Diamond Is Her Own Gaga

Anyone who thinks that Ghanaian lady hiphop musician Diamond is copying flamboyant American best selling musician, Lady Gaga with regards to the way she dresses, should be ready to bury their thoughts because Diamond got her own gaga going before Lady Gaga found her suave.

“People should know that I have been always fashion inclined, besides I was on the scene way before Lady Gaga,” Diamond told Showbiz last Friday.

“Ghanaians should know that I am unique and Lady Gaga is too but I am not copying her and she is definitely not copying me,” she said, “I have always wanted to do stuff that are unique.”

Asked how she comes about her creative hairstyles and dresses, this is what Diamond had to say, “artistes the world over have their own brands, the way they would like to appear, be it casual, funky and what have you. Diamond the artiste appears uniquely branded because that is how she would want to be known for, off stage or off camera, Diamond appears ordinarily like the girl next door.”

Wondering how she comes about her hairstyles, Diamond said she has a stylist, “I tell her what I want and she does it perfectly well, once in a while she also comes up with some great ideas.” Wondering how she feels in her “crazy” hairstyles and dresses,

Diamond said she simply enjoys wearing them, “I feel excited and confident, it makes me feel good in my own skin.”

For Diamond, the fashion industry in Ghana is doing very well, “the fashion industry has improved over the years, people are creating nice outfits using local fabrics, everybody wants to look good and I think it is a step in the right direction.” Dressing the way she does must cost a fortune is Diamond rich? “I am blessed,” was all the pretty artiste will say.

Diamond, full name Diamond Nannah Appiah came on the scene professionally in 2005 and released her debut single Kasa Kyere Wokunu in 2006 following it with an album in late 2006, “I featured Castro and it went very well.”

After that, Diamond said she shifted her attention to acting, “I was young and I wasn’t focused so I shelved music and went into acting from 2006 to 2010.” Her first movie was Armsterdam Diary after which she did others like Dadaba, Keeping The Promise, Big Girls Club, Run Baby Run etc.

According to Diamond, she did not really want to do music but the talent in her kept pushing so in 2010 she found herself back in the studio to record, “I came out with a single Taste My Apple featuring Stay Jay and followed it up with another single, Popping both in 2011. The music video of Popping was nominated in last year’s 4syte Music Video Awards.

Diamond was quite busy last year, she performed in South Africa at Ghanafest, the Gottenburg Jazz Festival in Sweden, the MUSIGA Grand Ball at the Banquet Hall among others.

For now, she is planning on releasing her album this year and also launching her clothing line, “I am going to be very busy,” she said.

Diamond took us down memory lane to her days at Accra Girls Senior High School where she found herself busily performing other peoples’ songs during entertainment.

“At that time, I was doing that for fun, while in school in the UK, I used to watch a lot of musical talent shows and I always had this feeling that I could easily do it and even better.”

It has therefore not come as a surprise to Diamond that she has found herself professionally in music.

So who is Diamond’s role model in the field she finds herself in? “ When I was growing up, Kojo Antwi and Daddy Lumba were my role models, now my role models are Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Lil Kim and Trina.

Her hobbies are acting and putting things together, “I design clothing and they are made for me, it is all in line with my upcoming clothing line.”

Diamond would not tell us who she is dating except for the fact that there is a wonderful man in her life whom she adores so much.

Her favourite colours are red, black and white. She used to hang out a lot but not anymore since she got into music and is in the public eye.

She believes that the music industry in Ghana is doing very well with Ghanaian musicians being nominated for international awards like the BET Awards, “ Kojo Antwi and D Black were nominated last year, even though they did not win, their nomination makes the country proud. It used to be only Nigerians who were getting the nominations but we are also getting there,” she said.

Diamond attended New Hope Preparatory School, Accra Girls Secondary School and Lewisham College in South East London. She is a Christian who worships at Christ Embassy but admits that she doesn’t attend church service on a regular basis.

To her fans, Diamond says, “ keep supporting me like you always have, watch out for a lot of things from Diamond this year.”