0:00 “Little is known of Sierra Leone, and how it connects to the diamonds we own.”
At the very start of the video, Kanye gives us a preface about where our diamonds come from – using child labor. Usually, these children are stolen, or captured and traded to be used as slaves for the diamond mines. They are not given any kind of protective gear to wear, and operate in fear because one wrong move can get them killed-either by the rebel soldiers overmatching them, or by a mining-related incident.
0:40 “We are the children of the blood diamonds”
Blood diamonds references the fact that these diamonds are extracted through bloodshed.
1:00 and onwards: Kanye is in Europe but the video flashes between Europe and the children in the Sierra Leone mines. Some biblical statues in Europe are shown as well.
1:46 A European man proposes to a European woman. He puts a diamond ring on her finger. For a split second, she is delighted but then the ring starts oozing blood all over her hand. The camera blurs and refocuses on a child who we can clearly tell have worked in the mines, and who appears to be standing in their hotel room. It’s almost as if the child who may or may not have died, is haunting them through that diamond.
3:16 The camera shows a statue of an angel’s face, then transitions to the child miner’s face, making the connection that these children are angels too, who have been forced to risk their lives and endure slave labor so that a rich European lady (shown in the next scene at 3:23) can buy a diamond. This scene is especially powerful because in the diamond store, the man behind the counter reaches down, and the hand of the child is in his cabinet, handing him the diamond piece that the lady wants to buy. This emphasizes how diamonds are supplied behind the scenes.
3:51 Kanye is speeding in a car though the streets of Europe. He looks at his rear-view mirror and sees a miner boy in his back seat. He then opens his car doors and jumps out 007 style. His car crashes into the diamond store. A bunch of miner kids surround Kanye who is on the ground and they help him back up. At this point, it is unknown whether or not Kanye died and joined the miner kids. They run off to a field, then into a church.
4:55 The end message that is displayed shows: “Please purchase conflict free diamonds,” as Kanye walks across a bridge somewhere in Europe.
Kanye is a well known rapper, and during the time this song was released, he was catering to those who are into rap/r&b, usually the younger, flashier crowd, those who share his fashion sense, and perhaps those who can identify themselves through Kanye’s unapologetically narcissistic and “extra” ways.
Kanye for me, has achieved two things in this one video. First, he wanted to draw attention towards the unethical practises of blood diamond mining in Sierra Leone. Given the historical context, Sierra Leone was corrupt, and rebel groups would take over diamond mines to make money to fund their operations. Kanye sheds light on where these diamonds came from and why we must not buy diamonds that came from slave labor that also helps fund terrorism. This is clear by how the video starts and ends; with plain black and white text.
Second, without the visuals of the music video, the lyrics are actually not about blood diamonds. Personally, I think he is using diamonds as a metaphor to refer to his success. When he says “diamonds are forever, they won’t leave you in the night, I have no fear that it might,” could be a reference to the fact that diamonds, or material things in general, won’t ever leave you, unlike people in his life. This may be a reason why we are so addicted to getting material things. “Diamonds are forever,” could also be referring to our guilty conscious that would haunt us forever, because there is a possibility that someone lost their life, their freedom or their family for that piece of rock. The verse that sums up the whole song for me is “R-r-r-r-r-right there stands a man, with the power to make a diamond with his bare hands.” He is a very successful artist, and has made gold and platinum selling records, as well as millions of dollars. Instead of physically mining, his creativity has allowed him to make “precious metal” from just his musical talents.
To sum it up, Kanye is letting us know that there is a price to pay for success. However, it is also important to celebrate our successes, to never be apologetic about the good things that happen in our lives. At the same time, we must remember the less fortunate, we must stand up for injustice when we have the platform, voice, or privilege of doing so. He is also explicitly showing us that human exploitation is wrong, and a good way to stop this is by refusing to buy diamonds that come from conflict zones. If there’s no demand for them, then there’s no money to be made, and therefore no incentive to continue these unethical human exploitation methods.
The silver lining is that these blood diamond operations have since been stopped, although these mines are still in operation, and miners who apply to work get paid very little and work in dangerous conditions. With this said, diamond mining in Sierra Leone nowadays is therefore legitimate, so it technically wouldn’t be unethical to buy. A good movie that explores this subject is “Blood Diamond” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou (Strong Language and Violence)
I enjoyed reading your blog, the analyses are insightful. I especially liked the part where you explained the parallels between visual and lyrics, tracing the roots for child labor exploitation—people are “addicted to material things”. The misuse of labor is one of the inevitable drawbacks of Capitalism. Where there is greed, there is exploitation.
What I took from this song is that everything has a price to pay. The juxtaposition between the European couple and the miner worker is a great way to say that the seemingly innocent diamond ring is shadowed by the dark fact that young workers sacrificed their lives for little pay, all to obtain diamonds for accessories. This is something that we, especially in the U.S., don’t come to realize, as many of our products – phones, computers, clothing – are made outside the borders of our country in grueling assembly lines full of exhausted and cheated workers.