Diamond defends his 'Mtasubiri' song after ban

Diamond accused the authority of treating his music unfairly

• Tanzanian authority said the video has 'disrespectful church choir scenes'.

• Diamond defended his song and said the scene in question does not involve ladies dressed skimpily, drugs or songs of blasphemy in the church.

shooting a music video
Diamond Platnumz shooting a music video
Image: Instagram

Tanzanian singer Diamond has suffered another blow after the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) on Friday banned his song 'Mtasubiri'.

TCRA said the video has 'disrespectful church choir scenes'.

In the video, there is a clip showing Diamond and Zuchu singing in a church choir and then going somewhere else.

"That part has fuelled debate from certain religious people. [It] shows disrespect to certain religious denominations,” reads the statement signed by TCRA director general Jabiri Bakari.

They then instructed all local television stations and digital platforms to stop airing the video until Diamond Platnumz and Zuchu remove the 'disrespectful scene' from the clip.

On Instagram, Diamond accused the authority of treating his music unfairly.

He said the scene in question does not involve ladies dressed skimpily, drugs or songs of blasphemy in the church.

"I keep asking myself what wrong I did in that scene. Did they dress indecently? No. Did I dance indecently or had obscene words while in the church? No. Did we smoke cigarettes or bhangi?" he said.

"We are also not the first people to shoot music in the church. Some shoot extreme obscene videos but their content was not banned."

Diamond then added that it is the reason he will never participate in local award shows.

Despite his accomplishments, he claims the awards were unfairly awarded and some of his fellow musicians were unduly favoured. 

"Don't ask me why I don't participate in the awards. Good thing is that God and our fans love us."

Zuchu said the Wasafi recording label has recently been targeted illegally by the regulatory body, from national music awards to banning their songs.

In 2018, Diamond's song 'Mwanza' was also banned by Tanzanian authorities, which termed it inappropriate for public consumption due to its explicit sexual content.

In January of the same year, the regulatory body banned Diamond’s ‘Hallelujah’ featuring Jamaican reggae group Morgan Heritage and ‘Waka Waka’ featuring American Rick Ross for 'being indecent and going against the morals of the country'.

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