My Smoking Is An Expression Of Art – Rema

Nigerian music star Divine Ikubor, popularly known as Rema, has shed light on the creative inspiration behind his rebranding ahead of the release of his sophomore album HEIS, which dropped last year.

In the lead-up to the album’s release, Rema adopted a noticeably darker aesthetic, moving away from his earlier signature symbols such as his mask and teddy bear. His new look included tattoos, smoking, and a shift in musical style and visual themes—changes that sparked mixed reactions among fans and critics.

Marking the one-year anniversary of HEIS on Thursday, the singer took to his X (formerly Twitter) handle to explain that the transformation was purely an artistic expression, not a departure from his true personality as some had speculated.

He revealed that the album’s controversial cover was inspired by the anime character Itachi Uchiha from Naruto, symbolizing deeper themes of illusion and misunderstood love.

“HEIS, the Anniversary,” Rema wrote. “I expressed a lot of surface-level reasons why I released this project in interviews when it first came out, but here are a few symbolic details that wrap around the energy of the project. I kept them to myself, but now I’d like to share.”

He continued: “Consider this an author’s note; 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.”

This statement echoes a similar sentiment shared by rapper Shallipopi last year, who clarified that although he is often seen with cigarettes in photos and videos, he doesn’t actually smoke—using them instead purely for visual and artistic purposes.