Released: February 10, 2004
Songwriter: Ross Vannelli Kanye West
Producer: Kanye West
[Intro: Kanye West]
Oh, yeah...
I got the perfect song for the kids to sing...
And all my people that's—
[Chorus: Choir]
Drug dealin' just to get by
Stack your money 'til it get sky high
We wasn't supposed to make it past twenty-five
Joke's on you, we still alive
Throw your hands up in the sky and say
"We don't care what people say"
[Verse 1: Kanye West]
If this is your first time hearing this
You are about to experience something so cold, man
We never had nothin' handed, took nothin' for granted
Took nothin' from no man, man, I'm my own man
But as a shorty, I looked up to the dope man
Only adult man I knew that wasn't broke, man
Flicking Starter coats, man—man, you don't know, man
We don't care what people say
This is for my niggas outside all winter
'Cause this summer they ain't finna say, "Next summer, I'm finna..."
Sitting in the hood like community colleges
This dope money here is Lil' Trey's scholarship
'Cause ain't no tuition for having no ambition
And ain't no loans for sitting your ass at home
So we forced to sell crack, rap, and get a job
You gotta do something, man, your ass is grown
[Chorus: Choir & Kanye West]
Drug dealin' just to get by
Stack your money 'til it get sky high
(Kids, sing! Kids, sing!)
We wasn't supposed to make it past twenty-five
Joke's on you, we still alive
Throw your hands up in the sky and say
"We don't care what people say"
[Verse 2: Kanye West]
This second verse is for my dogs working nine to five that still hustle
'Cause a nigga can't shine off $6.55
And everybody selling makeup, Jacob's
And bootlegged tapes just to get they cake up
We put shit on lay-away, then come back
We claim other people kids on our income tax
We take that money, cop work, then push packs to get paid
And we don't care what people say
Mama say she wanna move South
Scratching lottery tickets, eyes on a new house
'Round the same time, Doe ran up in dude house
Couldn't get a job
So since he couldn't get work, he figured he'd take work
The drug game bulimic, it's hard to get weight
So niggas' money is homo, it's hard to get straight
But we gon' keep bakin' 'til the day we get cake
And we don't care what people say, my niggas—
[Chorus: Choir & Kanye West]
Drug dealin' just to get by (Yeah)
Stack your money 'til it get sky high
Kids, sing! Kids, sing!
We wasn't supposed to make it past twenty-five
Joke's on you, we still alive (Alive, uh-huh)
Throw your hands up in the sky and say
"We don't care what people say" (Yeah, yeah, ugh)
[Verse 3: Kanye West]
You know the kids gon' act a fool
When you stop the programs for after school
And they DCFS, some of 'em dyslexic
They favorite 50 Cent song "12 Questions"
We scream: "rocks, blow, weed, park," see, now we smart
We ain't retards the way teachers thought
Hold up, hold fast, we make more cash
Now, tell my mama I belong in that slow class
It's bad enough we on welfare
They tryna put me on the school bus with the space for the wheelchair
I'm tryna get the car with the chrome-y wheels here
They tryna cut our lights out like we don't live here
Look what was handed us, fathers abandoned us
When we get them hammers, go on, call the ambulance
Sometimes, I feel no one in this world understands us
But we don't care what people say, my niggas—
[Chorus: Choir & Kanye West]
Drug dealin' just to get by
Stack your money 'til it get sky high
Kids, sing! Kids, sing!
We wasn't supposed to make it past twenty-five
Joke's on you, we still alive
Throw your hands up in the sky and say
"We don't care what people say"
[Produced by Kanye West]
Oh, yeah...
I got the perfect song for the kids to sing...
And all my people that's—
[Chorus: Choir]
Drug dealin' just to get by
Stack your money 'til it get sky high
We wasn't supposed to make it past twenty-five
Joke's on you, we still alive
Throw your hands up in the sky and say
"We don't care what people say"
[Verse 1: Kanye West]
If this is your first time hearing this
You are about to experience something so cold, man
We never had nothin' handed, took nothin' for granted
Took nothin' from no man, man, I'm my own man
But as a shorty, I looked up to the dope man
Only adult man I knew that wasn't broke, man
Flicking Starter coats, man—man, you don't know, man
We don't care what people say
This is for my niggas outside all winter
'Cause this summer they ain't finna say, "Next summer, I'm finna..."
Sitting in the hood like community colleges
This dope money here is Lil' Trey's scholarship
'Cause ain't no tuition for having no ambition
And ain't no loans for sitting your ass at home
So we forced to sell crack, rap, and get a job
You gotta do something, man, your ass is grown
[Chorus: Choir & Kanye West]
Drug dealin' just to get by
Stack your money 'til it get sky high
(Kids, sing! Kids, sing!)
We wasn't supposed to make it past twenty-five
Joke's on you, we still alive
Throw your hands up in the sky and say
"We don't care what people say"
[Verse 2: Kanye West]
This second verse is for my dogs working nine to five that still hustle
'Cause a nigga can't shine off $6.55
And everybody selling makeup, Jacob's
And bootlegged tapes just to get they cake up
We put shit on lay-away, then come back
We claim other people kids on our income tax
We take that money, cop work, then push packs to get paid
And we don't care what people say
Mama say she wanna move South
Scratching lottery tickets, eyes on a new house
'Round the same time, Doe ran up in dude house
Couldn't get a job
So since he couldn't get work, he figured he'd take work
The drug game bulimic, it's hard to get weight
So niggas' money is homo, it's hard to get straight
But we gon' keep bakin' 'til the day we get cake
And we don't care what people say, my niggas—
[Chorus: Choir & Kanye West]
Drug dealin' just to get by (Yeah)
Stack your money 'til it get sky high
Kids, sing! Kids, sing!
We wasn't supposed to make it past twenty-five
Joke's on you, we still alive (Alive, uh-huh)
Throw your hands up in the sky and say
"We don't care what people say" (Yeah, yeah, ugh)
[Verse 3: Kanye West]
You know the kids gon' act a fool
When you stop the programs for after school
And they DCFS, some of 'em dyslexic
They favorite 50 Cent song "12 Questions"
We scream: "rocks, blow, weed, park," see, now we smart
We ain't retards the way teachers thought
Hold up, hold fast, we make more cash
Now, tell my mama I belong in that slow class
It's bad enough we on welfare
They tryna put me on the school bus with the space for the wheelchair
I'm tryna get the car with the chrome-y wheels here
They tryna cut our lights out like we don't live here
Look what was handed us, fathers abandoned us
When we get them hammers, go on, call the ambulance
Sometimes, I feel no one in this world understands us
But we don't care what people say, my niggas—
[Chorus: Choir & Kanye West]
Drug dealin' just to get by
Stack your money 'til it get sky high
Kids, sing! Kids, sing!
We wasn't supposed to make it past twenty-five
Joke's on you, we still alive
Throw your hands up in the sky and say
"We don't care what people say"
[Produced by Kanye West]
more tracks from the album
The College Dropout
- All Falls Down
- Slow Jamz
- Heavy Hitters
- I’ll Fly Away
- Graduation Day
- School Spirit (Skit 1)
- Intro
- School Spirit (Skit 2)
- Lil’ Jimmy (Skit)
- Workout Plan
- Breathe In Breathe Out
- Family Business
- Never Let Me Down
- Through the Wire
- We Don’t Care
- Jesus Walks
- Spaceship
- Two Words
- Last Call
- Get Em High
- The New Workout Plan
- School Spirit
From the album
- The College Dropout (2004)
Kanye West popular songs