Last Call Lyrics - Kanye West

1 '''Jay-Z:'''

2 Yo, fuck you, Kanye, first and foremost

3 For making me do this shit, motherfucker

4 Had to throw everybody out the motherfucking room 'cause they don't fucking

5 '''Kanye West:'''

6 I'd like to propose a toast

7 I said toast motherfucker

8 '''Kanye West and Bette Midler:'''

9 And I am (Here's to the Roc)

10 And they ask me, they ask me, they ask me, I tell them (Here's to Roc-A-Fella)

11 Raise your glasses, your glasses, your glasses to the sky and (Here's to the Roc)

12 This is the last call for alcohol, for the (Mr. Rockefeller)

13 So get your ass up off the wall

14 '''Kanye West:'''

15 The all around the world Digital Underground Pac

16 The Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer of the Roc

17 I take my chain, my fifteen seconds of fame

18 And come back next year with the whole fucking game

19 Ain't nobody expect Kanye to end up on top

20 They expected that College Dropout to drop and then flop

21 Then maybe he stop savin' all the good beats for himself

22 Roc-A-Fella's only niggas that helped

23 My money was thinner than Sean Paul's goatee hair

24 Now Jean Paul Gaultier cologne fill the air, here

25 They say he bougie, he big-headed

26 Would you please stop talking about how my dick head is

27 Flow infectious, give me ten seconds

28 I'll have a buzz bigger than insects in Texas

29 It's funny how wasn't nobody interested

30 Till the night I almost killed myself in Lexus

31 Kanye West and Bette Midler:

32 And I am (Here's to the Roc)

33 And they ask me, they ask me, they ask me, I tell them (Here's to Roc-A-Fella)

34 Raise your glasses, your glasses, your glasses to the sky and (Here's to the Roc)

35 This is the last call for alcohol, for the (Mr. Rockefeller)

36 So get your ass up off the wall

37 '''Kanye West:'''

38 Now was Kanye the most overlooked? Yes sir

39 Now is Kanye the most overbooked? Yes sir

40 Though the fans want the feeling of A Tribe Called Quest

41 But all they got left is this guy called West

42 That'll take Freeway, throw him on tracks with Mos Def

43 Call him Kwali or Kweli, I put him on songs with Jay-Z

44 I'm the Gap like Banana Republic and Old Navy, and ooh

45 It come out sweeter than old Sadie

46 Nice as Bun-B when I met him at the Source awards

47 Girl he had with him, ass coulda won the horse awards

48 And I was almost famous, now everybody love Kanye, I'm almost Raymond

49 Some say he arrogant, can y'all blame him?

50 It was straight embarrassing how y'all played him

51 Last year shoppin' my demo, I was tryin' to shine

52 Every motherfucker told me that I couldn't rhyme

53 Now I could let these dream killers kill my self-esteem

54 Or use my arrogance as the steam to power my dreams

55 I use it as my gas, so they say that I'm gassed

56 But without it I'd be last, so I ought to laugh

57 So I don't listen to the suits behind the desk no more

58 You niggas wear suits 'cause you can't dress no more

59 You can't say shit to Kanye West no more

60 I rocked twenty thousand people, I was just on tour, nigga

61 I'm Kan, the Louis Vuitton Don

62 Bought my mom a purse, now she Louis Vuitton Mom

63 I ain't play the hand I was dealt, I changed my cards

64 I prayed to the skies and I changed my stars

65 I went to the malls and I balled too hard

66 "Oh my god, is that a black card?"

67 I turned around and replied, "Why yes

68 But I prefer the term African American Express"

69 Brains, power, and muscle, like Dame, Puffy, and Russell

70 Your boy back on his hustle, you know what I've been up to

71 Killin' y'all niggas on that lyrical shit

72 Mayonnaise colored Benz, I push Miracle Whips

73 '''Kanye West and Bette Midler:'''

74 And I am (Here's to the Roc)

75 And they ask me, they ask me, they ask me, I tell them (Here's to Roc-A-Fella)

76 Raise your glasses, your glasses, your glasses to the sky and (Here's to the Roc)

77 This is the last call for alcohol, for my niggas (Mr. Rockefeller)

78 So get your ass up off the wall, all

79 '''Kanye West:'''

80 So this A&R over at Roc-A-Fella, named Hip Hop picked the "Truth" beat for Beanie and I was in the session with him

81 I had my demo with me, you know, like I always do

82 I play the songs, he's like "Who that spittin'?" I'm like "It's me," he's like "Oh, well okay"

83 Uh, he started talkin' to me on the phone, going back and forth

84 Just askin' me to send him beats, and I'm thinking he's trying to get into managing producers, 'cause he had this other kid named Just Blaze he was messin' with

85 And um, he was friends with my mentor, No ID

86 And No ID told him, "Look man, you wanna mess with Kanye you need to tell him that you like the way he rap"

87 (Yo, you wanna sign him, tell him you like how he rap)

88 I was all, I dunno if he was gassin' me or not but he's like he wanna manage me as a rapper and a producer

89 (I'll sign you as a producer and a rapper)

90 I'm like "Oh shit"

91 I was messin' with, uh, D-Dot also

92 People were like this, started talking about the ghost production but that's how I got in the game

93 If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't be here

94 So you know, after they picked that Truth beat I was figuring I was gonna do some more work but shit just wasn't poppin' off like that

95 I was stayin' in Chicago, I had my own apartment, I be doin like, just beats for local acts just to try to keep the lights on, and be able to go out and buy, get a Pelle Pelle off layaway, get some Jordans or something or get a TechnoMarine, that's what we wore back then

96 I made this one beat where I sped up this Harold Melvin sample

97 I played it for Hip over the phone, he's like, "Oh, yo that shit is crazy, Jay might want it for this compilation album he doin', called the Dynasty"

98 And at that time, like the drums really weren't soundin' right to me

99 So I went and um, I was listening to Dre Chronic 2001 at that time and really I just, like bit the drums off "Xxplosive" and put it like with it sped up, sampled

100 And now it's kind of like my whole style, when it started, when he rapped on "This Can't be Life"

101 And that was like, really the first beat of that kind that was on the Dynasty album

102 I could say that was the the resurgence of the soul sound and you know, I got to come in and track the beat and at the time I was still with my other management

103 I really wanted to roll with Hip Hop 'cause I, I just needed some fresh air, you know what I'm sayin' 'cause I been there for a while I appreciated what they did for me but, you know there's a time in every man's life where he gotta make a change to try to move up to the next level

104 And that day, I came and I tracked the beat and I got to meet Jay-Z and he said, "Oh you a real soulful dude"

105 (Oh you a real soulful dude, man)

106 And he, uh, played the song 'cause he already spit his verse by the time I got to the studio, you know how he do it, one take

107 And he said, "Tell me what you think of this"

108 (Check this out, tell me what you think of this, right here)

109 And I heard it, and I was thinking like, "Man, I really wanted more like of the simple type Jay-Z"

110 I ain't want like the, the more introspective, complicated rhy- or the in my personal opinion

111 So he asked me, "What you think of it?"

112 (So what you think of this?)

113 And I was like, "Man that shit tight"

114 You know what I'm sayin', man what I'mma tell him?

115 I was on the train, man, you know

116 So after that I went back home and man I'm, I'm just in Chicago, I'm trying to do my thing

117 You know, I got groups, I got acts I'm trying to get on, and like there wasn't nothin really like, poppin' off the way it should have been

118 One of my homies that was one of my artists, he got signed

119 But it was supposed to really go through my production company, but he ended up going straight with the company

120 So, like I'm just straight holdin' the phone, gettin' the bad news that dude was tryin' to leave my company

121 And I got evicted at the same time

122 So I went down and tracked the beats from him

123 I took that money, came back, packed all my shit up in a U-Haul, maybe about ten days before I had to actually get out

124 So I ain't have to deal with the landlord 'cause he's a jerk

125 Me and my mother drove to Newark, New Jersey

126 (Come on, let's just go)

127 I hadn't even seen my apartment

128 I remember I pulled up, I unpacked all my shit

129 (Kanye, baby, we're here)

130 You know, we went to Ikea, I bought a bed, I put the bed together myself

131 I loaded up all my equipment, and the first beat I made was, uh, "Heart of the City"

132 And Beans was still working on his album at that time, so I came up there to Baseline, it was Beans' birthday, matter of fact, and I played like seven beats

133 And, you know I guess he was in the zone, he already had the beats that he wanted, I had did "Nothing Like It" already at that time

134 But then Jay walked in, I remember he had a Gucci bucket hat on

135 I remember it like, like it was yesterday

136 And Hip Hop said, "Yo play that one beat for him"

137 So I played "Heart of the City" and really I made "Heart of the City," I really wanted to give that beat to DMX

138 (No I think Jay gon' like this one right here)

139 And I played another beat, and I played another beat and I remember that Gucci bucket, he took it and like put it over his face and made one of them faces like, "Ooh"

140 Two days later, I'm in Baseline and I seen Dame

141 Dame didn't know who I was and I was like, "Yo, what's up I'm Kanye"

142 (Yo, you that kid, Kanye?)

143 "You that kid that gave all them beats to Jay? Yo, this nigga got classics to beats G"

144 (Yo, Jay got classics, G)

145 You know I ain't talkin shit

146 I'm like, "Oh shit"

147 And all this time, I'm starstruck, man, I'm still thinking 'bout, you know I'm picturing these niggas on the show The Streets is Watching, I'm lookin', these were superstars in my eyes and they still are, you know

148 So, Jay came in and he spit all these songs like in one day, and in two days

149 I gotta bring up one thing, you know, come back to the story

150 The day I did the 'Can't Be Life' beat on track, I remember Lenny S., he had some Louis Vuitton sneakers on, he think he fly

151 And Hip Hop was there, I think Ty-Ty, John Meneilly, a bunch of people

152 I didn't know all these people at the time they was in the room, and I said, "Yo Jay I could rap"

153 And I spit this rap that said, uh, "I'm killin' y'all niggas on that lyrical shit

154 Mayonnaise colored Benz, I push miracle whips"

155 And I saw his eyes light up when I said that line

156 But you know the rest, the rap was like real wack and shit, so that's all the response, he said, "Man, that was tight"

157 (That, that was cool, that was hot)

158 That was it, you know, I ain't get no deal then, haha

159 Okay, fast forward

160 So, Blueprint, "H to the Izzo," my first hit single

161 And I just took that proudly, built relationships with people, my relationship with Kweli I think was one of the best ones to ever happen to my career as a rapper

162 Because, you know, of course later he allowed me to go on tour with him

163 Man, yo, I appreciate, I love him for that

164 And at this time, you know I didn't have a deal, I had songs, and I had relationships with all these A&R's, and they wanted beats from me, so they'd call me up, I'd play them some beats

165 "Gimme a beat that sound like Jay-Z," You know, they dick riders, whatever

166 So I'll play them these post-Blueprint beats or whatever and then I'll play my shit. I'll

167 Be like, "Yo but I rap too." Hey, I guess they was lookin' at me crazy 'cause you know, 'cause I ain't have a jersey on or whatever

168 Everybody out there listen here, I played them "Jesus Walks" and they didn't sign me

169 You know what happened, it was some A&R's that fucked with me though, but then like the heads, it'd be somebody at the company that'll say "Naw"

170 Like, Dave Lighty fucked with me, my nigga Mel brought me to a bunch of labels, Jessica Rivera, man

171 (Man, you niggas is stupid if y'all don't sign Kanye, for real)

172 I'm not gonna say nothin' to mess my promotion up

173 (Y'all niggas is stupid)

174 Let's just say I didn't get my deal

175 The nigga that was behind me, I mean, he wasn't even a nigga, you know?

176 The person who actually kicked everything off was Joe 3H from Capitol Records

177 He wanted to sign me really bad

178 (We gonna change the game, buddy)

179 Dame was like, "Yo you got a deal with Capitol? Okay man, just make sure it's not wack"

180 (You gotta make sure it's not wack)

181 Then one day I just went ahead and played it, I wanted to play some songs, 'cause you know Cam was in the room, Young Guru, and

182 Dame was in the room

183 So I played, actually it's a song that you'll never hear, but maybe I might use it

184 So, it's called "Wow"

185 "I go to Jacob with twenty-five thou, you go with 25 hundred, wow

186 I got eleven plaques on my walls right now

187 You got your first gold single, damn, nigga, wow," like the chorus went

188 Don't bite that chorus, I might still use it

189 So I play that song for him, and he's like, "Oh shit"

190 (Oh shit, it's not even wack)

191 "I ain't gonna front, it's kinda hot"

192 (It's actually kinda hot)

193 Like they still weren't looking at me like a rapper

194 And I'm sure Dame figured, "Like man, if he do a whole album, if his raps is wack at least we can throw Cam on every song and save the album, you know

195 So uh Dame took me into the office, and he's like "Yo man, B, B, you don't want a brick, you don't want a brick"

196 (You don't wanna catch a brick)

197 "You gotta be under an umbrella, you'll get rained on"

198 I told Hip Hop and Hip Hop was all, "Oh, word?"

199 Actually, even with that I was still about to take the deal with Capitol 'cause it was already on the table and 'cause of my relationship with 3H

200 That, you know, 'cause I told him I was gonna do it, and I'm a man of my word, I was gonna roll with what I said I was gonna do

201 Then, you know, I'm not gonna name no names, but people told me, "Oh he's just a producer rapper" and told 3H that told the heads of the Capitol, and right

202 The day I'm talking about, I planned out everything I was gonna do man, I had picked out clothes

203 I already started booking studio sessions, I started arranging my album, thinking of marketing schemes, man I was ready to go

204 And they had Mel call me, they said, "Yo

205 Capitol pulled on the deal"

206 (Yo, Capitol pulled out on the deal)

207 And, you know I told them that Roc-A-Fella was interested

208 And I don't know if they thought that was just something I was saying to gas them up to try to push the price up or whatever

209 I went up

210 I called G, I said, "Man, you think we could still get that deal with Roc-A-Fella?"

211 '''Tony Williams:'''

212 So won't you raise your glass, won't you?

213 So won't you raise your glass, won't you?

214 So won't you raise your glass, won't you?

215 So won't you raise your glass, won't you?