Strauss Lunyangwe
WINDHOEK – Since bursting onto the music scene with her sexy music videos in 2007, Monica ‘Diamond’ Shafooli has in recent years concentrated on building her property portfolio. The last time the dancehall queen dropped visuals was in 2016 titled ‘Chekange’ featuring Kamby, which garnered over 63 000 views.
Diamond recently informed Entertainment Now! that she still dazzles in music, as it remains a passion she cannot let go of. Currently, based in the United Kingdom (UK), she decided to close her clothing boutique and focus mainly on renting out the properties she has acquired over the years in Namibia as well as abroad.
“In Namibia, I had five properties but I had to let two go because of how the economy is doing and in the UK, I have three as well,” she revealed.
Diamond, who is the big sister of King Tee Dee (formerly known as The Dogg) and related to ‘Oliko’ Hitmaker Killa-B, jetted into Namibia two weeks ago to shoot two music videos, one in the coast and the other in Windhoek.
She explained that she continues to do music because of the strong musical influence she and her brother grew up in and that it is a way to keep her brand alive at the same time.
“Music is in our DNA, there is no one like me in this country. I can be gone for 10 years but no one will be able to do what I do. We are shooting a video in the middle of the ocean with a budget of N$50 000 so far. And my second video will be a set of a garage shoot with sexy girls with about a budget of N$30 000,” she explained.
The husky-toned singer further said she does not make money in music and it would be very expensive to shoot videos in the UK. Entering the music scene abroad would be a different ball game, as she feels that she would rather spend Namibian dollars than to play with pounds.
“Spending Namibian dollars is play money because I won’t play with pounds. I will never drop an album; I’m fascinated with having an idea in my head and see it come alive. The truth is, I inspire a lot of girls in the industry trying to emulate me in their videos, whether they believe it or not,’’ she bragged.
She advised artistes to use the platform to get into business and not solely rely on it.