The Altruistic Meaning Behind “Diamonds From Sierra Leone” by Kanye West and Jay-Z

While much of Kanye West’s most recent official releases have been either Christian-centric or inspired by Christianity, his earlier work sparingly touched on these wholesome topics. But, every so often on his first few LPs, the Chicago icon would remind fans that God was indeed part of his life.

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On his debut album The College Dropout (2004), he rebelled against the industry’s desire for music about sex and violence with the project’s seventh song “Jesus Walks.” Then, on his sophomore effort a year later, he found another way to sneak humanitarian meaning into his brash artistry.

Blood Diamonds

“Diamonds From The Sierra Leone,” released in May 2005, was a promotional single for Late Registration, West’s second studio album that arrived just months later. For the song, Ye hoped to address the topic of “blood diamonds,” which are jewels that are forcibly mined by oppressed people to ultimately fund wars and violence from their oppressors. The primary example West uses for the song is the small African nation of Sierra Leone.

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When the LP finally came out, though, it turned out Ye only included it as the final bonus track. However, he was able to write brand new verses for a remix, which included his idol Jay-Z, who ran the label he was signed to at the time, Roc-A-Fella. “Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Remix)” ended up being the thirteenth song on the official LR tracklist.

Utilizing a sample from Shirley Bassey’s “Diamonds Are Forever” for the hook, West’s verses see him discuss the conflict of interest when it comes to owning diamonds. While he is aware of the strife that miners go through to secure the diamonds, he knows that bling is a status symbol for people in his profession.

Little was known of Sierra Leone
And how it connect to the diamonds we own
When I speak of diamonds in this song
I ain’t talkin’ about the ones that be glowin’, I’m talkin’ about Roc-a-Fella, my home
My chain, these ain’t conflict diamonds
Is they, Jacob? Don’t lie to me, mane
See, a part of me sayin’ keep shinin’
How, when I know what a blood diamond is?
Though it’s thousands of miles away
Sierra Leone connect to what we go through today

Although Ye stood tall on his soapbox with his contributions, examining the inconsistencies of his lifestyle, Jay-Z’s verse did not see him budge one bit. Rapping about his businessman ideologies, Hov delivers bars comparing himself to a God amongst men.

I had to get off the boat so I could walk on water
This ain’t no tall order, this is nothin’ to me
Difficult takes a day, impossible takes a week

The Music Video

Jay-Z’s less empathetic approach still did not diminish West’s mission for the song, though. In fact, before fans even got to hear the Hov verse on the album, which mostly just added star power to the LP, Ye was able to put together the music video for the original rendition of the song.

When interviewing with MTV after the album’s release, West explained that a conversation with fellow rapper Q-Tip and Jay-Z’s video director inspired the song and its visuals.

“Mark Romanek, the director that did Jay’s “99 Problems,” and Q-Tip both brought up blood diamonds. They said, ‘That’s what I think about when I hear diamonds. I think about kids getting killed, getting amputated in West Africa.’ And Q-Tip’s like, ‘Sierra Leone,’ and I’m like, ‘Where?’ And I remember him spelling it out for me and me looking on the Internet and finding out more. I think that was just one of those situations where I just set out to entertain, but every now and then God taps me on the shoulder and says, ‘Yo, I want you to do this right here,’ so he’ll place angels in my path and one angel will lead to another angel and it’s like a treasure hunt or something. And I finally found the gold mine, which was the video.”

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When watching the music video, which has racked up 31 million views on YouTube, Ye’s depiction of the journey he details above is spot on. Accompanied by the poor souls working the diamond mines, he finds his way to God, which is a theme he particularly revisits often later in his career.

Check out the song’s visuals below, as well as the Jay-Z-assisted remix.

. Photo by Rachpoot/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

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