Today, Maya B shares the video for her single “Dollar To A Diamond.” Speaking to Noisey , Maya B says “I was comparing things in reverse. For me, ‘Dollar to a Diamond’ is more about self-worth and a mentality. What’s who are you to who you could be. I could be a dollar, but if I work hard enough I could be a diamond.”
“Dollar To A Diamond” was written by Maya B and produced with Soulshock [ 2Pac, Usher ], and is a track that illuminates the bold scope of Maya B’s genre-breaking style as she serves up the aspirational and anthemic hook, “I just wanna be balling — What’s a dollar to a diamond?”
Zane Lowe’s featured the song as his World Record on Apple Music’s B eats 1, saying “Inevitable superstardom awaits. Smasher!” An early fan, Lowe said of Maya B’s first self-produced single,”Selenas” “this changes everything,” as well as previously anointing her the “Next to Pop.”
The 20-year-old Los Angeles-based experimental artist began writing music at the age of 7 and has excelled ever since, often bringing conflicting ideas together with originality and authenticity. Adding another dimension to her passion for sound, art and words, Maya B produced her own zine. The D.I.Y. publication on oversized newsprint spotlights her gorgeously subversive art: Her Pain / Her Brain.
About ‘Dollar To A Diamond,’ Maya B says: “This is a song I wrote when I was broke and couch-hopping just weeks before I signed with Capitol Records. ‘Dollar’ marks a moment in time for me—that moment of being hungry, but not wanting to borrow money or ask for food, because I was ashamed that I couldn’t take care of myself. I was laying on that couch using my creativity and dreams as fuel.”
“‘I just wanna be balling’ is not just some materialistic flex; it’s more of an outcry. It was me saying, ‘I just want this to be over,’ she says. “ Behind our humility, there’s that voice screaming, ‘More! Bigger!’ All my life I’ve been told that voice is bad, cocky, even unrealistic. ‘Dollar To A Diamond’ is an ode to all dreams cocky and unrealistic.”
Maya B brings those dreams to life through a hardcore hustle on her upcoming EP—due out this Summer.
Check out the video below.