Unlike previous lead singles such as "Umbrella," "Russian Roulette," "Only Girl (In the World)," and "We Found Love," "Diamonds" introduces Rihanna's seventh album, Unapologetic, in regal midtempo ballad style. A lavish collaboration with Benny Blanco, Sia Furler, and Stargate, it projects a feeling of recovery and conquest in the wake of a bad relationship or adverse circumstances — something conveyed with the line "I choose to be happy." Should there ever be a stage production based on Rihanna's catalog, the song — her tenth Hot 100 number one — would be a natural choice for the finale.
