Tanzanian Bongo artist Diamond Platnumz.
Diamond Platnumz never hesitates to pay to get into the room with stars he considers to be ‘above his pay grade’ and, according to his longtime manager and strategist SK Sallam, the gamble has repeatedly paid off.
Narrating an incident, Sallam points to Diamond ft Neyo's 2017 hit song ‘Marry You’ revealing that the Tanzanian spent at least $6,000 (Sh620,000) to meet up with the American star singer.
Bongo Flava star Diamond Platnumz launched his much awaited second album A Boy From Tandale on Wednesday at the Kenya National Theatre, Nairobi. PHOTO| THOMAS MATIKO
That meeting eventually resulted in the collabo which propelled Diamond’s career to another level.
Sallam travelled to Nairobi ahead of Ne-Yo to meet his team, establish a relationship and pitch the idea of a collaboration. It was an expensive mission, but one Diamond was willing to finance.
“I arrived in Nairobi and booked myself into the same five-star hotel where he was going to stay. He had sent an advance team, whom I met to establish some rapport on behalf of Diamond.” Sallam narrated at a recent music forum with journalists.
American singer Ne-Yo performs in Kigali, Rwanda in 2029.
“For one night at the hotel, I was spending $2,000, and I stayed there for three days before Ne-Yo arrived. When he arrived, he asked that we go clubbing together with his team. One thing about such a big star, no matter how rich he is, is that if you need his attention, you have to spend. So we went out, and I footed the club bill. Later, I had to pay for the studio session, and that is how we made “Marry You”. That was part of an investment that Diamond was willing to make to elevate his brand. No other East African artiste got the chance to collaborate with Ne-Yo,” Sallam added.
Diamond then paid Ne-Yo Sh10 million for the collabo and also made a hefty payment of Sh5.6 million when he paid American rapper Rick Ross for their collabo ‘Waka.’
Before that, Diamond had pulled a similar gamble with Davido. Sallam revealed that Diamond spent $5,000 (Sh650,000) to facilitate the meeting with Davido that resulted in ‘Number One Remix.
At the time, Sallam and Diamond had not yet begun working together. Diamond was only beginning to taste stardom following the release of Kwambie and Mbagala in 2008.
Meanwhile, Afrobeats was beginning to dominate the global music scene, with Davido emerging as one of the continent’s most sought-after artistes.
Keen to collaborate with Davido and propel his own brand, Diamond approached Sallam with an offer of $3,000, which Sallam turned down, insisting that if Diamond was serious about making the connection, he would have to pay him $5,000.
The project would eventually cost him slightly more than $50,000 (Sh5 million at the time), an investment he later admitted nearly left him bankrupt, as he had to borrow most of the money from the bank.
But once again, the gamble paid off - with the collaboration becoming a major stepping stone in Diamond’s career, helping establish him beyond Tanzania and strengthening his profile across the African music scene. Today Diamond charges $100,000 (Sh12.9 million) for a one-hour live performance.
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