In 2012, Rihanna‘Diamonds’ soared to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the week ending December 1. It became one of the best-selling singles of all time and earned Rihanna her 12th #1 single. At the time, “Diamonds” tied her up with Madonna and The Supremes for the fifth-most No. 1 singles in chart history.
“Diamonds” was written by Sia and her producers, Benny Blanco and Stargate. After its radio premiere in September 2012, it served as the lead single from Rihanna’s seventh studio album, without apologizing. Blanco says the song came overnight and was bought for Eminem before landing in the hands of Rihanna a few months later. Initially, he and Stargate had Lana Del Rey Where Kanye West in mind while doing the rhythm.
Blanco details the creation of “Diamonds” and the impact the song had on his career below:
“I went to the origin [the studio] with Stargate. We were in New York and just doing one song… I was like, ‘Man, we really should do something for Lana Del Rey’, that’s what I think it was. We did the beat, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is so crazy!’
I gave the beat to Paul Rosenberg to give it to Eminem. I didn’t think about it, and then Sia was [in the studio] writing songs, and she was about to leave for the night. She called a car, and the car [was] will be there in 15 minutes. So in 12 minutes, she wrote the whole song and did the harmonies and everything – everything on the spot.
We had the song for a while, then all of a sudden it was like, ‘Yo bro! Do you remember this song? We cut it. Rihanna wants to cut it now!’
Then later I got a call and Stargate was like, ‘Yo, Rihanna’s gonna cut it.’ They’re in London, like they’re gonna cut it right now! And I was like, ‘Really?’ I was like, ‘I didn’t even know this song was so good?’ And they say, ‘Bro, you have to trust me! This thing is going to be crazy! They will cut it. They want to turn it off!
They cut it, and they was like, ‘You gotta spin it [“Diamonds”] around in a day. We publish this. And we’re like, ‘Holy shit!’ I think Stargate just sent it. I remember I was with Sia when we got him. We were in a random furniture store. We heard it and we were like, ‘Holy shit! It’s so crazy!
We didn’t even go to the studio with it [Rihanna] cut it… that’s the rarest thing. I think it’s the only song in my career that I don’t have. Maybe another… Usually I record everything, mix everything and do everything… but they did. It just happened, you know?
I met [Rihanna] once in passing. It’s so weird for me because usually I have such a good relationship with all the artists. Most of the artists I work with spend the night at my house when they’re in town. Most of the artists I work with are my best friends, they know my family and come to dinner. Hey Rihanna, if you’re reading this!
When he came out, Paul Rosenberg hit me and said, ‘What the fuck?’ Eminem wanted to cut this song!’ I was like, ‘What! I haven’t heard from you for months! When we were doing the song, I was like, ‘Yo, this can be so good for Kanye too!’ We tried to send it to Kanye, and I don’t think anything happened. Then he ended up getting on the remix of the song. It’s just weird how the world works, you know?
It really resonates with a lot of people, and she made it so good. It’s the ultimate in “not always knowing”. I had no idea this song was going to be important. I had no idea what the future was going to be for this song. We just made this song, and I trusted all the people around me, and she made the song something so special that I could never have imagined. She’s so talented, and the chance to work with her, even remotely, is a fucking dream.
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Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in 2017.