SAINt JHN’s “Roses” Imanbek Remix went #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 a few weeks ago but did you know the original version of “Roses” was released in 2016?
Even more interesting is that he released a remix of “Roses” in May 2020 with a guest feature from Future. Even with Future’s backing, the single didn’t truly reach its peak until Imanbek’s remix of the single blew up on Triller & Tik Tok.
This isn’t the first time an artist had a song blow up years after its initial release. Sheck Wes’ “Mo Bamba” was released in June of 2017 but the record didn’t blow up until Mid-2018.
What makes this case study very intriguing is Imanbek. Imanbek is a 19 year old producer from Kazakhstan. Yes, you read that correctly Kazakhstan, the country made popular in the movie Borat.
Imanbek is from a village in Kazakhstan called Aksu, he started playing the guitar at the age of 8. He tried to reach out to SAINt JHN via Instagram DM but wasn’t successful. He went on to produce and release the remix which quickly began dominating the charts across Europe.
Months later the remix took the single to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. There’s a bunch of lessons to be learned from this. For starters, never give up on a song or project. Just because it didn’t blow up on the initial release it doesn’t mean that you can’t re-release the song or remix it and dominate the charts with the same song.
Another great point is that sometimes it just takes the right person to recreate your work. Future is one of the most successful artists of our generation but even his feature on the initial remix of “Roses” didn’t take the record to #1.
It was a 19 year old producer, Imanek, who had the perfect production to match SAINt JHN’s sped-up vocals that gave the world the remix we didn’t know we wanted.
Moral of the story, don’t ever give up on yourself or your work. Keep pushing, keep releasing, and when the timing is right you’re time will come.
Congrats to SAINt JHN aka Ghetto Lenny and Imanbek on taking “Roses” to the #1 spot!
We interviewed SAINt JHN back in January before releasing the Future remix of “Roses” and he got to know a big group of fans who came to his meet & greet. Rewatch the interview below.
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