Last year, Tanzanian hitmaker Diamond Platnumz teamed up with American reggae band Morgan Heritage to produce a powerful masterpiece titled Hallelujah. The song was undoubtedly one of the hottest collaborations Africa recorded that year. That collaboration seems to have crept into 2018 as the Grammy Award-winning group has recently dropped a dancehall jam titled, “Africa x Jamaica,” featuring Diamond Platnumz and Ghanaian BET Award-winner, Stonebwoy.
Morgan Heritage teased the video on its official YouTube account on October 17, 2018, before premiering it on Friday.
Watch the video here:
Morgan Heritage is on a mission to unite Africa and Jamaica
Throughout history, music has celebrated the triumphs and tragedies of life. Dancers follow its beat; protesters use it to find their voice. It can promote ideals — like peace and solidarity. For Grammy award-winning Morgan Heritage, Africa has consistently been home, and for Africa, Morgan Heritage has always been their proud offsprings. Creating and delivering music alongside the latter’s continental various artists has always been a family affair, a union between “Africa and Jamaica.”
As the lead single from their 2019 upcoming album blazes the international airwaves, the anticipated music video has finally arrived.
🚨 AFRICA x JAMAICA IS OUT NOW!!! 🚨
Shoutout to our brothers @diamondplatnumz and @stonebwoyb for making HISTORY with us 🙌🏾 🙌🏾 🙌🏾 #AfricaJamaica #MorganHeritage #DiamondPlatnumz #Stonebwoy #CTBC @CTBCMusicGroup https://t.co/iEtbboTh4w— MORGAN HERITAGE (@morganheritage) October 19, 2018
Award-winning Brazilian film and music video director, Jordan Hoechlin directed the music video in Ghana last month.
On an unwavering major mission to build a stronger African and Caribbean relationship through music, the Grammy-winning group is very optimistic that the video will bridge the existing connection between Africa and the Caribbean by showcasing the similar beauty of its nature and peoples.
This project is part of the Ghana Jamaica Homecoming Festival, an initiative that was launched in July 2018. The aim was to promote music, tourism, investment, sports and cultural exchange between the two countries. And by extension, among Caribbean and African countries at large.
Africa Jamaica, another song for unity
For Morgan Heritage, “releasing ‘Africa Jamaica’ is a historic moment in our career that will forever live in our hearts. It was a joy to work with Diamond Platnumz and Stonebwoy — Africa’s best from East to West. We hope the people in Africa and around the world will love the music video.”
Both Diamond Platnumz and Stonebwoy have previously worked with the Jamaican group, on the tracks ‘Hallelujah’ and ‘Reggae Night’ respectively. ‘Hallelujah’ proved a particularly successful collaboration, with the music video for the song reaching over one million YouTube views in just 15 hours after its release.
For Diamond Platnumz, “it is always a vibe working with my brothers Morgan Heritage. This is our second song together and I am excited that we have made yet another mega-hit for our fans.”
According to Mojo Morgan of the band, “we wanted an anthem to unite Africa and the Caribbean through the power of music and cultural crossings.”