Diamond Black Hearted Boy is the mysterious solo project of Chino Amobi, a local experimental musician with a unique aesthetic that can’t really be summed up in a single phrase.
Diamond Black Hearted Boy is the mysterious solo project of Chino Amobi, a local experimental musician with a unique aesthetic that can’t really be summed up in a single phrase. Before 2013 started, he’d been laying low for a while, but in the last several months, he’s started to pop back up with some live performances and new tracks uploaded to his soundcloud page. All of this was to culminate in the release of a new cassette entitled Wanted: Dead Or Alive, scheduled to come out in August 2013 on Richmond labels Ships Of Tarshish and Coup De Grace Productions.
Well, August is almost over, and due to the enigmatic internet presence of all involved, we can’t actually tell you if Wanted: Dead Or Alive is out or not. But we do have this video for “Go Slowly To Your Successful Man,” a track from the album. In the video, Chino Amobi wanders around the ruins of Azalea Mall in Northside, which is now nothing more than an empty, overgrown parking lot. The camera sometimes turns to point at the bright, sunny sky above, while the music cycles wildly through multiple layers of sound, held together only by a steady pulsing bass beat. It’s as if your radio was picking up several stations at once, playing all sorts of different genres–gospel music, classical, old-time country, electronic, etc. Overtop of this melange, Amobi raps about “Broad Street going bonkers” and stares intensely into the camera from behind opaque sunglasses.
Diamond Black Hearted Boy’s next live appearance will take place this very night–he’ll be performing as part of RVA Noise Night #13 at Gallery 5, which begins at 7 PM. Come check out the Diamond Black Hearted live experience, and hopefully you’ll be able to pick up the new cassette from the merch table while you’re at it.
By Andrew Necci
