Tanzania’s music regulatory board Basata has banned musician Diamond Platnumz from performing on any show or organizing any concert in and outside Tanzania effective Wednesday.
In a statement to newsrooms, Basata issued a ban notice of unspecified period on Diamond and his Wasafi record label singing Rayvanny for challenging its authority over their ‘dirty’ song ‘Mwanza’.
Basata stated it had no choice but to take stern action on the musicians for continuing to disregard and disrespecting the board’s position on the ‘Mwanza’ song.
“Baraza La Sanaa la Taifa (Basata) limewafungia wasanii wa muziki wa kizazi kipya Nasib Abduol (Diamond Platnumz) na Raymond Shaban Mwakyusa (Rayvan) kutofanya onyesho lolote ndani na nje ya nchi kwa muda usiojulikana kuanzia leo tarehe 18/12/2018.
“Itakumbukwa kuwa mnamo tarehe 12/11/2018 Basata ilitoa taarifa kwa umma kuhusu kufungia wimbo unaojulikana kwa jina la ‘Mwanza’.
“Baraza limefikia maamuzi ya kuwafungia rasmi kutokana na wasanii hawa kuendelea kuonyesha dharau na utovu wa nidhamu kwa Mamlaka zinazosimamia Masuala ya Sanaa nchini,” read part of the statement.
Basata had last month banned ‘Mwanza’ from air play in Tanzania and also directed the musicians to pull it down from various online platforms.
It also advised the singers not to perform the song at any gathering in Tanzania.
This was on top of a Ksh400, 000 fine just days after the release of the song.
However Diamond has continued to entertain his fans with the song since the start of his Wasafi Festival Tour in Tanzania which has already taken place in Mtwara, Sumbawanga na recently in Mwanza.
The board has also revoked license it had issued certifying the Wasafi Festival.
With the ban, the much hyped Wasafi Festival set for Kenya on New Year’s eve has now been thrown into doubt.
Top African pop star Diamond Platnumz has been barred from performing in Tanzania after he played a song which the authorities had banned for being sexually suggestive.
The song Mwanza contains the Swahili word for “horny”, and dancers are seen in a video simulating sex.
Diamond Platnumz had treated the ban with “disdain” by singing the lyrics at a concert, the arts regulator said.
The popular Tanzanian singer has been dogged by controversy in recent years.
In April he was questioned by police after posting on Instagram a video clip of himself playfully kissing a woman.
The authorities accused him of behaving indecently.
Tanzania’s arts regulator, Basata, said Diamond Platnumz would also be banned from performing abroad, but it is unclear how it would enforce this.
The ban also applied to Rayvanny, another local musician who features in Mwanza.
“We have reached the decision because the two musicians have treated our directive with disdain,” Basata said in a statement.
Will Diamond Platnumz emigrate?
On Sunday, Diamond Platnumz, who popularised “bongo flava”, Tanzanian hip hop, performed Mwanza to big crowds during a festival in the port city of the same name.
The song has been popular on YouTube where it has had more than five million views.
In a recent video shared online, Diamond Platnumz raised the possibility of settling abroad if Tanzanian officials continued banning his music.
“If they don’t want me to perform my songs I can live in another country and play there. If Tanzanian law says I can’t perform here, I can go to Kenya where I am not banned,” he said.
The musician, whose real name is Nasib Abdul, is billed to headline an end of the year concert in neighbouring Kenya.
Five things about Diamond Platnumz
- One of East Africa’s richest musicians
- Popularised “bongo flava”, Tanzanian hip hop
- Sold second-hand clothes before he found fame
- Recently launched his own TV and radio station
- 5.7 million followers on Instagram
Sources: BBC, Nairobi News.
