This article will not resolve a never-ending debate about who the most influential musician in Tanzania is. Still, Naseeb Abdul, famously known as Diamond Platnumz, is widely acknowledged as perhaps one of the greatest hitmakers Bongoland has ever produced.
His musical contribution is indisputable, albeit lately, he has been dogged by plagiarism accusations locally and abroad, which this article will not address. This discussion will review his hit song “Komasava.”
When I heard it for the first time, and even now, I have no doubt it was Grammy material. Then came the snub!
I ferociously perused several articles and social media comments in search of the real reasons why the Grammys did not nominate Komasava. Here is what I gathered.
It was interesting to see another Tanzanian musician, Harmonize, when the media queried him about Diamond Platnumz’s hit song snub at the Grammys; he dismissed the song by saying that who in their right mind would vote for a song that was just a greeting!
Konde Boy may not be familiar with the history of the Grammys, but Adele’s hit song “Hello” swept the Grammys despite being founded on a greeting. At the 59th Grammy Awards in 2017, “Hello” won three Grammy Awards: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance.
Adele’s song “Hello” on YouTube has 3.1 billion views nine years after its release. “Jambo Bwana,” a Kenyan song released 16 years ago by Them Mushrooms band, had over 31 million views on YouTube by February 2021.
READ RELATED: Truly Astonishing! What Holds Back Tanzania’s Music Industry?
The “Jambo Bwana” song was never presented for a Grammy, but it could have won. A song titled “Salaam” or any greeting is not the real reason it is not nominated; other factors must be behind the rejection.
The South African hit song “Jerusalema” never won a Grammy. The real reason was probably that it was never presented for consideration. I have searched for evidence that it was considered but have found no such evidence.
In 2022, artists and producers Charmza The DJ and Biblos sued Master KG for copyright infringement over the song.
They claimed to be the original creators of the track. Could copyright infringement issues prevent the song from winning the Grammys?
Nomcebo Zikode is a global hitmaker whose angelic voice made the Jerusalema song the second most “shazamed” song globally, behind only BTS’s “Dynamite.” The music video has over 185 million views on YouTube and counting.
They went on in 2023 to win a Grammy for the song “Bayethe,” which few may have probably heard before.
Nomcebo, in March 2021, for Jerusalema, which she recorded in 2019, had to fight in public her record company, “Open Mic Productions,” for non-payment despite her haunting falsetto vocals and authoritative lyrics transcending globally!
Nigerian social media has long accused Diamond Platnumz of plagiarism.
They compare many of his latest hit songs with those of popular Nigerian musicians and have even claimed his Rastafarian look is another evidence of attempting to look like one of their own, in particular, “Burna Boy.”
In the 2023 Grammy Awards, Nigerian and South African musicians dominated the occasion by winning most of the Awards in the international categories.
Post-2024 Grammys, Furaha Festival Dented Diamond Platnumz’s Future Grammy Hopes
Furaha Festival, jointly organized by Safaricom and Citizen TV, invited several top musicians from Kenya and Tanzania. It was reported attendees parted with a minimum of Kshs 40,000/= to see the mega show.
Still, the timetable organizers had prepared peeved, particularly Willy Paul, a Kenyan singer and songwriter. Willy Paul felt Tanzanian musicians Diamond Platnumz, Zuchu, and Rayvanny were being given preferential treatment.
The Tanzanian contingent was allocated a VIP tent with imperial white coaches. At the same time, their Kenyan fraternity was left without a tent to while time away as they tarried for their turn to perform.
For obvious reasons, the promo poster’s photos of Tanzanian musicians were made much bigger and placed on top, while their Kenyan counterparts were placed at the bottom and smaller.
It was clear that the organizers had perceived the crowd pullers were Tanzanian hitmakers, with Kenyan musicians having a fringe role to fulfil. This did not go well with Kenyan performers, particularly Willy Paul, who took matters into his own hands.
Sensing that they were being mistreated in their own country, Willy Paul decided to protest the best way he could: by attempting to perform before Tanzanian musicians.
He was unsuccessful at both Zuchu and Rayvanny gigs, but when it was Diamond Platnumz’s turn to perform, Willy Paul shook off the bodyguards and strolled on stage. DJ saw him there and played his collaboration song with Rayvanny.
Sooner, when Willy Paul heard his song, he rebuked the DJ, “…..ondoa hiyo takataka na weka…..” When the DJ persisted in playing the song, Willy Paul repeated his slur. The DJ finally heeded Paul’s commanding orders, removed the song and played Paul’s other favourite song.
@blissguy Dj toa hio takataka #willypaul #rayvanny
This shows how Willy Paul had more than enough with Tanzanian musicians. Interestingly, his fans were delighted when he was on the stage, clapping their hands according to the hits he was jigging.
Diamond Platnumz refused to perform, claiming his contractual duration had elapsed. Willy Paul had taken his time, and he could not alternate with Willy Paul, angering his Kenyan fanbase.
Later, after the Furaha festival was over, Willy Paul explained why he forced his way to the stage, saying it was a protest against the bonanza organizers’ mistreatment of Kenyan musicians.
He chronicled what was done to Tanzanians but was not done to them. He also alleged Diamond Platnumz’s bodyguards had roughened him up.
Diamond was defensive and boastful. First, he bragged about being well repaid to Kshs 20 million or USD 150,000. The Taxman should visit him. We need our share of the windfalls before it is too late.
Platnumz said the organisers violated the terms of his contract when they capitulated to the hardscrabble of Willy Paul that had preceded him on the stage contrary to the agreed schedule.
He also whined about waiting more than four hours without being called to perform. I could not independently verify the integrity of the counterclaims from both performing artists.
Kenyan fans sided with their own, Willy Paul, who had shared his side of the story much earlier. How they would react to Diamond Platnumz was unclear.
Diamond Platnumz’s error was to take the matter as an exclusive business transaction. It is not a combination of business with a human touch and soul. Since he was prepaid, he was in no compulsion to perform no sooner.
Willy Paul edged him out of the stage. He should have summoned the humility to perform, notwithstanding the demeaning interference. He should have performed for the fans and overlooked the distracting fracas.
It is the fanbase he needs to scale the heights of global musical terrain. Without the fans, his career is going nowhere, let alone winning an elusive Grammy.
Winning Major Global Awards is About Talent, Having an Acceptable Character
Many do not know that Beyonce, despite being a Houston, Texas native, was snubbed recently by the American Country Music Awards (CMA).
Beyonce did not garner any CMA nods for her Grammy-nominated “Cowboy Carter” album. Yes, you heard me right. She got zero nominations. Yes, Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter topped the country music charts, making her the first Black woman to do so.
Cowboy Carter debuted at number one in several countries and broke chart and streaming records. In the United States, Cowboy Carter became Beyoncé’s eighth consecutive number-one album on the Billboard 200 and the first album by a black woman to top the Top Country Albums chart.
Cowboy Carter earned the most nominations at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards, with 11 nominations across multiple genres, including pop, country, Americana and melodic rap.
It is the second-most nominated album in Grammy history, behind Michael Jackson’s Thriller (1982), and the most nominated album by a woman.
Her performance received backlash from the genre’s fans, who complained that Beyoncé was not a country artist.
Many Black artists aside from Beyoncé have expressed how difficult it is to break through in the country music industry because executives often cater to white consumers.
But there was also a sideshow about allegedly attending P Diddy freak-off parties. Voters rarely support controversial personalities despite their huge talents.
Remember actor Tom Cruise? Despite four nominations, he has never won an Oscar. He is a great acting talent, but his spiritual beliefs put off many Academy Award voters.
He is a Scientologist, and many associate that faith with satanic worship, rightly or otherwise. Character issues trample talent as those voters are humans.
Once they heard from Diamond Platnumz’s mouth that he had paid P Diddy a courtesy call, voters’ attitudes were irreparably impaled, and Beyonce suffered in a similar stance.
Having More Tanzanian Voters in the Grammy is Not a Solution
Some have suggested that having fewer Tanzanians as members of the Grammy contributed to the Diamond Platnumz snub. They did not know what they were talking about.
The Recording Academy, responsible for the Grammy Awards, has over 13,000 voting members.
There are now more than 16,000 members and more than 13,000 of them are voting members, up from about 14,000 in 2023 (11,000 of which were voting members).
In that time, the academy increased its number of members who identified as people of colour by 63%. Even if you have 500 Tanzanian voters, they cannot flip the Grammy Awards outcome.
Global. Musical Presence is Almost Everything!
If you look at last year’s Grammys, where South Africa and Nigeria ruled the African accolades, one thing is clear: global visibility. Who does not know South African songbird Nomcebo Zikode after her global hit Jerusalema?
She is a household name. All Nigerians who picked the Grammys are global household names. Little is known about what goes on behind the scenes in the voting process.
“Recording Academy Voting Members play a crucial role in ensuring that the GRAMMY Awards, the only peer-voted award in music, is a true reflection of the music community at large. The Recording Academy respects its Voting Membership body and trusts that each member will uphold the GRAMMY standard of excellence by voting with integrity and discipline.”
Each Grammy voter is given many songs to listen to, and they hardly listen to all of them but still vote for the songs they have listened to. Human behaviour dictates that voters listen to the songs of the musicians they like or have heard before.
Having sold-out concerts in major Western nations’ cities is a sure way to prick the conscience of the voters to prioritize listening to your songs ahead of other contestants.
Having your name in Forbes’ list of “who is who” in the African musical scene hurts nobody. Such recognition gets attention everywhere. Stopping buying secondhand cars, watches, and the like beeps Forbes.
It is a complex process of bagging a Grammy that many fail to successfully hotchpotch.
Kenyan Government is Busier Promoting Their Music
President William Samuoi Ruto has wrapped up a Grammy deal to house Grammy Africa in Kenya.
That means more entertainment investment in Kenya, creating jobs for Kenyan youths and showcasing Kenya as an entertainment pinnacle of Africa.
Initially, Kenya will shell Kshs 500 million to host the Grammys for the first time on African soil.
It’s hard to tell how much of that effort will magnify African music, but I know it takes more than the solo contribution of one musician to catapult African music onto the global stage.
A government that abuses and neglects its musicians will not help prepare its performing artists to conquer the world.
Tanzanian artists have been involved more in local politics and are now too dependent on government handouts to make ends meet.
Such a beggar and overdependence mentality augurs poorly with stuffing to the rim Wembley, the Millennium Dome, or the O2 Arena with adoring fans when one knows one needs to perform in the ruling party, CCM, or political meetings to pick up the crumbs.
Concluding Remarks
Komasava is a hit song but was rejected because most Grammy voters are either unfamiliar with Diamond Platnumz’s artistic works and have not listened to it before voting or do not like his self-confession of intermingling with the discredited P Diddy.
Diamond Platnumz must improve his interactions with his fanbase, including making emotional sacrifices to keep them in his column. Fans have a lot to say where his career is heading.
In the meantime, he should scrap CCM and focus on his bubbling professional career. CCM will never help him singlehandedly fill the O2 Arena with fans but will leash his career with “peremende.”
All Grammy Awards winners from Africa in 2023 were apolitical. It is a lesson Tanzanian musicians ought to learn fast or remain incognito in the shadows of their counterparts elsewhere in Africa.
Poor choices amount to poor yields. It is as simple as that!
