SHE’S
BACK.
NASTY STREET
LYRICIST AND BUZZING -POP STAR. DON’T ASK EBONY DIAMOND TO CHOOSE BETWEEN THE
TWO. SHE’S BOTH. AND WHATEVER THE HELL ELSE SHE WANTS TO BE.
It’s
3 a.m. and Ebony Diamond is snuggled up on a snakeskin leather chaise long in The
Royal Suite at The Ritz London, exhausted from last night’s Wembley gig and
late night recording session, which ended at 4 p.m., and todays 12- hour POWER
magazine shoot. The 22- year- old rapper and singer is deglammed from her
diamond encrusted stage outfits to a simple black velour tracksuit and pink
fluffy slippers. Her makeup wiped off and her natural hair falling loosely
around her perfectly picturesque face.
Three
years after signing with hip hop legend King Killer’s record label; two years
after selling 3,000,000 copies of her #1 hit ‘Girl’s got em’ back’ and possibly becoming the World’s greatest
female rap star at such a young age, Diamond is dropping her 3rd
studio album, ‘Hot, Cool n Vicious’ this
Winter. She’s calling it the “most personal” collection of music yet. Judging
by her spontaneous trips to Africa to help children, and split up from iconic
basketball player Jett Jenson, ‘Hot, Cool
n Vicious’, will hopefully contain a little bit of how Ebony has been
feeling the past year.
Last
November, Diamond threw a couple of frenzied verses on ‘Jungle for Triumph’, a
viral YouTube hit by London grime girl group CRUNK. While in ‘album mode’, she
spent 2014 and spring of 2015 killing remixes to ‘Lost Choice’ by Panther, ‘Rebel
Riot’ by Gangsta G, and most notably, Lil K’s ‘Money for her Way’. That’s on
top of her own tracks ‘I Got It’ and the cutthroat ‘Streets for A Living’. Her
most recent singles from her new album- the soft and reflective song ‘Altered
Promises’ and the comically sexual ‘Whisper my Dirt’- display a versatility
unlike any other artist at the moment. King Killer knows her new and up and coming
album will be unlike any other “I’m real excited for everyone to hear it, Eb
has gone back to her roots for this album. The last album showed her diversity,
how she can make a straight hood/ club banger and at the same time still be
dominant in the female pop and rap industry. Now that she has tested the water,
and given herself a break, she’s back rapping about important things to her,
and hoping others can relate, a bit like her first single ‘Girl’s got em’ back’”
As
the night goes on, we talk about the misconceptions of ‘Hot, Cool n Vicious’, feminism, and the guilt that comes with
fame.
King Killer states
your going back to your roots on the new album, do you agree?
Yes,
and no. Many people think I went through a stage of being ‘too pop’ and only
producing club bangers, well that’s how [members of the media] felt, but I don’t
think that’s what I did. I’ve never stopped rapping; I’ve never stopped doing
freestyles; I’ve never stopped doing remixes and features; I’ve never stopped
raising the bar lyrically. I understand and respect people’s opinions, however
I think they are just taken aback with how open I am on this new album. I still
have some party songs on there, but lyrically, it’s much more connected to me
and enlightens people on things they maybe never knew about me. I think that’s why
Killer maybe thinks I am going back to my roots, but I’ve always been evolving
[laughs].
You’ve said that
its probably the most personal album you’ve done to date, what are you
addressing about your past and present that you haven’t before Ebony?
My
family, loss, guilt... I’ve struggled with a lot of guilt for being so young.
Guilt over what?
I’m
constantly busy. I wouldn’t change my life for anything or anyone, and I am so
grateful for the opportunities I’ve been given, but I just wish I could manage
to see my family more often. I’ll be in Tokyo one week, then South America
touring the next. I’ve been in London for a few days before and not even had
time to pop for lunch with my mam, it’s unsettling.
You were raised in
South London right? Did your upcoming have anything to do with your outlook on
women and inspire you for ‘Girl’s got em’ back’ because you rap some pretty
feminist bars?
Yes,
I’m sure my upbringing has played a tremendous part of my outlook on life. I
was brought up in the ‘rough’ end of South London, men were constantly
downgrading women, I saw it everyday of my life. My mam tried her best to
shield us from our abusive father but I was too intelligent to be hid away from
what was really happening. [laughs with saddened look on face] When I first
started writing my raps, and especially on ‘Girl’s
got em’ back’ I had a strong dislike for men! At 17, I’d just come out of a
relationship with someone that didn’t want me to succeed and make my own money,
and I had my dad telling me that women are suppose to be the stereotypical ‘housewife’.
I wanted something bigger than that, and with my first single, I wanted other
women to know there should be no boundaries as to what they can do, as long as
they believed in themselves. No-one believed in me when I was young, I just had
to do it for myself. I wouldn’t think of myself as a feminist, but I definitely
think I inspire young women to empower themselves, and don’t stand for no shit.
Do you think ‘Girl’s got em’ back’ was so successful because
of the empowering message for women behind it then?
I’m
sure that played a huge part. I mean, I know I can spit bars, but I’m positive I
wouldn’t have had that sort of response if my first single was just about boys,
and clubbing.
Do you think your
new album is different to your first single? In terms of lyrical content?
I’d
like to think its better than ever but we will just have to see what the public
think… I’ve gone into more detail about my personal life. When I’m rapping
versus for some of the best hip hop stars in the World, I don’t tend to speak
about problems and occasions that have happened in my own life. It’s more
general. But I hope it still connects with the audience as much as my past
music has.
You’ve released
two singles from it already- ‘Altered Promises’ and ‘Whisper my Dirt’. When I
listened to them, I realized they couldn’t be more different…
Yes,
I know [giggles]. I wanted to show how diverse I could be. ‘Whisper my Dirt’ is
still personal to me if you listen to the lyrics, and I wrote ‘Altered Promises’
when I was going threw a tough time, so they both mean quite a lot to me. I’d
like to think I’ve always been unpredictable, and I love keeping my fans
guessing!
After
we finished chatting, Ebony got up and gave me a hug, she told me she had to
catch up on her beauty sleep and ‘recharge her batteries’, which is undoubtedly
incorrect because she is the most stunning, pleasant young lady I have ever had
the opportunity to meet…
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