They're afraid to embrace that and embrace themselves and love themselves and do what they love and do what makes them happy." "I think a lot of people are afraid of being happy because of what others might think of it. It's fucking amazing and incredible." Kuk Harrell produced Rihanna's vocals on the song and recorded them together with Marcos Tovar. She was recording in a separate part of the world, sending back the files, we're finishing the music and then we're mixing and mastering it, and then it was out in a few days. Recalling it, in an interview with The Huffington Post, Blanco commented, "We needed to have it recorded, the beat finished, mixed and mastered in 24 hours. It's her favorite song." Phil Tan and the assistant Daniela Rivera, mixed and mastered "Diamonds". After StarGate played it to her, they called Blanco from London and told him that she liked the song: "She's flippin' out. Īfter the song was completed, they wanted to play it to Rihanna, but Blanco was skeptical about the reaction towards the song because of its slow sound. Eriksen described Blanco's style as "unorthodox, as he almost never plays the keyboards but throws in weird samples and alters them to the right pitch to go with the song." Australian singer-songwriter Sia later joined them and wrote the lyrics for "Diamonds" in 14 minutes.
Rihanna diamonds live software#
He then applied timbre and used audio software to create ghostly accompaniment lines. StarGate's Mikkel Eriksen told The New York Times that Blanco took a recorded snippet of Eriksen's singing, altered it electronically, and made it sound "dirtier". They produced the song's drum machine beat after the other instrumental music was recorded. But that's how it always happens like with me". According to Blanco, he and StarGate wanted to deviate from Rihanna's usual sound and produce as though the song would be for a rapper such as Kanye West: "It's the one that we weren't thinking Rihanna. StarGate had previously produced her singles " Don't Stop the Music" (2007) and " Only Girl (In the World)" (2010). In 2012, American songwriter and record producer Benny Blanco met with Norwegian production duo StarGate at a recording studio in New York City to write new songs, including one for Rihanna. Sia ( pictured) wrote the lyrics, while producer Benny Blanco co-wrote and co-produced "Diamonds" with StarGate. The song has been covered by various recording artists, including Josef Salvat, who released his own cover of "Diamonds" as a single. The official remix of "Diamonds" featured rapper Kanye West and was released on November 16, 2012. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) recognized it as one of the most performed songs of 20. The singer performed "Diamonds" on television shows such as Saturday Night Live and The X Factor and included it on the 777, Diamonds, Monster Tour and the Anti World Tour set lists.
Some critics believe that the heavily tattooed man intertwined with Rihanna's arm in the video resembles Chris Brown. The video received positive reviews and was praised for its imagery. The song's music video was shot by director Anthony Mandler, a frequent collaborator of Rihanna's, and depicts her in four environments that represent the elements of earth, air, water, and fire. By May 2013, it had sold over 7.5 million copies worldwide and became one of the best-selling singles of all-time. It also peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart and became Rihanna's seventh number one song in the country it was certified three-times platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). "Diamonds" was certified sextuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and sold over 3.5 million digital copies in the country. "Diamonds" topped music charts in over twenty countries, including the United States, where it became Rihanna's twelfth number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 and tied her with Madonna and The Supremes for the fifth-most number-one singles in the chart's history. The song's lyrics serve as a departure from the themes of unhealthy relationships that were on Rihanna's previous singles and contain a prominent concept of love. "Diamonds" is a mid-tempo pop, electronic and R&B ballad that features heavy synthesizers, orchestral sounds and electronic rhythms.
The song premiered on September 26, 2012, during the Elvis Duran and the Morning Show and was digitally released the following day as the lead single from Unapologetic. It was written by Sia together with its producers, Benny Blanco and StarGate. " Diamonds" is a song recorded by Barbadian singer Rihanna for her seventh studio album, Unapologetic (2012).