"Diamond Boy (DTM)" is a song by American singer-songwriter SZA from Lana (2024), the reissue of her second studio album SOS (2022). It is an R&B love song, with an instrumental backed by guitar plucks, drums, keyboards, and a sub-bass bassline. The song is about the narrator's passionate devotion to a lover, whom she compares to a shiny diamond. Sensual in tone, she invites him to be physically intimate, and she asks him if she is "doing too much".[1] SZA's vocals are soft for most of the song; in the last verse, she raps.
"Diamond Boy (DTM)" is the fourth track of Lana, released on December 20, 2024. The song peaked at number 60 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Over a year before its release, it was previewed in the outro for the music video of the single "Snooze". A few critics wrote positively about the song in reviews of Lana, praising it for its production and the lyrics' relatability. SZA performed "Diamond Boy (DTM)" multiple times before its official release, mainly during certain concerts of the SOS Tour (2023–2024).
Background
SZA first announced a deluxe edition of her second studio album, SOS (2022), on social media upon the album's release.[2] She continued to reveal more details in 2023; in August, she told Variety that its tracklist would consist of scrapped songs alongside post-album tracks.[3] She also announced that the deluxe edition had expanded into a bigger project akin to a "whole 'nother" album. SZA named it Lana.[4]
The music video for the sixth SOS single, "Snooze", premiered in August 2023.[5] SZA teased the video a few weeks prior, posting two behind-the-scenes clips on social media that included some unreleased music.[6] A snippet of the same song appeared again in the video's outro,[7] which continued SZA's tradition of previewing upcoming music at the end of music videos.[8]
Following the premiere, fans and publications began calling the unreleased song "OD" and "Diamond Boy".[9][10] When SZA went on an interview with Rolling Stone some days later, she revealed that its official title was "DTM". In the interview, she said the song would appear on Lana.[11] During the wait for the reissue, unofficial versions of the full song were uploaded and circulated on YouTube.[12]
Music and lyrics
SZA continued to make music after the release of SOS, collaborating with producers such as Carter Lang on Lana during occasional bursts of creativity.[1] Work on "Diamond Boy (DTM)" began in mid-2023, around when she shared a preview of it on Instagram.[1] The song's first demo was stripped-down; it featured guitars, a bassline, soft vocals, and a rap freestyle.[13] After SZA recorded the demo, she sent it to Lang, who added drums[13][14] and keyboards[15] to the song. While working on the production, he aimed to create a call-and-response effect between SZA and the music.[13][14] Other producers who helped with the song were Tyran Donaldson, ThankGod4Cody, Declan Miers, Solomonophonic, and Michael Uzowuru.[16] The song was finished around August, about a week after its first teaser.[1]
"Diamond Boy (DTM)" is an R&B song with a sprawling instrumental.[17] The final product retains the instruments, like the plucked guitars, that were on its original demo.[12][18] There are, however, some deviations from it and the YouTube uploads.[12] As for the bassline, its sound reaches sub-bass levels of frequency.[17] In a Vulture review, Craig Jenkins wrote that music-wise, "Diamond Boy (DTM)" is reminiscent of several love songs from a "bygone" era.[19] SZA's rapping happens near the end of the song, specifically in a verse where a filter audio effect has been applied.[17]
"Diamond Boy (DTM)" is a love song. In her Rolling Stone interview, SZA said that it was the first love song she could remember writing about someone she "actively liked", which she did during the "thick of the romance".[13] The lyrics are seductive and sensual in nature.[18][20] She compares the subject of the song to a diamond, calling him shiny.[21] Intensely devoted to her love interest, she invites him to be physically intimate,[18] all the while trying to control her racing thoughts.[17] Two lines read: "You make my thoughts stop/ You make being me less hard."[20] The narrator, who also asks the subject to be communicative should their relationship happen,[18] sings: "Am I doing too much?" The line is where the song title's initialism "DTM" is derived.[1][22] Her requests, however, are not fully acknowledged. In a track-by-track ranking for Billboard, Mackenzie Cummings-Grady wrote that the boy "seems unable to check all three boxes [be intimate, empathetic, and communicative], and instead fulfills one need at the expense of the others."[18]
Release
"Diamond Boy (DTM)" was going to be released as part of a single bundle for "Snooze".[1] When an acoustic version of "Snooze" was recorded and released in September, the release of "Diamond Boy (DTM)", meant to be Lana's lead single, was postponed.[11][13] In mid-March 2024, SZA teased another unreleased song from Lana via her Instagram account, posting a video of her in undergarments as she poses in front of a camping tent and sings the lyrics. In the comments, one fan asked about where "Diamond Boy (DTM)" was. SZA replied: "on the deluxe I'm bout to drop".[23][24]
"Diamond Boy (DTM)" is the fourth track of Lana, released on December 20, 2024.[25] It peaked at number 60 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart,[26] and it debuted at its peak of number 9 of Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.[27] Elsewhere, it reached peaks of number 80 in Canada[28] and 146 on the Billboard Global 200.[29] Before the song's release, SZA debuted it live during an exclusive concert at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which was held in celebration of SOS's success.[10] She also included "Diamond Boy (DTM)" on set lists for some shows on the SOS Tour.[30][31] Her performance of the song at Brooklyn's Barclays Center was featured on a video series on Apple TV+ that premiered on February 1, 2024.[22][21]
A few critics praised "Diamond Boy (DTM)" in their reviews of Lana. They wrote positively about its portrayal of dating and falling in love, deeming SZA's expression of her emotions relatable.[18][20] Cummings-Grady, who ranked "Diamond Boy (DTM)" as Lana's eighth-best song among its fifteen tracks, said: "[it] flexes SZA’s well-known ability to turn uncomfortable human experiences into compelling R&B ballads".[18] Apart from the lyrics, Gabriel Bras Nevares of HotNewHipHop wrote the song was well-executed because of its catchiness and mellifluous sound. In his view, the composition made it as good as similar tracks from the standard SOS edition.[20] Also reviewing for HotNewHipHop, Zachary Horvath praised the sensual atmosphere that the song's guitar sounds provided. He further wrote that the instrument complemented SZA's passionate lyrics well.[12]
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