Diamond Platinumz releases FOA EP

Bongo Flava star Diamond Platinumz has on Friday released his latest EP album titled First of All ‘FOA’ which was inaugurated at Slipway Terrace in Dar es Salaam.

The 10-track album which is his first EP comes on the heels of his sophomore album A Boy from Tandale which was released in 2018 and since then despite enjoying relative success with hit singles such as Waah, he was yet to release an album.

And just like in his previous studio album, he features several collaborations most notably from Nigeria (Adenkule Gold, Jaywillz) and his Wasafi label crew including Zuchu and Mbosso.

The release comes a few weeks after Diamond released song Gidi last month which received a mixed reaction from his legion of followers.

With South African sound Amapiano being sampled by many Tanzania artistes, Diamond collaborates with Focolistic, Costa Titch and Pabi Cooper in his last track Fresh, a track that was produced Tanzanian producer S2keys.

The release of the album was a breath of fresh air to his fans and fellow artistes alike who were quick to throw in a comment or two

South Africa’s Sho Madjozi was among those who posted their comments on the EP saying, ‘’Bongo Flava has an exciting vibe and it’s now more appealing. Fresh has been my favorite song on the Ep. I love Bongo Flava a lot and I would love to see Tanzanian artist do more of it.  I know that Amapiano is everywhere but it’s more pleasant for each country could have its own genre of music.”

There were some who were critical of the star's approach such as Arnold Philemon a longtime who says that despite the success in a career that spans over 10 years the Wasafi boss needs to reinvent his sound to avoid sounding the same.

‘’The mightiness of diamond is undoubted in Tanzania’s music industry. Thus why it’s an extended playlist with ten songs, each should serve oneself a song to one’s choice of test. I have listened to all songs, most of the melodies are familiar to previous ones. For instance Nawaza has the same beat as The one he released in 2018 and its theme rhymes with the one he did in 2015 called Utanipenda,’’ he said.

These are the songs found in the First of All EP are: Melody feat Jaywillz, 'Somebody', 'Fine' , 'Mtasubiri' feat Zuchu, 'Sona' feat Adenkule Gold, Loyal, 'Wonder', Nawaza, Oka feat Mbosso, 'Fresh' feat Focolistic, Costa Titch & Pabi Cooper.