The Truth About Rema’s Botched Coachella Set

Since Rema’s Coachella performance on Sunday, social media has been whirring with commentary that runs the gamut from scathing polemics to concerned questioning. 30 minutes past the scheduled starting time for his 45-minute set, Rema waltzed onto the stage at the Mojave tent wearing a cropped white tee and dark jeans. As he skulked on the stage to the darkly theatrical melodies of Azaman, the crowd bellowed heartily. Their discontent from waiting for thirty minutes seemingly disappeared, giving way to the celebratory atmosphere that has become emblematic of a Rema show. 

But as the show unfolded, the celebratory air curdled into indignance and anger, as technical problems disrupted the performance. At some point, presumably exhausted from grappling with technical difficulties, Rema began lip-syncing. At another point, there was a long pause and darkness on the stage. The organizers were trying to end his set, as he had exceeded his allotted time. But he pushed back. “They’re saying it’s time for Rema to go home,” he said to the crowd. 

Since the performance, he has found himself inundated with disappointed reviews and pointed criticism. His fans have spent the past few days fending off the deluge of criticism, arguing instead that the blame for his botched set lies with others. The performance and the aftermath call to mind so many Nigerian shows. Lateness, technical problems, and a general irreverence for fans are the order of the day with live concerts in these parts. Remember Burna Boy’s infamous Lagos concert in January of 2023? The one where he arrived almost six hours late and fired a salvo of insults at the crowd, including “God punish una,” before explaining that the delay was due to technical problems. 

Indeed, a swath of the critiques and complaints about Rema’s botched set have framed these sorts of “technical issues” as being peculiar to, or at least rife among, Nigerian performers. One comment on Variety’s scathing review of the performance succinctly captures this: “Of course it’s Nigeria.”

These comments, while somewhat justified given Afrobeats artists’ notorious history of terrible live performances, fail to take several things into account. The first is that Rema has had a long history of delivering excellent performances, not just in Nigeria, where his concerts last year were hailed as revolutionary, but across the world. And so, while many Nigerian artists are notorious for late coming and anticlimactic performances, Rema has, for the most part, tried to push past the orthodoxy. Take his O2 performance, where he drew from his Benin heritage to deliver one of the most visceral performances from a Nigerian act in recent times. 

As regards his Coachella performance, something was wrong. According to his label, Mavin Records, the artist arrived at the venue 2 hours before the set time to complete his sound checks, which went smoothly. But 30 minutes before the show started, a litany of technical problems arose, which persisted into the show and ultimately marred his performance. Even after his performance, these technical issues persisted and delayed the next performer for about 30 minutes. The ray of sunshine in all of this is that, amid the torrent of criticism, several fans could identify that Rema was let down by the show’s production. “You can see in his face and body language he is slightly annoyed and defeated,” One heartening comment reads.  “I’m so hurt for him ’cause knowing Rema, he wanted to give it his all.” Luckily, Rema is scheduled for the second installment of the show next week, where he will have the opportunity to redeem himself.