistic decision and not a change in his true personality.
He made the statement on Thursday while celebrating the one-year anniversary of his second album titled “HEIS”.
According to the 24-year-old, the changes in his appearance, sound, tattoos, and smoking habit were all creative choices meant to reflect the energy of the project.
“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,” he wrote on his official X handle.
Rema also said the controversial cover art for HEIS was inspired by the character Itachi Uchiha in the Japanese anime series, Naruto.
“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 and choice of color).”
The Calm Down singer became widely known for his signature teddy bear and mask but took a different turn in 2023 by embracing darker visuals, body ink and cigarettes.
The explanation follows a similar claim by rapper Shallipopi last year, who said he does not smoke in real life but only uses cigarettes as props for visuals and aesthetics in his videos.
