Tanzania’s Diamond Platnumz ready for European tour

One of East Africa’s top performers, Diamond's European tour kicks off on Saturday with a show in Frankfurt, Germany. Over the next three weeks he will make his way though Scandinavia and Belgium before ending in Copenhagen, Denmark on 9 April.

Although the exact locations seem to have changed since Diamond initially announced them on Twitter in December last year (with his gig on 1 April moving from Paris to Brussels, for example), his tour manager Sallam Sharaf has confirmed to Music In Africa that his upcoming tour will include the following shows:

• 19 March - Frankfurt, Germany
• 25 March - Oslo, Norway
• 26 March - Bergen, Norway
• 27 March - Stockholm, Sweden
• 1 April - Brussels, Belgium
• 2 April - Stuttgart, Germany
• 8 April - Helsinki, Finland
• 9 April - Copenhagen, Denmark

Before flying out of Tanzania, Diamond will have a session at the Goethe-Institut in Dar es Salaam on Thursday 17 March to talk about the tour and touch base with his loyal fans.

The award-winning Bongo Flava artist is loved by many and in recent years has established himself as one of the biggest names in the region, if not the whole continent. In July 2015 he was named Best Live Act at the MAMAs in South Africa, the only artist from outside Nigeria or South Africa to win a major category. In October 2015 he was in the USA for the African Muzik Magazine Awards (AFRIMMA), where picked up three trophies, including African Artist of the Year. In November 2015 he picked up three more awards at the AFRIMAs in Nigeria, including Artist of the Year. This flood of continental trophies in the second half of 2015 came despite Diamond losing out at the Kilimanjaro Tanzania Music Awards (KTMA) in June to local rival Ali Kiba.

In December 2015 he shared a stage with Nigerian star Patoranking in Uganda. In February this year the artist released 'Make Me Sing', a collaboration with South African rapper AKA. The song follows the two stars as they try to impress girls (and rob banks!) over a steel drum beat by Tanzanian producer Tudd Tomas. He also features on Harmonize's hit 'Bado' that is currently topping charts in Tanzania.