WizKid don’t need no other body, but he put somebody else on the remix of his hit “Essence,” featuring Tems: Justin Bieber.
The remix officially dropped Friday (Aug. 13) after one day’s notice, when the Nigerian superstar teased “something special” was coming on his socials before announcing the official remix featuring the Canadian pop star, who called it “the song of the summer” on his Instagram.
“Essence” debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in July at No. 82 after the Tems-assisted song was released in October 2020 from Wiz’s album Made in Lagos. The sultry Afrobeats/R&B club jam has been steadily climbing the tally over the last five weeks, rising to its current position of No. 54 in the week ending Aug. 14.
“That song has become emblematic of being back outside,” Tunji Balogun, who was recently announced as the new CEO/chairman of Def Jam and signed WizKid to RCA Records in 2017, told Billboard. “Then, a narrative on the internet started about the song being the song of the summer — and we took that energy and ran with it.”
Listen to the “Essence” remix below.
