The old adage “diamonds are a girl’s best friend” couldn’t be farther from the truth in the case of Teairra Mari. Recently, the R&B chanteuse has experienced both struggle and success with the Madd Scientist-produced, Kanye West-assisted “Diamonds,” a track off her second album, At That Point.

In April, Teairra Mari’s version of “Diamonds” leaked throughout the blogosphere, causing a rift between her and fellow singer Christina Milian, who originally recorded the track while signed to MySpace Records. While rumors flew around that the song didn’t rightfully belong to Mari, according to her, it does. “I paid for the record,” she exclusively tells staging-rapup.kinsta.cloud. “I couldn’t have done that if [Christina] had already done that.”

The former Roc-A-Fella Records artist acquired “Diamonds” after a friend who worked for MySpace allowed her to listen to a selection of Milian’s previously recorded tracks. “He had the song because she hadn’t paid for any of the songs,” Mari reveals. “They were her records if she was going to be on MySpace [Records]. So when she left to go sign with [The-Dream’s] Radio Killa [Records], he was just like, ‘These songs are up for grabs.'”

Upon choosing “Diamonds,” which already featured a Kanye West verse, Mari added her flavor and ad-libs. Once the record leaked, she heard rave reviews from fans and upset the “Dip It Low” singer. “We have a few people that we know in common, and I heard that [Christina] was upset,” she continues. “Not with me, just with the situation.”

As far as problems with The-Dream, she states: “He reached out to my manager, and I guess it wasn’t a big deal because when my manager told me that he talked to him, he said that everything was cool. He was just a little upset about the situation.”

But the controversy surrounding the record continues. Teairra’s team reached out to West, her former Roc-A-Fella labelmate, and asked him to appear in the video for “Diamonds.” He accepted the offer, but not before attaching a hefty price tag. “To be exact, I think it was $175,000,” she admits. “I wasn’t mad about it; I was just a little thrown off by it. But I recognize it’s a business. It’s OK, he’s Kanye, he can do that if he wants to.”

While “Diamonds” is being scrutinized by the public, Mari is in the process of deciding whether that record or “Automatic,” featuring Nicki Minaj, will be the third single off her latest effort. At That Point is scheduled for a July release.

–Georgette Cline