When Rihanna stepped into the studio to record “Diamonds,” the song already had a quiet history behind it—one that almost took it in a completely different direction.
At the time, the track didn’t feel like it belonged to her. Not yet. Built by the production duo Stargate and Benny Blanco, the instrumental carried a tone that could easily lean into darker, more introspective territory. In fact, Blanco himself wasn’t thinking about Rihanna at all when he first heard it come together. His instinct pointed somewhere else entirely.
As he later explained in an interview, the beat felt like it should belong to artists like Kanye West or Lana Del Rey—names known for their ability to sit inside moody, atmospheric production. “a Kanye song or a Lana Del Rey song,” he said, describing how naturally the sound aligned with their styles. For him, that direction made more sense.
But Stargate had a different vision.
They pushed back, insisting, “Yo, we’re giving this song to Rihanna,” a decision Blanco didn’t immediately agree with. To him, the identity of the track still leaned toward something heavier, something that didn’t quite match Rihanna’s established sound at the time. It felt like a mismatch—at least on paper.
What he didn’t realize was that the song had already traveled further than he thought.
Before Rihanna ever touched it, the instrumental had quietly made its way into the orbit of Eminem. Not just as an idea—but as something more developed. According to Blanco, Eminem had gone far enough to record vocals over the track. For a moment, “Diamonds” existed in an entirely different form—one that never saw the light of day.
Somewhere, possibly buried in a hard drive, there may still be a version of Eminem’s take on the song. But whatever direction it was heading in, it never reached the finish line. The track slipped away from that path, quietly returning to the producers who had a different plan all along.
That plan led back to Rihanna.
The Turning Point
When Rihanna finally recorded the song, everything shifted—immediately. The uncertainty that surrounded the track disappeared the moment her voice met the production. It wasn’t a gradual realization. It was instant.
“She cut the song,” Blanco recalled. “First of all, the second she cut the song, they were completely right. I was like, ‘This is the best song I’ve ever done’”.
What had once felt misplaced suddenly felt inevitable.
Her delivery reframed the entire record. The same instrumental that once sounded like it belonged to someone else now carried a clarity and emotion that defined her era. It didn’t just fit—it elevated everything around it.
A Global Moment
When “Diamonds” was released, it didn’t just perform well—it dominated. The song climbed to number one across multiple countries, becoming one of the most recognizable tracks of the early 2010s. Its simplicity, paired with its emotional weight, gave it a lasting presence that extended far beyond its initial run.
Ironically, Blanco’s original instinct wasn’t entirely wrong—it just arrived later. Kanye West eventually appeared on the official remix, closing the loop on what the song almost became.
But by then, the identity of “Diamonds” was already set.
It wasn’t a Kanye record.
It wasn’t an Eminem record.
It was Rihanna’s.
And in hindsight, it’s hard to imagine it belonging to anyone else.
