This ranks amongst Kanye’s early hits, having charted in 15 nations, including peaking at number 8 in Britain and being certified platinum in the United States. Moreover it earned Kanye a Grammy Award in 2006 for Best Rap Song.įurthermore the track’s official music video, which employed the talents of legendary hip-hop director Hype Williams, was nominated for the following awards:Īnd it was actually shot in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, due to Yeezy’s affinity for the architecture of the city. However, the images of rich Europeans which were captured there were, in the video, spliced with those of poor African children working in mines.25000 (1) After (1) alleged (1) American (2) american idol (1) american idol diddy (1) Arrest (1) Awards (1) beating (1) bobby brown sister trashin ray j (1) Brother (1) Carly (1) chad evelyn (1) Chad first interview (1) Chad Johnson interview (1) charged (1) Charlamagne trashin (1) Chris Brown Drake Fight (1) chris brown fight (1) Cowboys (1) custody (1) Dallas (1) DeBarge (1) debarge drug arrest (1) diamond remix (1) diddy (1) Diddy American Idol (1) diddy diss (1) Diddy they know (1) DMX (1) DMX Trashin Drake (1) Drake (1) drake fight (1) employees (1) Evelyn (1) Exwife (1) Fashioned (1) fight (1) Fight in club (1) first (1) FMF trashin (1) FreshFridays (1) Funk master flex trashin 105.1 (1) Funk Master Flex Trashin Charlamagne (1) hated it (1) Horror (1) Hot97 trashin 105. around the time this track was released), Kanye was a master at taking samples from old songs and making them into new hits. In this case it is a track entitled “Diamonds Are Forever” by Shirley Bassey, whose vocals can be heard on the intro and hook. And that particular track, which came out in 1971, was the theme song to a James Bond film (starring the late Sean Connery) of the same name. And the labels that put it out are Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Records. This is the lead single from Kanye’s second standard album, which is entitled “Late Registration”. The song officially came out three months prior to the rest of the project on. On what album does “Diamonds from Sierra Leone” appear? And as such, he bigs up the Roc-A-Fella Records’ crew, many of whom he calls out by name. But Kanye, now completely privy to what the titular phrase entails, rather uses the opportunity to address the injustice behind the acquisition of the diamonds that rich folk like himself fancy. And this is a concept which is generally touched upon in the music video – how the wealth that some people enjoy, in the First World for instance, comes via the suffering of those from much-poorer, destitute settings. Then there is the remix of this classic, which features Yeezy’s label boss Jay-Z. On that particular outing, Jigga sticks to the original concept of the tune. Second Meaning of “Diamonds from Sierra Leone” And that is because, as hinted earlier, Yeezy also uses the original version of this track as a means to brag about his wealth and success. Jay-Z’s) tendency to throw up what is popularly referred to as the Roc sign. But the said ‘diamond’ can also be read as a double entendre. Not only is her Unapologetic album dropping on Monday, but shes. Seriously, Rihanna is winning at life right now and it is a LANDSLIDE victory. And that is giving a shoutout to the Roc La Familia and its members’ (i.e. Rihanna and Kanye team up for her 'Diamonds' remix. And the said hand sign is sort of a diamond-shaped polygon, if one chooses to perceive it as such. So when Kanye talks of “throw(ing) your diamonds in the sky”, he is doing just one thing. So basically he took a very-serious sounding title and applied it to a relatively-frivolous subject, which is his come-up. And that brings us to the symbolic meaning of the track, as the ‘diamond’ is meant to point to Roc-A-Fella hand sign.