JAYO ft: Kieron Boothe - Diamonds (Official Video)

JAYO is certainly a talent to keep your eyes on in 2022. Having already been backed as a BBC Hotlisted artist and met acclaim from CLASH via their popular playlists, JAYO’s effortless flows and earworm melodies return, this time via ‘Diamonds’. The single features East-London hailing artist Kieron Boothe who has been lauded by Trench and GRM Daily.

Influenced by an array of artists, including Chip, Skepta, Bon Iver and Kendrick Lamar, the single switches from free-flowing bars to neat melodies that wrap around trap hats and a commanding beat. A sample that discusses the distressing narrative around the diamond trade bookends the track, and sets the scene for JAYO’s lyrics.

Discussing the release JAYO explains: “After watching the movie ‘Blood Diamond’, I was inspired to speak on the topic in my music. I addressed how Diamonds can often bestow and represent a different meaning when imported from Africa into Western culture. For some of us, they represent a high unattainable class. For others, they represent our hard work and labour, which can be ironically tied to the blood that was spilled to source the diamonds in Africa in the first place. For some, it's sort of like reclaiming what their people are owed... It's all down to interpretation”.