For veteran dancehall recording artiste Macka Diamond, questions surrounding the quality of her career are never-ending. However, according to the female deejay, what she described as the negative energy directed at her has no significance, as she usually ends up with signs of reassurance that her decades-long run in music was not without its high moments.
In the latest saga involving her and a colleague, Macka Diamond’s calling was brought under scrutiny by Tulox of Twin of Twins, who claimed the entertainer ruined her career by turning to TikTok and choosing to collaborate with a certain user from the platform. Tulox suggested that Macka Diamond’s choice of collaborator was only to send tongues wagging and expressed that the attention garnered from said collaboration has now worn off.
“Where is Macka Diamond now, after she carry fi her career go dash weh ova TikTok? A sing song wid Derrick [TikToker with whom Macka Diamond recently collaborated]…thinking say all yuh affi do a get people talking. Are they still talking?” Tulox asked. In a fiery response, Macka Diamond took to social media to warn Tulox to steer clear.
“Twins of Twins boy, you have no career. You don’t have no song like weh me have…You nuh have no career yuh haffi tun blogger,” she said in an expletives-laden retaliation. “Everything unu tek set pan me and my career. Tell the people dem wah kinda hit song yuh have.”
But moments after that rant, Macka Diamond caught wind of a video of internationally-renowned rapper Cardi B vibing to her 2013 hit single Dye Dye. She took that endorsement as validation of her hard work in music. She went on to say that naysayers forcing her to retire before she’s ready do not understand how impactful her work has been globally.
“Is not the first time Cardi B showing love to my songs because she vibed to Bun Him already but this one hit differently for me because it came right at the time when this boy a question my career. Dye Dye is resurfacing and for some reason, since TikTok gave me my artiste page and I re-recorded the song, it has blown up over there,” she told the Jamaica Observer. “Is like she see the whole negative energy wid da bredda deh and was saying, ‘Oh no, I know Macka.’ It was kinda like she was sending me love and support.”
Speaking of TikTok, the entertainer shared that while many have called her out for choosing one of the platform’s most popular local figures to partner with on a track, the effort has paid dividends as she has watched her following grow since that single.
“TikTok is the only platform where music a take off now. A lot of artistes songs go viral over there and a lot of entertainers get put on through TikTok. 2001 there was no platform like this and so I’m using the tool to introduce myself to new audiences and nothing is wrong with that,” she shared. “I don’t know why people always trying to put me into retirement. People in this business are just bad mind and dem want to keep me down so they play mind games. They are scared and so dem try fi war me all the time. Dem fight me and mi nah give up and that’s what’s killing dem. Mi never tell God fi make me look so good and still can do wah me love while some a dem miserable.”
Macka Diamond says as someone who has held her own in the dancehall sphere for several years, it is hurtful to continue hearing and absorbing the negativity aimed at her and her lifelong decision to do music. She said she cannot fathom why her fellow countrymen would not embrace her longevity with the same support she receives outside of Jamaica.
“The bad picture they paint of me and then polish it off sometimes with the comments, ‘Oh Macka, yuh old but you still look good,’ or ‘yuh still a hold it, Macka.’ Mi nuh wah hear dat, mi tired a it,” she said. “Macka Diamond came on the scene in 2001 and she still exists and she still finding hit songs and reaching people globally. When dem talking, I try to analyse and figure out what dem talking about because mi know me have hits.”