Nigerian music star, Divine Ikubor, popularly known as Rema, has said that his smoking and recent change in appearance are just expressions of his art and not a change in his true self.
The singer made the comment on Thursday while marking the one-year anniversary of his second album, HEIS. The album came with a new image—darker colours, tattoos, smoking, and a new sound—which surprised many fans.
Rema explained that the album cover and new look were inspired by the anime character Itachi Uchiha from the Japanese series Naruto.
Speaking through his official X (formerly Twitter) handle, Rema said:
“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 & choice of color.”
He said the rebranding was not a betrayal of his personality, but rather a creative choice to reflect the energy of the project.
Rema’s explanation comes months after fellow Nigerian artiste, Shallipopi, also said he only poses with cigarettes for aesthetics and doesn’t smoke in real life.
