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Bruce Ndlovu
WHILE many Zimbabweans have their eyes on the release of his album this weekend, star Jah Prayzah is pinning his hopes on Tanzanian star Diamond Platnumz to push him towards the continental fame that he craves.
The star launches his highly anticipated Mudhara Vachauya album in Harare and Bulawayo on Friday and Saturday respectively.
While he has already set the benchmark in Zimbabwean music with his previous albums, the African continent has remained an unconquered frontier for Prayzah and other emerging Zimbabwean stars.
However, in making his latest album Jah is pulling out all the stops to make sure that it reaches markets that his previous efforts have failed to breach.
In late June, Jah Prayzah was in Tanzania to work with celebrated singer Diamond Platnumz. The resulting song, titled Watora Mari, was composed in two languages; with Diamond singing in Swahili and Jah Prayzah in Shona.
a�?Despite him being one of the biggest artistes in Africa at the moment, Diamond is very humble and passionate about what he does. I was just a fan of his, watching and listening from a distance,a�? said Prayzah.
Jah Prayzah is not the only Southern African artiste to use Diamond Platinumz as a trump card after South Africaa��s Cassper Nyovest announced last week that he and the Tanzanian hit-maker had also worked on a song together that he thought would make inroads in Africa.
His rival and fellow rapper AKA was the first to secure a collaboration with Diamond, after they collaborated on the song Sing For Me. As an illustration of his impact on another stara��s career, the collaboration video of the song has over four and half million views after six months on YouTube. In contract the video for All Eyes On Me, AKAa��s highest charting song, only has two million views after almost two years.
But who is Diamond Platnumz? The 28-year-old was born Nasibu Abdul Juma, in Tanzania. Diamond is currently the highest selling Tanzanian artiste of ringtones, as well as being among the artistes earning the highest income in the African Great Lakes music industry.
In May 2014, Diamond Platnumz set a new record at the Tanzania Music Awards by winning in seven categories, while he has also won big around the continent.
Online Reporter