Tanzanian artiste Diamond Platnumz has been the subject of online debate in Kenya, primarily due to his English language skills.
Critics argue that Diamond disrespects basic grammar rules and embarrasses Africans when speaking English.
This is not the first time Diamond has faced criticism, as his recent song ‘Komasava Remix’ featuring Jason Derulo and South African Amapiano singers has been a topic of discussion.
“When did you get in town?” Jason asked. Diamond replied with a serious face, “Second right? Second in the morning,” not realising he had just angered online grammar prefects.
Diamond Platnumz’ public struggle with the English language both orally and written have made him a target for trolls.
In another incident while promoting his new cologne, Diamond used the world ‘Incompleted’ instead of ‘incomplete’ and Kenyans were beside themselves in outrage and rushed to correct the Bongo singer calling his English mistakes unacceptable.
“ Haha feeling incompleted. Kiingereza ilikuja na meli kweli! Someone should attend remedial classes on the use of simple present tense and past participle tense.”
Ruto Vincent wrote while Adonijah Neville chipped in with “Sio lazima utumie Kiingereza sababu Kiswahili ndo ya kwetu ila ikibidi tafta mtu wa kukusaidia…. You are a star and such silly mistakes are unacceptable….”
But the trolls were not done yet and some urged him to get an expert to market his products for him. Jay Felix Boss wrote “You wanna do marketing? Let the experts do the work for you. Your grammar is so pathetic!”
