Glory beckons for Diamond at mamas

In December 2010 at a certain hotel in Lagos on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, a certain young lad sat amid a cosmopolitan atmosphere in the glare of the international press.

This was the setting for the last MTV Africa Music Awards (Mamas) where an up and coming Tanzanian singer, Diamond had been nominated for his second single Mbagala, in the Best New Act category.

The atmosphere on that afternoon was intimidating to say the least, as the résumé of those present was nothing that he was used to, from Fally Ipupa to Rick Ross.

It was a crowd of some cocky African celebrities who in their own right considered themselves the cream of African socialites and the music industry.

Not many in that audience knew who this young man was; neither did they care what he was about and where he came from.

And when the time finally came for him to answer questions that were fielded by the largely East African media, who knew something about him, he chose to do it in Kiswahili with the help of then MTV VJ and awards host Vanessa Mdee.

He sounded too confident for a new comer who was getting his first taste of international limelight, he wanted to get things straight and not get lost in some form of translation.

Later on that night, though he lost that to Nigeria’s Mocheddah, his performance at the Eko Expo auditorium alongside Kenyan group P-Unit was testimony that a new kid had arrived on the bloc.

That was the same year when another Tanzanian artiste Ali Kiba had participated in the One8 project which featured R Kelly, yet the spotlight was now on Diamond on a grand scale.

As we rode on that flight from Lagos the next day, he did not look demoralised whatsoever and instead he had drawn inspiration from what he had seen and heard.

“I have learnt a lot from these awards and it makes me think of myself differently now; I just want to work harder,” he told me on our way back.

Diamond’s evolution had begun and his pursuit for international stardom was something that only needed a matter of time. He had the hunger and passion to excel.

He has since grown into a confident young man with plenty of musical success under his belt, one that has made him a force to reckon with in the region and beyond.

Against all odds, he went on to release his only album to date which he named ‘Lala Salama’, which had hit songs such as Mawazo, Nimpende Nani, Kizazai, Moyo Wangu and many others.

It is this evolution that has made him one of the best paid artistes in the country who commands the highest appearance fees which is believed to be in the excess of $10,000 for local shows.

And last weekend as the nominations for the returning MTV Africa Music Awards were announced, he was the only Tanzanian act to feature on the list that was naturally dominated by Nigerians and South Africans.

Diamond had beaten most of his compatriots in the race to the nominations which were announced in South Africa as he picked up two nods in the Best Collaboration and in the Best male category.

In both categories, the Bongo Flava hot shot was named for his efforts in the club banger ‘Number One’ a remix which he did with Nigeria’s Davido who also features strongly on the nomination list.

Having seen his category being taken by Mocheddah in 2010’s edition of the MTV awards, these nominations will definitely evoke nostalgia especially when it comes to the game of numbers.

In both categories where Diamond is featured, there is a strong presence of the Nigerian contingent and given what history has in store, Nigerians and West Africans in general always come out on top in these contests.

In the best Collabo category he takes on Amani ft Radio and Weasel with ‘Kiboko Changu’, Mafikizolo feat May D – ‘Happiness’ from South Africa/Nigeria, R2bees feat Wizkid – ‘Slow Down’ from Ghana/Nigeria.

In the best Male act he takes on Anselmo Ralph from Angola, Davido and Wizkid from Nigeria plus South Africa’s Donald.

As many pundits have opined it is going to be a tight race for the Tanzanian artiste though in the same breath they admit that he could ride on the popularity of Davido to get Nigerians voting for Number One as the best Collabo.

As the opening verse of the remix version states: ‘Tanzania to Lagos, I go make you famous…’, though it is a line that I personally hate, this song has been a hit continentally and it has got the lad some continental recognition.

Something that is a little contradictory is that the last time I was at a hangout joint in Lagos called Rhapsody, most folks who danced to the tune were hardly aware that the song belonged to Diamond.

At another night club in Kampala there was an argument on who actually owned the original copyright with many vouching for the Nigerian. But that is the price you sometime have to pay for success.

However, having said that, it would indeed be too simplistic to take it that without Davido, Diamond wouldn’t have made it on the nominations.

He has in fact been nominated for another prestigious award in the shape of Kora Music Awards.