While the original version of "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" featured West as the sole performer, he decided to record a remix to the song which included guest verse provided by Jay-Z—who had come out of retirement from rapping—after learning of the civil war in Sierra Leone financed by conflict diamonds. Both the original and remix versions of "Diamond from Sierra Leone" appear on the album, with the former included as a bonus track. The song contains live drums played by Michel Gondry, the director of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and later the first music video for "Heard 'Em Say", who had visited the studio on a day Brion set up a drum kit. According to Jay-Z, West mixed "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" about fourteen times before he felt comfortable to release it as the album's lead single. The recording also experienced delay when West and Brion were required to wait two weeks to rent the harpsichord that they used for percussion on the song.