ABOVE's anti-blood diamonds street art in South Africa!

Blood diamonds — or conflict diamonds, if you prefer — refer to the precious gems mined and sold to directly finance insurgency, an invasion, or the continued reign of a warlord, typically in Africa where two-thirds of the world's diamonds are mined from. So when street artist and statement maker ABOVE found himself in South Africa, he had to make a statement… He went to Johannesburg, or — more specifically — to Jewel City, a "six-block mega-precinct that serves as a base for some 300 diamond traders as well as South Africa’s Diamond Board and State Traders Association." Then he proceeded to…

[…tell] the owners I would paint in big letters "Diamonds are a woman's best friend" on the exterior of their building. The owners loved the idea and all quickly agreed. The next day I had started painting but what the owners didn't know is that I lied to them and was hijacking their wall.

In the end, ABOVE did write "Diamonds are a woman's best friend" but the phrase is immediately followed by "and a man's worst enemy."