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. An accompanying black and white music video was released on June 15, 2005. 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. "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" reached number eight in the United Kingdom, alongside attaining top 20 positions in Denmark, Finland, Ireland, and Norway. 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. 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. They often emphasized the rapper's focus on his status, while some critics praised the sampling of "Diamonds Are Forever". The song received generally positive reviews from music critics, who mostly complimented West's lyricism.
Lyrically, it sees West connect his material wealth to Sierra Leone's blood diamonds and the resulting civil war.
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.Ī hip hop song, "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" features a sample of " Diamonds Are Forever", performed by Shirley Bassey. The song was initially centered around West's group of friends, though was later re-recorded once he learned about blood diamonds in Sierra Leone. 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 produced by West, Jon Brion, and Devo Springsteen. " Diamonds from Sierra Leone" (originally " Diamonds") is a song by American rapper Kanye West from his second studio album, Late Registration (2005). 2005 single by Kanye West "Diamonds from Sierra Leone"
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