Released: March 22, 2005

Featuring: Keyshia Cole

Songwriter: Ross Vannelli Kanye West Miri Ben-Ari - מירי בן-ארי

Producer: Kanye West

[Answering Machine]
"...394 is not available. At the tone, please re-
Please enter your password
You have no unheard messages. First skipped message."

[Girl]
"Hi-"

[Answering Machine]
"Message skipped. Next message."

[Guy]
(Jesus Walks playing in background)
"Hey, what up, this is-"

[Answering Machine]
"Message skipped. Next message."

[Woman]
"Um, I just wanna know why, um, my food stamps have not come as of yet, and um...
In addition to the food stamps, uh, the cheese and butter was, uh, supposedly or more specifically was to be delivered to me for the holidays, and um...
If you could check in the damned there items and get back with me, it would be most greatly, preciously, hospitably appreciated
Talk to you later, bye."

(Music/Violin Starts)

[Answering Machine]
"End of message. To er-"
"Message erased. Next message."

[Hook]
Drug dealin' just to get by
Stack ya' money 'til it get sky high
We wasn't s'posed to make it past 25
Joke's on you, we still alive
Throw your hands up in the sky and say:
"We don't care what people say"

[Kanye's cousin Kim]
"Hey Kanye, this is your cousin Kim
I just wanted to call ya and congratulate you on this CD, it's hot!
Especially that song “Drug Dealer”
You know, I've been a social worker for 10 years
I've been paying people's lights, rents, mortgage
You talkin' 'bout people paying shine on $6.55 an hour;
People can't pay their rent for $6.55 an hour
So, it just... It's just really difficult to truly understand what these people are going through
You know, and people are human
They wanna look good, they wanna take pride at how they look, they wanna take pride at what they do
The other part that really hit home for me is that people borrow other people's kids and put it on their income tax
A lot of times, what they're doing with that money is finding another place to live because the place that they live in
The toilet's overflowing or the roof is caving in and the landlord doesn't care- Landlord doesn't care enough to come in and fix those things and make sure that the people have a safe environment to live in
So, they borrow somebody else's kid, so that maybe they can get a car so they can get back and forth to work, 'cause you know, in the hood, the best paying job ain't always next to yo house, it's not within walking distance. ('til it get sky high)
So you have to take 20 buses to get back and forth;
You have to spend a lot more money than what you have just on transportation, then you get paid on the job
So, maybe they might buy a car, maybe they might buy shoes for their kids.... You know, and the drug dealing is just supplementary of all of that, I mean like I said, I don't condone it, but I definitely got hugs for my thugs, you know
Tryna' get out there makin' and the only thing that I can ask is once they stack the money 'til it get sky high is that they try to do something positive with it...
That they try to send their kids to school...
That they try to make a difference."

[Answering Machine]
"Next message."

Kanye West

The ubiquitous Kanye West—from his famous quip, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” to “I'ma let you finish,” to marrying Kim Kardashian, to announcing that he’s running for President, and admitting his love for President Trump—you can see that he’s a staple of the tabloids and the entertainment world, industry-wide.

That certainly doesn’t take anything away from his music; as a matter of fact, it only seems to add to his fortuitous career. For instance, his 2010 album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, was universally praised by fans and critics alike; it was recorded during the backlash he received from the Swift interruption and during his break-up with then-girlfriend Amber Rose.

He has scored other well-known hits, as well, from each of his previous studio albums—such as “Stronger,” “Heartless,” and “Gold Digger.” Each of his albums has been massive critical and commercial successes, including his collaboration album with JAY-Z, Watch the Throne. As of 2020, West has won an astounding 21 Grammys, tied with JAY-Z as the most decorated hip-hop artist in Grammy history.