Kanye's Diamonds

The title was always 'Diamonds From Sierra Leone' but the label didn't understand what I was doing so they did their own thing. We touch on the conflict - diamonds in the blood, diamonds out in Africa - in the video. We're really going for it. -Kanye West

The reality of ice is cold. Especially coming from the only continent upon which the sun shines at a perpendicular angle every day of the year. (That's Old Skool Afrocentric trivia which may or may not be true, but sounds hip.)

The sun may or may not straight-up shine on Africa, but for sure people die delivering diamonds from the soil of Africa. Wars are fought over diamonds. The continent bleeds; it is rich in resources that the rich crave and since there's mostly nothing but poor people there, those folk are expendable. Does it matter that someone may have died so that we can bling?

Much to his credit Kanye West is raising this issue. Much to his discredit there seems to be more at work than what we are shown. First, there are two versions. Kanye's first version as a solo piece and the second version as a duo with Jay Z. Second, there is evidence that Kanye's song may be ah... (I'm trying to be objectively charitable with this), may be a remake of a song someone else did.

Both versions are included in the jukebox. The solo version focuses on Kanye delving into his personal tantrums-read the lyrics here (scroll down to the bottom). As in much of his writing, there are some very, very clever rhymes as he talks about himself (sometimes in the third person). When I first heard the verses, even though I recognized that they were meant to be rationalizations and justifications for some of his more obnoxious behavior over the last year or so, I still had to give Kanye his propers and acknowledge that he was being self-consciously self-critical, a trait that is almost unheard of for 21st century rappers.

But then I heard about the video and his plan to make it a direct expose on so-called 'conflict diamonds.' You can see the Diamonds video here. You can read about conflict diamonds here. And I said, whoa, this is going to get deep-and it wasn't just me feeling a little vertiginous. Check out Davy D here (and be sure to check out the comments at the end). Davy D is one of the most highly respected hip hop radio personalities.

Now hit the re-wind button, there's more. I heard the remake featuring Jay Z. I hope Mtume expounds for a bit on a comparison/contrast of Kanye's verse and Jay Z's verse because I don't have the insight to delve too deeply into all the references and allusions to friendships/fallouts past and present. Suffice it to say, a number of folk were really, really feeling what Jay Z had to say. What I was feeling was Kanye digging deeper on the "bling-in-the-ghetto" / "conflict-on-the-continent" diamond connection. Moreover, ya boy Kanye straight-up acknowledges that he is part of the problem, saying not just that he is addicted to flossing, but that his addiction fosters death and terror (children maimed, hands cut off) in Sierre Leone.

Whether he is serious and ultimately willing to give up blinging is a question, but even if he isn't, he has successfully done more to publicly and popularly raise questions around the issue of conflict diamonds than has anyone I can think of.

Part of the reason for Kanye's success at raising consciousness around conflict diamonds is because he has a gigantic soapbox as a result of his popularity, but another and more important part of the reason is that he has taken the time to educate himself on the issue and had the moral fortitude to stand up and be counted, even if that standing up means he's pointing a finger at his own ass (or rather at his neck, earlobes, pinkies and wherever else he sports rocks).

I don't know what motivated my man to take this step but I do know there is more than meets the eye to Kanye's conscious denouncing of conflict diamonds. You ever heard of Lupe Fiasco? Click here for an interview with Lupe. Well, it seems that Lupe is from Chicago and has a song called "Conflict Diamonds." Now before you jump to conclusions and think you know what I'm going to say next, listen to Lupe's song (it is also in the jukebox).

Those are roughly the same beats and exactly the same Shirley Bassey sample from a James Bond movie theme that she recorded beaucoup years ago. Kanye has given shouts out to Lupe. I believe (but I don't know) Kanye produced the Lupe song. Some believe that Kanye 'stole' the conflict diamonds concept and ran with it, but that theory doesn't explain Lupe's beats and the Shirley Bassey sample.

We may never know what went down, when and how, but one thing for sure, Lupe's song and Kanye's second version are working in the same mine shaft. What may have happened is that Kanye gave the beats to Lupe and both of them worked on their first versions around the same time, and then (possibly) when Kanye heard what Lupe did, Kanye cut a second version with Jay Z, which reductively meant that there would never be any conflict between Lupe and Kanye about who had the better verse because most heads would nod to Jay Z. But that's just another Negro Conspiracy Theory I'm offering.

Now listen to this interview with Kanye phoned in to a BBC radio show in London. Note that it's about fifteen minutes long and is full of interesting insights and asides, some of which bear directly on the diamonds issue, others of which are interesting just because Americans are overly-interested in the personal lives of celebrities.

Now you've heard the two Kanye versions and the Lupe version; you've (hopefully) heard the Kanye radio interview and read some of the background information including the song lyrics-did you check all the comments as well?-and, finally, you've seen the video shot in Prague. I know, I know: why Prague? I don't know. It's possibly a gigantic conceit. Why not shoot in Africa somewhere? One reason may be that it was planned before Kanye did the second version and therefore the introspective first version did not require an African setting, or maybe... hell, who knows?

And the contradictions don't stop there. The biggest issue, from a commercial standpoint is that while drama is generally good for record sales, as Jay-Z, Fifty Cent, Nas and many, many others have demonstrated: drama sells, nonetheless, the fact that Late Registration (which is the working title of Kanye's upcoming release) is, ah, really, really late is costing the record company money. How? Why? Well, it's simple: the longer Kanye takes to deliver, the more of the music is going to get out and be circulated via the internet.

You don't believe me? Well, as some Louisiana Lagniappe, check this funny-as-hell cut with Jamie Foxx called "Gold Digga," which is alleged to be the forthcoming second single from a June-scheduled album whose release date has been pushed back to August. "Gold Digga" is also in the jukebox-the box is hot this week: three diamonds and a gold digga!

I don't remember any rap song attracting this much of my attention. Like him or loathe him, Kanye is raising the bar. Whether or not he believes what he's saying, the fact that he's saying what he's saying means that millions are hearing it. On this issue of conflict diamonds, Kanye is making a tremendous contribution. Tremendous.

-Kalamu ya Salaam

PS-please read our conversation on Lauryn Hill and Kanye West.