Kanye West – All Falls Down (ft. Syleena Johnson) (Audio, Lyrics, Video)

Throwback to “All Falls Down”, off the 2004 album, The College Dropout by Kanye West. The self-produced song features Syleena Johnson. Watch the music video, listen, stream, buy, read the lyrics, mp3 download.

Kanye West All Falls Down

Kanye West is larger than life. A multi-Grammy award winner, multi-platinum rapper and producer, polarizing visionary, and the richest Black man in American history, failure seems genuinely impossible for Ye. But, with the release of the jeen-yuhs (Act 1) documentary, many came to understand that this wasn’t always the case.

Known solely for his beat-making ability and production credits, Kanye West (as he was known in 2002) desperately desired notoriety for his rapping prowess. Shopping his demo tape to any party that would listen, he forged ahead, moving and manoeuvring in a room full of “no’s.” The first installation of the jeen-yuhs doc, titled “Vision,” gave critical insight into how long it took for Kanye to receive any appreciation as a rapper. We got to see firsthand how some people, many with positions at record labels and corporations, disregarded his music and brushed him aside time and time again.

One of the standout moments from the documentary, and ultimately, in Kanye’s career, was his early 2000s visit to the offices of Roc-A-Fella Records. There, he played an early (yet very similar to the finished product) version of his beloved single “All Falls Down.” As we know it, the track is a masterpiece and is regarded as a classic in Ye’s prestigious catalogue. Unfortunately, for members of the staff at Roc-A-Fella, that was far from the case. Some watched on as he performed it, their faces brandishing blatant disinterest. Kanye went home, having gotten no further than he was before visiting.

Luckily for us, that experience didn’t lessen Kanye’s faith in the song. “All Falls Down,” assisted by Syleena Johnson on the hook, was released in 2004 alongside his debut album The College Dropout. The track went solar, reaching the top ten on Billboard Hot 100. Self-awareness on full display, the song served as a new frontier in current Hip Hop, while acting as a resurgence of the backpack rap era. The track managed to capture the ears and hearts of many, as his bravado lit up the street and his honesty impressed the conscious.

To this day, the “All Falls Down” is regarded as one of his best, and will continue to serve as a reminder of where his legacy first began.

Kanye West – All Falls Down (ft. Syleena Johnson) (prod. Kanye West)

Watch Video

Lyrics

[Chorus: Syleena Johnson & Kanye West]
Oh, when it all, it all falls down
Yeah, this the real one, baby
I’m tellin’ you all, it all falls down
Uh, Chi-Town, stand up!
Oh, when it all, it all falls down
Southside, Southside
We gon’ set this party off right
I’m tellin’ you all, it all falls down
Westside, Westside
We gon’ set this party off right
Oh, when it all

[Verse 1: Kanye West]
Man, I promise, she’s so self-conscious
She has no idea what she doin’ in college
That major that she majored in don’t make no money
But she won’t drop out, her parents’ll look at her funny
Now, tell me that ain’t insecurr
The concept of school seems so securr
Sophomore, three yurrs, ain’t picked a carurr
She like, “Fuck it, I’ll just stay down hurr and do hair”
‘Cause that’s enough money to buy her a few pairs
Of new Airs, ’cause her baby daddy don’t really care
She’s so precious with the peer pressure
Couldn’t afford a car, so she named her daughter Alexis
She had hair so long that it looked like weave
Then she cut it all off, now she look like Eve
And she be dealin’ with some issues that you can’t believe
Single black female addicted to retail, and well

[Chorus: Syleena Johnson & Kanye West]
Oh, when it all, it all falls down
And when it falls down, who you gon’ call now?
I’m tellin’ you all, it all falls down
C’mon, c’mon, and when it falls down
Oh, when it all

[Verse 2: Kanye West]
Man, I promise, I’m so self-conscious
That’s why you always see me with at least one of my watches
Rollies and Pashas done drove me crazy
I can’t even pronounce nothing, pass that Ver-say-see!
Then I spent four hundred bucks on this
Just to be like, “Nigga, you ain’t up on this”
And I can’t even go to the grocery store
Without some Ones that’s clean and a shirt with a team
It seem we livin’ the American Dream
But the people highest up got the lowest self-esteem
The prettiest people do the ugliest things
For the road to riches and diamond rings
We shine because they hate us, floss ’cause they degrade us
We tryna buy back our 40 acres
And for that paper, look how low we’ll stoop
Even if you in a Benz, you still a nigga in a coupe

[Chorus: Syleena Johnson & Kanye West]
Oh, when it all, it all falls down
Come on, come on
I’m tellin’ you all, it all falls down
And when it falls down, who you gon’ call now?
Oh, when it all, it all falls down
Come on, come on
I’m tellin’ you all, it all falls down
And when it all falls down

[Verse 3: Kanye West]
I say, “Fuck the police,” that’s how I treat ’em
We buy our way out of jail, but we can’t buy freedom
We’ll buy a lot of clothes, but we don’t really need ’em
Things we buy to cover up what’s inside
‘Cause they made us hate ourself and love they wealth
That’s why shorty’s hollerin’, “Where the ballers at?”
Drug dealer buy Jordan, crackhead buy crack
And the white man get paid off of all of that
But I ain’t even gon’ act holier than thou
‘Cause fuck it, I went to Jacob with 25 thou
Before I had a house and I’d do it again
‘Cause I wanna be on 106 & Park, pushin’ a Benz
I want to act ballerific like it’s all terrific
I got a couple past-due bills, I won’t get specific
I got a problem with spendin’ before I get it
We all self-conscious, I’m just the first to admit it

[Chorus: Syleena Johnson & Kanye West]
Oh, when it all, it all falls down
C’mon, c’mon
And when it falls down, who you gon’ call now?
I’m tellin’ you all, it all falls down
C’mon c’mon, and when it falls down
Oh, when it all, it all falls down
Southside, Southside
We gon’ set this party off right
I’m tellin’ you all, it all falls down
Westside, Westside
We gon’ set this party off right
Oh when it all, it all falls down
Chi-Town, Chi-Town
We gon’ show ’em how we get down
I’m tellin’ you all, it all falls down
Now, Syleena, you just like a safe belt, you saved my life
C’mon
Oh when it all, it all falls down
I’m tellin’ you all, it all falls down

[Produced by Kanye West]