Diamonds 💠 | 5ive Songs

1. Sam Smith, “Diamonds”

💿 Love Goes • 🏷 Capitol • 🗓 2020

🏆 Academy Award and Grammy-winning musician 🎙 Sam Smith returned in 2020 with their third studio album, 💿 Love Goes.  Among the best songs from Love Goes was 🎵 “Diamonds”. The listener is blessed with lovely vocals by Smith.  They’re supported by sleek production work courtesy of 🎛 Shellback and 🎛 Oscar Görres. Matters of the heart dominate as Sam’s ex- was more about material things where they favored the relationship.  Even with lost love, “Diamonds” is spirited, not downtrodden. Beginning with the first chorus, we’re treated to a danceable groove.  On the second verse, we get more melodic variations, eliminating predictability. Where musicianship is concerned, I like how Smith begins singing in an undertone on the bridge, before rebuilding the intensity heading into the final chorus.

The chorus is quite catchy; it instantly gets stuck in your head:

“My diamonds leave with you
You’re never gonna hear my heart break
Never gonna move in dark ways
Baby, you’re cruel
My diamonds leave with you
Material love won’t fool me
When you’re not here, I can’t breathe
Think I always knew
My diamonds leave with you.”

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2. Megan Thee Stallion & Normani, “Diamonds”

💿 Birds of Prey: The Album • 🏷 Atlantic • 📅 2020

“Diamonds are a girl’s best friend / …Southern girl like me, I ain’t afraid to catch a case/ VV’s on me and I flooded out the face.” In 2020, 🎙 Megan Thee Stallion and 🎙 Normani joined forces on 🎵 “Diamonds”,  the promo single from the soundtrack, 💿 Birds of Prey: The Album. “Diamonds” is filled with mad energy and attitude. 🎛 Louis Bell and 🎛 MD$ provide the ladies with a sick backdrop – in a minor key, hard-nosed, and tough. The beat anchors things down, while the synths are ripe, particularly the low, brassy one. Post-instrumental intro, Normani commences “Diamonds,” with the aforementioned chanted chorus.

Megan follows up with surefire toughness on the over the course of two verses.  True to the script, she’s a “Super she-ro, bitch, don’t try me, ho / Bad like a villain, I pop it and then I reload.” On the second verse, she also keeps it 100 as she spits, “Come through with my girls, then beat your ass on ladies’ night.” Woo! “Diamonds” is an energetic and feisty cut with its fair share of moments.

3. Young Thug, “Diamonds”

💿 So Much Fun • 🏷 300 Entertainment • 📅 2019

“Diamonds come up to her throat / I ain’t never fuck, I’m the Pope…” Okay – this is gonna be 💿 So Much Fun! Of course, So Much Fun is 2019 album by 🏆 Grammy-nominated, idiosyncratic, melodic trap rapper, 🎙 Young Thug.  He enlists fellow melodic rapper, 🎙 Gunna, for the assist on the opener, 🎵 “Diamonds.”  🎛 Pi’erre Bourne stitches up the track.

Expectedly, “Diamonds” isn’t um, the most profound joint ever recorded, but it’s heavy on confidence, drip, drugs and sex. “Every day she tell me I’m the G.O.A.T.,” Thugga asserts, continuing, “She’d never lie to the G.O.A.T.” As for Gunna, well, “Adderall (‘Rall), mary jane keepin’ me geeked.” Woo!

4. Lil Yachty, “Lil Diamond Boy”

💿 Lil Boat 3.5 • 🏷 • 📅 2020

“I’m a lil’ diamond boy, mmm, I be shining boy, ah.” Sure, 🎙 Lil Yachty, sure.  The brief, melodic “Lil Diamond Boy” (assisted by autotune), commences the rapper’s 2020 LP, 💿 Lil Boat 3.5. Give him credit for his confidence, even if there’s nothing the least bit transcendent lyrically.  I mean, unless the likes of “Goddamn, you be grinding, boy / Ballin’ on them niggas, I feel like Zion, boy” is considered transcendent (I do heart the Zion 🏀 reference though).

Regarding the 🎛 Jay Versace-helmed production, I’m all in on that robust bass line. It’s not deep but shouldn’t we all believe in ourselves? Of course – we should all be lil’ diamond boys and girls!

5. Jaheim, “Diamond in da Ruff”

💿 Still Ghetto • 🏷 Warner • 📅 2002

“We started out like Bobby and Whitney / Justin and Britney / Then it all got ugly…” Apparently, 🎙 Jaheim, apparently! Among the gems from 💿 Still Ghetto, the 2002 album by the 🏆 Grammy-nominated R&B singer is 🎵 “Diamond in Da Ruff.” “Diamond in Da Ruff” serves up the perfect blends of contemporary soul (with ample throwback touches) and the streets, something that Jaheim has balanced brilliantly throughout the course of his career.  The production is awesome (🎛 No I.D and 🎛 X-Treme), while the vocals are a vibe in their own right.  Of course, the best part of the song is the chorus, which is incredibly rousing.

“Like when I spot a rainbow
Or see a fallin’ star
A set of twins, or a classic car
A four-leaf clover or a two dollar bill
It’s so rare that it's so unreal
I don’t know how
To get over her smile
I wonder what she’s doin’ now
I think about her every once in awhile.”