Whatever Rema touches seems to always turn to gold as his remix with Skip Marley of Bob Marley’s legendary track Them Belly Full (But We Hungry) debuted this week on the Billboard US Afrobeats Songs Chart at No. 30. With the number 1 track with Selena Gomez you could argue that Rema is the top trending African artist but that would not be fair on Burna Boy or Wizkid.
The track is proving to be the number 1 track of Bob Marley’s posthumous album featuring a host of African talent. Titled Africa Unite the album features Patoranking, Sarkodie, Stonebwoy, Afro B, Tiwa Savage, Oxlade, Winky D, Nutty O, Rema, Skip Marley, and Ayra Star. Them Belly Full (But We Hungry) is proving to be the most popular track and has featured on the aforementioned chart which started in March 2022 tracking the top 50 Afrobeats in the US.
Billboard US Afrobeats Songs Chart (Top 5) 1. Calm Down - Rema and Selena Gomez 2. People – Libianca 3. Talibans II – Byron Messia ft Burna Boy 4. Free Mind – Tems 5. Essence remix – Wizkid, Tems and Justin Bieber
To be fair, the album has not hit home for most. It was always going to be a challenge to re-invent Bob Marley’s songs. As stand-alone tracks, the songs do sound good but you cannot help but think of the original song and compare and that was always going to be the problem. It may just be a matter of time before the tracks finally sit well after a few replays.
BOB MARLEY – AFRICA UNITE ALBUM 2023
Tracklist:
- Bob Marley & The Wailers, Nutty O, Winky D – So Much Trouble In The World
- Bob Marley & The Wailers, Rema, Skip Marley – Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)
- Bob Marley & The Wailers, Ami Faku – Redemption Song
- Bob Marley & The Wailers, Tiwa Savage – Waiting In Vain
- Bob Marley & The Wailers, Afro B – Turn Your Lights Down Low
- Bob Marley & The Wailers, Teni, Oxlade – Three Little Birds
- Bob Marley & The Wailers, Stonebwoy – Buffalo Soldier
- Bob Marley & The Wailers, Sarkodie – Stir It Up
- Bob Marley & The Wailers, Ayra Starr – Jamming
- Bob Marley & The Wailers, Patoranking – One Love
