Kanye West's 10 Greatest Samples Of All-Time
6. Diamonds Are Forever – Shirley Bassey
One of West’s greatest strengths as a musician is his fearlessness. Whether he’s invading the stage at a major music award ceremony or espousing his controversial beliefs, there’s no doubt that he doesn’t care what people think about him.
This attitude has definitely helped him get ahead in the music industry, not least for his confidence to choose even the most iconic of songs to sample.
Despite his experience sampling a number of popular songs for his debut album The College Dropout, the decision to choose Shirley Bassey's Diamonds Are Forever as the basis for Diamonds From Sierra Leone on his sophomore release, Late Registration, was still extremely risky.
However, West masterfully used the song's notoriety to his advantage and drew attention to the humanitarian crisis surrounding the blood diamond industry.
He also made the bold decision to specifically emphasise the ethical issues around the glamorisation of precious stones in the hip-hop scene despite the human cost of obtaining them.
The song's popularity was further increased by the production of a remixed version featuring an additional verse from West's long-time friend and collaborator Jay-Z.
The track was not only well received critically but, in addition to winning the award for Best Rap Song at the 2006 Grammy Awards, even got a glowing endorsement from Bassey herself.