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Hating on Diamond

Diamond

Even as Tanzanian star Diamond Platinumz emerged the top earning foreign artiste during the MCSK awards held in Nairobi on Monday, the singer was one unhappy man.

He gave the event a big miss. He had been on the receiving end of insults and accusations from some local artistes who seemed unhappy with his success here in Kenya.

The bizarre saga had started with a post made by a Kenyan artiste on Sunday. The singer had alluded that Diamond was being paid Sh1.5m to perform during a Kenyan celebration, yet local artistes were being paid Sh50,000 for the same. It was a lie.

The blogs fuelled the war. It turned out to be one of the most heated debates the music industry has had in a long time. By the time it was getting to Diamond, it had become an elephant.

When Pulse called Diamond, he was in shock that Kenyan artistes would wage war against him. In fact, the news had shocked him.

“MCSK never paid me a cent to perform. I had been invited to come collect my cash from royalties. All they did was to pay for my flight and accommodation,” he said.

“The truth is that I was invited to attend the ceremony as a guest.

I have cancelled the trip because someone somewhere seems to have an issue with me,” he added.

The new development confirms the cold war that has been going on between local musicians, DJs and foreign artistes who seem to be making more money than the locals.

Diamond for example charges about Sh200,000 for a concert at home and over Sh2 million for any concert he stages here, a figure not so many artistes can quote.

Davido and Wizkid make the same amounts for concerts held in Nairobi.

The comparisons elicited yet another debate this week with top industry players trying to break down the state of the industry.

“As a promoter, I will pay these guys that outrageous amount because I will get value for my money. They attract big crowds,” reasoned Shreekezy, a singer and promoter.

 

“The truth is that Tanzanian and Nigerian artistes have a strategy to take over Africa. Tanzanian artistes hold meetings, attend each other’s concerts and discuss available opportunities while back here, all we do is complain and diss each other.

It is not that the music industry is not growing. We simply lack unity. We are our own greatest enemy,” remarks Frasha.

“DJs are not to blame for the popularity of Nigerian and Tanzanian songs, which are said to be getting more radio and club play than Kenyan music. We play what fans want. Period,” argues DJ KayDee.

“The truth is Kenyan artistes don’t know each other neither do they support each other. Networking is part of the business, locally, regionally and internationally. It is about time we changed this culture and go back to what E-sir started,” concludes Shreekezy.

 

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