"Diamonds" is a song by American rapper

Megan Thee Stallion Megan Jovon Ruth Pete (born February 15, 1995), known professionally as Megan Thee Stallion (pronounced "Megan the Stallion"), is an American rapper and songwriter. Originally from Houston, Texas, she first garnered attention when videos of her ...

and American singer

Normani Normani Kordei Hamilton ( ; born May 31, 1996) is an American singer and dancer. She auditioned as a solo act for the American television series ''The X Factor'' in 2012, after which she became a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, which wen ...

. It was released on January 10, 2020, by

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

, as the lead single from the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

to the film ''

Birds of Prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predators ...

''. The song samples "

Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" is a jazz song introduced by Carol Channing in the original Broadway production of '' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'' (1949), with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Leo Robin. Marilyn Monroe version American actr ...

" by

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

, making this the first song to directly sample the jazz classic according to the music blog

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...

Background and composition

The collaboration was announced in December 2019. The single art was unveiled and the song was released on January 10, 2020. "Diamonds" was written by Edgar Machuca,

Jule Styne Jule Styne (; born Julius Kerwin Stein; December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was an English-American songwriter and composer best known for a series of Broadway musicals, including several famous frequently-revived shows that also became s ...

, Kameron Glasper,

Leo Robin Leo Robin (April 6, 1900 – December 29, 1984) was an American composer, lyricist and songwriter. He is probably best known for collaborating with Ralph Rainger on the 1938 Oscar-winning song "Thanks for the Memory," sung by Bob Hope and Shirl ...

Louis Bell Louis Russell Bell (born May 27, 1982) is an American record producer, vocal producer, songwriter, and mixing engineer. Bell's work includes production for Post Malone, Camila Cabello, Halsey, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, 5 Seconds of Summer, T ...

Madison Love Madison Emiko Love is an American singer and songwriter. She is signed to Artist Publishing Group. Early life Madison Emiko Love was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Her father, Roger Love, is a vocal coach. Love moved to New York ...

, Megan Thee Stallion, Mike Arrow, Normani, Santeri Kauppinen, and

Tayla Parx Taylor is a unisex given name mainly in use in English-speaking countries, including England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The name Taylor also has been well used for characters on American and now some Australi ...

; it was produced by Bell and MD$. "Diamonds" is a pop and hip hop song with lyrics of female empowerment and moving on from a relationship.

Critical reception

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

''s Erica Gonzales wrote that "the high-energy track is a perfect fit for Megan's razor-sharp flow, while Normani gracefully interpolates Marilyn Monroe's "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" in the melody". ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' called it "a gem of a song". Madeline Roth of

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

described the song as "a total flex anthem". ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' named it one of the five best songs of the week. '' XXL'' magazine also named it one of the best new tracks of the week.

Music video

A music video for the song was released on January 10, 2020. The video sees the artists in a "dark" amusement house spliced with scenes of the film, including a sequence of

Harley Quinn Harley Quinn is a character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Quinn was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm as a comic relief henchwoman for the supervillain Joker (character), Joker in ''Batman: The An ...

which was inspired by Marilyn Monroe's version of "

" from the 1953 film '' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes''.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

. *

– vocals, songwriter *

Normani Kordei Hamilton Normani Kordei Hamilton ( ; born May 31, 1996) is an American singer and dancer. She auditioned as a solo act for the American television series ''The X Factor'' in 2012, after which she became a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, which wen ...

– vocals, songwriter *

– background vocals *Edgar Machuca – songwriter *

– songwriter *Kameron Glasper – songwriter *

– songwriter *

– songwriter *Mike Arrow – songwriter *Santeri Kauppinen – songwriter *

– songwriter *

– songwriter, producer *MD$ – producer *Jaime P. Velez – engineering, vocal production *Michele Mancini – mastering *

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is an American mixing engineer.Daley, Dan (May 2005).Manny Marroquin. ''Sound on Sound''. Retrieved February 10, 2007 He has received ten Grammy awards for his professional audio work. Life and career M ...

– mixing

Charts

Release history

References

{{authority control 2020 singles 2020 songs DC Extended Universe music Marilyn Monroe Megan Thee Stallion songs Normani songs Song recordings produced by Louis Bell Songs written by Kam Parker Songs written by Louis Bell Songs with music by Jule Styne Songs with lyrics by Leo Robin Songs written by Madison Love Songs written by Megan Thee Stallion Songs written by Normani Songs written by Tayla Parx Songs written for films Pop-rap songs