Kanye West: 15 Best Lyrics From ‘The College Dropout’
By Ryan Brennan
Kanye West’s first studio album was ‘The College Dropout,’ which was released on February 10, 2004. Here are my 15 favorite lyrics from the album.
In 2004, Kanye West released his first studio album and burst onto the scene as one of the great up-and-coming artists. In fact, The College Dropout would go on to be his most successful album to date and sold 441,000 copies in the first week.
The debut album brought Kanye a lot of recognition from the hip hop world, with five singles achieving chart success in addition to the album debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. It has now totaled over 4 million copies worldwide, been named one of the greatest albums of all time and even earned him a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album.
Before we get into my favorite lyrics from the album, let’s quickly go over the track list, that way we know we remember what lyrics we are pulling from.
- Intro (Skit)
- We Don’t Care
- Graduation Day
- All Falls Down
- I’ll Fly Away
- Spaceship
- Jesus Walks
- Never Let Me Down
- Get Em High
- Workout Plan (Skit)
- The New Workout Plan
- Slow Jamz
- Breathe In Breathe Out
- School Spirit (Skit 1)
- School Spirit
- School Spirit (Skit 2)
- Lil Jimmy (Skit)
- Two Words
- Through the Wire
- Family Business
- Last Call
Alright let’s start the countdown to my 15 favorite lyrics from The College Dropout.
All Falls Down
"Drug dealer buy Jordans, crackhead buy crack And a white man get paid off of all of that"
"We’ll buy a lot of clothes when we don’t really need ’em Things we buy to cover up what’s inside"
"We all self conscious I’m just the first to admit it"
Spaceship
"I’ve been workin’ this graveshift and I ain’t made shit I wish I could buy me a spaceship and fly past the sky"
Slow Jamz
"She got a light skinned friend look like Michael Jackson Got a dark skinned friend look like Michael Jackson"
"I’m a play this Vandross You’re gonna take your pants off I’m gonna play this Gladys Knight Me and you’re gonna get right"
School Spirit
"Told ’em I finished school, and I started my own business They say, ‘Oh you graduated?’ No, I decided I was finished Chasin’ y’all dreams and what you’ve got planned"
Through the Wire
"I drink a Boost for breakfast, and Ensure for dessert Somebody ordered pancakes I just sip the sizzurp That right there could drive a sane man bizzerk Not to worry y’all Mr. H 2 the Izzo’s back to wizzerk"
"My dawgs couldn’t tell if I I look Tom Cruise on Vanilla Sky, it was televised All they heard was that I was in an accident like GEICO They thought I was burnt up like Pepsi did Michael"
Last Call
"Ain’t nobody expect Kanye to end up on topghThey expected that College Dropout to drop and then flop Then maybe he stop savin’ all the good beats for himself Roc-A-Fella’s only niggaz that help My money was thinner than Sean Paul’s goatee hair Now Jean Paul Gaultier cologne fill the air, here"
"And I was almost famous, now everybody loves KanyeI’m almost Raymond"
The New Workout Plan
"Give head, stop breathe, get up, check your weaveDon’t drop the blunt and disrespect the weedPick up your son and don’t disrespect your seed."
Jesus Walks
"They said you can rap about anything except for JesusThat means guns, sex, lies, video tapeBut if I talk about God my record won’t get playedHuh?"
"I’m just trying to say the way school need teachersThe way Kathie Lee needed Regis that’s the way I need Jesus"
"Saying “We eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast”Huh? Y’all eat pieces of shit? What’s the basis?"
Next: Kanye song appears in new 'Ozark' trailer
What was your favorite lyric from Kanye West’s College Dropout album? Leave your thoughts below!