When your big, your BIG abeg!
Tanzanian superstar, Naseeb Abdul Juma, known as Diamond Platnumz is one of Africa’s most marketable artiste, he even turned down a chance to sign with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Record Label opting for negotiations with Universal Music Group, a source has revealed.
The source further noted that for the past months, there have been several ongoing discussions between Diamond’s management and Roc Nation. However, with Universal Music Group coming in the picture, Diamond and his team opted to pause their negotiations with Roc Nation to hear from the Universal team.
Sipho Dlamini, managing director South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, said he was thrilled to sign one of Africa’s biggest acts to Universal Music.
“We’re very excited about signing Diamond. He’s a star he is talented and full of energy and creatively he’s on par with any international artist I’ve worked with. He’s focused and determined to succeed. He’s passionate about his country – his people – his language and his culture and I love that,” Dlamini said.
“He is a first class performer on stage, his new material is authentic, fresh and African, yet it will touch people across the globe. Artists like him are the reason we do what we do.”
Diamond Platnumz teams up with American R&B superstar Ne-Yo on the sexy new single ‘Marry You’ is the first project Diamond will release with UMG. The collaboration that was recorded in Nairobi, Kenya in 2015, a result of the two artists meeting at the 2015 MTV Africa Music Awards in Durban.
Diamond who has worked with Nigerian acts Davido, Flavour and P Square as well as South Africa’s Donald before says “When they announced he would be performing at the MTV Africa Music Awards, I was excited. After we met we discussed the possibility of doing a collaboration and he was ready to it. I chose Ne-Yo to record this song with because he fits my style of music. I am so happy because I grew up listening to Ne-Yo songs and most of my style is inspired by him so it’s a dream come true for a kid who grew up in a slum area in Tanzania.”
Naturally, international artists are intrigued by both the music and musicians coming out of Africa at the moment and it’s something many want to be involved in. Diamond Platnumz is one of the biggest acts on the continent right now with over 172 million views on YouTube right now.
He believes that a mutual respect for music is what brought the new collaboration to life. “I guess Ne-Yo agreed to work with me because I think he did a bit of research on my music.” the singer says “ Five months after we met he came to Kenya for Coke Studio, I flew to meet him and to record with his producer and my producer.”
“I chose Ne-Yo because he fits my style of music. I am so happy because I grew up listening Ne-Yo’s songs and most of my style is inspired by him so it’s a dream come true for a kid who grew up in a slum area in Tanzania,” Juma said in a statement.
Juma, who has won many awards including MTV Africa and MTV Europe and Channel O, explained ‘Marry Me’ as a love story.
“It’s a love story. It’s about when you want to convince the girl you are in love with to marry you. It’s a wedding song so am so sure it will be rocking all weddings soon,” he said.
