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ON THE RISE
Emerging hip-hop artist Queen Diamond knows there’s no time like the present to get to it. Her latest single, “Money Wave/It’s Going Down,” pays homage to the grind, reminding listeners that Queen Diamond knows her worth—and you should, too.
Blending stories with beats, Queen Diamond tunes into her eternal confidence to deliver songs full of emotion and life lessons. From a young age, she was immersed in music, starting with her local “praise and worship” team choir. “We also had a library across the street from my house where my friends used to go over to breakdance and sing. I was singing, and they were breakdancing. I loved to do that growing up,” Queen Diamond adds.
It wasn’t until a major medical scare that Queen Diamond refocused on her primary love: music. According to the artist, her life focus changed after a brush with cancer and a separate hospital incident that caused her to lose sight in both eyes. “After something like that, I wanted to do everything I could do that I didn’t do growing up. Life happens—you try to make it through life and put things aside you love to do. This is me coming back to it.”
Growing up, Queen Diamond would frequently write in journals and listen to her grandmother’s jukebox. “Recently, I was messing around with music, and one of my friends said I could do it. I kept saying, ‘I’m too old,’ but then I joined my husband who raps and loves music, too. I really started getting interested in music again,” explains Queen Diamond of her return to music.
Together, she and her husband recorded a single, “We Got Us,” which inspired Queen Diamond to go out and create her solo project.
Creating music isn’t just a solo project for Queen Diamond—it’s a full-blown family affair. “What’s so fun is every time I go into the studio to write a song, my kids support me. I always kept my children in music—they all sing and dance and rap. They motivate me so much more. My son also coaches me like ‘add this’ or ‘that’s fire.’ I want to do a song together someday,” shares the proud mother of three.
When it comes to writing music, Queen Diamond first finds inspiration, then writes her songs, and, finally, searches for the perfect beat to wrap it all together. “When I hear the right beat, I match my songs to the beats. Then I look at how I’m going to do the song and go into the studio and record it,” she shares of the process.
“Money Wave” was born from a natural inclination. As Queen Diamond explains it, “I do a lot of business—I’m an entrepreneur and I do public speaking. People are always coming to me on ways to make money or set up a business. I just started having these thoughts in my head and wrote it down. These are the things I do and share with other people on being successful in business and life. They want to know how to make money, so why not write a song about it?”
“‘It’s about to go down’ means me coming out in rare form. They always see me as that business woman and mother, but I’m more than that. It’s about to go down and I’m a show you how,” adds Queen Diamond.
The song was so intuitive, it came together quickly—in all of 18 minutes while she was waiting for the sound engineer to set up her recording session for three other songs. It was a serendipitous creation, too. “The night before, I was listening to beats thinking I love this beat but have nothing to go with it. Then the song came out of the blue while I was waiting for the engineer.”
It all adds up. After all, “Money Wave” is a motivational, inspiring, go-get-it anthem. “It’s upbeat and inspiring people to go out and get it,” quips Queen Diamond. “People need to live in freedom every day. Whatever you want to do in life, do it. It doesn’t matter how old you are, what obstacles might be in the way. Live in freedom every day.”
Queen Diamond insists that “we can’t control other people’s actions, but we can create doors for ourselves, tables for ourselves. We don’t have to wait for someone to ask us to sit at their table.” And no truer words have been spoken.
In addition to “Money Wave,” listeners can look forward to two more singles by Queen Diamond, “It’s My Birthday” and “Pleasure and Pain.”
Make sure to stay connected to Queen Diamond on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.
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ON THE RISE
Clinton Brand III – better known as CBIII – is a California-based rapper. His new single, titled “I Won’t Quit,” is a motivational and relatable message for everyone “going through it.”
The track, with a beat by Tunna Beats, has a Blurry Face vibe. It starts with a violin and the soft “ahh”s of featured singer Alex Brinkley. When the beat drops, piano, bass and drums enter along with CBIII’s lyrical meditations on “overthinking, contemplating, and debating” why he “won’t quit.”
As the final line makes clear, the song is a study in contradictory mindsets. There’s the fear of failure – what if I’m not good enough? – and then the contrast of relentlessness as stated in the title.
The lyrics of the song’s final quattrain are especially strong. Beginning with an example of CBIII’s wordplay (phenomenal and astronomical anomaly), the final message is one of inspiration: I’m tired of this, so I’m going to make it better.
This struggle with nagging self-doubt and overthinking makes “I Won’t Quit” very relatable. In the end, CBIII wants listeners to be inspired, to not give in when they find themselves in similar circumstances.
Brand’s inspiration for “I Won’t Quit” was intensely personal. Following the death of his parents at a young age, he was raised by his grandmother and then was placed in foster care. A recent visit found his grandmother’s memory fading; this was painful, considering that she had once been his biggest supporter.
This episode left him feeling abandoned, in a dark place.
He says, “I wrote the song ‘I Won’t Quit’ because at that time I was suicidal. I didn’t have nobody else to turn to because my grandma didn’t really care anymore.”
The vulnerability expressed in the lyrics made CBIII unsure if he wanted to release the song at all. He says, “I actually sat on the song for like five months before even thinking about releasing it because it’s so close to home that I wasn’t even sure if I was going to have the courage to share it.”
Now that the song is out, its vulnerability is its strength. Brand’s struggle is real, and the general contours – missing family support, doubting yourself, knowing you need to persevere – will be familiar to many.
In addition to his personal desire to live up his dream of greatness, Brand has another reason not to give up: his younger brother, who is currently in foster care. Knowing his brother looks up to him, he wants to remind him that giving in to doubt is the easy way out.
Brand says, “I want to encourage him, to show him that if you set your mind to it, bro, there’s nothing you can’t do.”
In the end, CBIII wants listeners to learn from his pain, to ask themselves, “What if I don’t give up?”
Stream “I Won’t Quit” now, wherever you listen to music.
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