Tanzania's Diamond Platnumz is a musician whose rise to the top can be traced to passion, determination and raw talent.
Diamond, whose real name is Naseeb Abdul Juma, was born on October 2nd, 1989 in Tandale, a ward in Tanzania's commercial capital Dar es Salaam.
Born to a humble family, Diamond's childhood had a number of challenges. At one point, he had to stay at his grandmother's home.
The singer was raised by his mother, Sanura Kassim, also known as Sandra.
Diamond pursued primary education in Tanzania from 1995 to 2002, and thereafter enrolled for secondary education. Records indicate that he completed high school education in 2006.
He, thereafter, tried his hand at several jobs, including selling second hand clothes, serving as a fuel station attendant and photographer.
But all this while, he kept his eye on the ball – music. He revealed in the past that he sold his mother's ring to raise studio fee.
"Toka Mwanzo", a song released in 2006, was Diamond's first recording, but he had to wait until 2010 to get his first breakthrough hit single "Kamwambie", which took East Africa by storm.
In the Swahili song, the musician asks a mutual friend to go and tell his ex-partner that he still loves her, and that rich men should not make her despise him.
After "Kamwambie", Diamond's star started to rise. Major hit songs such as "Mbagala", "Nitarejea", "Mawazo", "Kesho", "Ukimuona", among others followed, cementing the musician's place in the hearts of many Swahili-speaking audiences.
After securing the East African fans, Diamond saw the need to diversify, prompting him to collaborate with musicians from other parts of Africa with an aim of expanding his fan-base.
Nigeria's Davido aided Diamond's entry into the West African market through the song "Number One Remix". Other Nigerian musicians he has featured include Flavour, Waje, Chike, Patoranking, among others.
In South Africa, Diamond featured the late AKA in the hit song "Make Me Sing", while in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he had a song with the late Papa Wemba, and several with the legendary Koffi Olomide, including the popular single "Waah".
In another world, the Tanzanian would be called Mr. Versatile, given his ability to sing, dance, perform, read the industry, and change tack.
Talking of versatility, the artiste is a shrewd businessman, with investments in hospitality, a recording label, and media.
Diamond Platnumz has won at least 28 career awards, including MTV Europe Music Awards and Channel O Music Video Awards.
The 34-year-old is known by other nicknames, most notably Chibu Dangote, a self-given surname that belongs to Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote of Nigeria.
Diamond charges between 70,000 and 100,000 US dollars per show, according to his management.
The artiste, whose net worth is millions of US dollars, has four children born to different mothers – Uganda's Zari Hassan, Tanzania's Hamisa Mobetto and Kenya's Tanasha Donna Oketch.
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