Katana VentraIP

Diamonds from Sierra Leone

"Diamonds from Sierra Leone" (originally "Diamonds") is a song by American rapper Kanye West from his second studio album, Late Registration (2005). The song was produced by West, Jon Brion, and Devo Springsteen. The producers, with the exception of Brion, are credited as songwriters alongside John Barry and Don Black, who both received credit due to their composition being sampled. The song was initially centered around the demise of Roc-A-Fella Records, though was later re-recorded once West learned about blood diamonds in Sierra Leone. West premiered the song for Hot 97 on April 20, 2005, before it was sent to US mainstream radio stations the following month as the album's lead single, through Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam. In the chorus, West interpolated the phrase "forever ever, forever ever" from OutKast's "Ms. Jackson".

For Diamonds found in Sierra Leone, see Mining in Sierra Leone § Diamonds.

"Diamonds from Sierra Leone"

May 2005 (2005-05)

2004-05

3:58

A hip hop song, "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" features a sample of "Diamonds Are Forever", performed by Shirley Bassey. Lyrically, it sees West connect his material wealth to Sierra Leone's blood diamonds and the resulting civil war. The song received generally positive reviews from music critics, who mostly complimented West's lyricism. They often emphasized the rapper's focus on his status, while some critics praised the sampling of "Diamonds Are Forever". The song was awarded Best Rap Song at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards and won one of the Pop Awards at the 2006 BMI London Awards, before being named by Slant Magazine as among the best singles of the 2000s decade.


In the United States, the song peaked at number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 21 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in 2005. "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" reached number eight in the United Kingdom, alongside attaining top 20 positions in Denmark, Finland, Ireland, and Norway. It has since been certified platinum and silver in the US and the UK by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and British Phonographic Industry (BPI), respectively. An accompanying black and white music video was released on June 15, 2005. In the video, scenes of children experiencing rough diamond mining in Sierra Leone are displayed, being accompanied at points by a De Beers commercial and cuts of West wandering around Prague. It received a nomination for Outstanding Music Video at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards Japan. West performed the song at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and the Glastonbury Festival in 2006 and 2015, respectively.


A remix of "Diamonds from Sierra Leone", featuring Jay-Z, was sent to US radio stations by Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam on June 15, 2005. The remix also samples Bassey's "Diamonds Are Forever" and sees Jay-Z rapping in the second part. Lyrically, it includes references to deaths of civilians in blood diamond mines and tension around consumerism. The remix garnered mostly positive responses from critics; they commonly appreciated the subject matter and some commended Jay-Z's appearance. It was ranked amongst best-of lists by multiple publications, including Dagsavisen and Rockdelux in 2005. West and Jay-Z performed the remix at the 2005 Summer Jam.

Composition and lyrics[edit]

Musically, "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" is a hip hop song.[11] The song contains a sped-up and looped sample of Bassey's "Diamonds Are Forever", written by Barry and Black, the former of whom also arranged and conducted the recording.[2][3][12] According to West, the song reminds him of "athletes running", "somebody boxing", and "working out when it gets really hype"; he envisioned it as "the soundtrack to your life".[13] The song features a heavy groove.[14] It has a lush arrangement that is constructed around the Bassey sample,[12] including keyboards accompanied by strings and harpsichords.[2][9][15] The song contains guitars, contributed by record producer Dave Tozer.[2] Live drums are also present, which were played by Gondry.[2] West said he expresses "the musicality" on the song by providing "40 bars", rather than putting out "something that was more radio".[13] On the song's chorus, West's tone ascends.[15]


In the lyrics of "Diamonds from Sierra Leone", West links the material wealth that fame brought him with Sierra Leone's civil war and the illegal diamond trade causing it,[7][16][17] alongside showing off his status.[18] West looks at potentially receiving his desired level of praise, asking: "If you talkin' 'bout classics, do my name get brought up?"[19] On the chorus, West offers his "forever ever ever EVER ever" loyalty to Roc-A-Fella.[15] He recalls when he lost New Artist of the Year to Gretchen Wilson at the American Music Awards of 2004 on the song, criticizing himself for throwing a tantrum over it.[5][20] West also addresses his relationship with Dash: "You know the next question, 'Yo, where's Dame at?'/ This track's the Indian dance to bring our reign back."[10]

Music video[edit]

In May 2005, it was reported that West was in Prague shooting a music video for "Diamonds from Sierra Leone", which was filmed over a three-day period.[13][14] West explained that due to his heavy interest in architecture and art, he felt attracted to the city's sculptures, cathedrals, and stone floors.[13] He elaborated by revealing the content as being set to be shot in black and white, representing "the music in 'Diamonds'", and said it "gives you a timeless feel".[13] West later recalled that he came up with the video's concept after learning about blood diamonds.[7] The music video was directed by Hype Williams, contrasting with West having served as the director of numerous visuals around 2005.[14] It premiered through BET's series Access Granted on June 15, 2005, five days prior to being played for MTV's Total Request Live.[7]


At the beginning of the music video, children are portrayed going through the horrific experience of diamond mining in Sierra Leone while watched closely by abusive supervisors.[36] A supervisor holds up a diamond, before the scene transitions to mountains and then West standing around in a church. Footage of the children mining are juxtaposed with shots of West rapping in the empty streets of Prague, as well as a De Beers diamond commercial showing a wealthy man proposing to a woman with a ring that turns into blood after being placed on her finger.[14][36][37] West goes on to drive his expensive car into a jewelry store, though jumps out before the vehicle makes impact.[36] Shortly afterwards, he plays piano in a church as children run towards him. The video concludes with a message that reads "Please purchase conflict-free diamonds."[36] It was nominated for the awards of Best Male Video and Outstanding Music Video at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards Japan and the 2005 NAACP Image Awards, respectively.[35][38]

Commercial performance[edit]

"Diamonds from Sierra Leone" entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 94 for the chart issue dated May 21, 2005.[39] The song reached number 83 in its third week on the Hot 100, before declining 11 places back to number 94 on the issue dated June 11, 2005.[40][41] The following week, the song rebounded by 36 positions to number 58 on the chart.[42] The song fell down the Hot 100 again by five places to number 63 on the issue dated June 25, 2005, though eventually surpassed the rebound position by peaking at number 43 in its 12th week on the chart.[43][44] "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" lasted for 19 weeks on the Hot 100.[45] The song further peaked at number 21 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for the issue date of July 2, 2005.[46] It debuted at number 18 on the US Hot Rap Songs chart issue dated May 14, 2005, ultimately climbing to number 11 three weeks later.[47][48] The song further peaked at number 24 on the US Rhythmic chart.[49] On November 20, 2018, "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for pushing 1,000,000 certified units in the US.[50]


The track was most successful in the United Kingdom, charting at number eight on the UK Singles Chart, which it spent 16 weeks on.[51] For 2005, the track ranked at number 98 on the year-end chart.[52] On October 4, 2019, the track was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales of 200,000 units in the UK.[53] As of October 24, it stands as West's 39th most successful track of all time in the country.[54] The track experienced similar performance in Denmark, peaking at number nine on the Tracklisten Top 40.[55] It reached numbers 16 and 17 on the Norwegian VG-lista Singles Top 20 and Finnish Singles Chart, respectively.[56][57] The track also attained a top 20 position in Ireland, peaking at number 19 on the Irish Singles Chart.[58] It was less successful in Sweden, charting at number 30 on the Sverigetopplistan Singles Top 100.[59]

Recorded at (Hollywood, CA) and Grandmaster Recording Studios (Hollywood, CA)

The Record Plant

Mixed at (Los Angeles, CA)

Larrabee North Studios

Information taken from Late Registration liner notes.[2]


Recording


Personnel

at MTV (archived from 2009)

"Diamonds from Sierra Leone" Lyrics

at MTV (archived from 2009)

"Diamonds from Sierra Leone" (Remix) Lyrics