Title Drop / Kanye West

Excluding album skits, American producer and musician Kanye West title drops in more than 80% of songs on each of his (thus-far) nine solo albums and two collaborative albums, often dropping the title several times in different verses that takes on multiple meanings depending on the context.

Kanye is also known for his unique production technique of manipulating a sample to make the listener hear the song title even if the original sample was saying something else, by either splicing and rearranging the sample, overdubbing live vocals, or adding vocal effects to the sample, this technique is used prominently to great effect in songs like "Through the Wire", "Late", "Roses", "Drunk and Hot Girls", "The Glory", and "30 Hours".

Examples (by album)

The College Dropout

• "We Don't Care": "Throw your hands up in the sky and say, 'We don't care what people say.'"
• "All Falls Down": "I'm telling you all, it all falls down."
• "I'll Fly Away": "One glad morning, when this life is over, I'll fly away."
• "Spaceship":
  • "I wish I could buy me a spaceship and fly, past the sky."
  • "So many records in my basement, I'm just waitin' on my spaceship."
• "Jesus Walks": "Jesus walks! God show me the way, because the devil's trying to break me down."
• "Never Let Me Down": "When it comes to being true, at least true to me, one thing I've found, one thing I found, oh no, you'll never let me down."
• "Get 'Em High": "Get 'em high like noon or the moon/Or a room filled with smoke, a hype filled with dope."
• "Breathe In Breathe out": "Breathe in, breathe out/if ya iced up, pull ya sleeves out"
• "School Spirit": "School spirit, motherfucker"
• "Two Words":
  • "Two words: United States, no love, no breaks"
  • "Two words: Chi-Town, South Side, world wide"
• "Through the Wire": "But I'm a champion, so I turned tragedy to triumph/Make music that's fire, spit my soul through the wire."
• "Family Business":
  • "This is family business, and this is for the family that can't be with us."
  • "You tell me you ain't did it, then you ain't did it. And if you did, then that's family business."
  • "This is family business, and this is for everybody standing with us."
  • "Act like everything fine and if it isn't, we ain't letting everybody in our family business."
• "Last Call": "This is the last call for alcohol"

Late Registration

• "Wake Up Mr. West": "Kanye, nigga-is you snorin' in my class?/Wake up Mr. West!/Wake up Mr. West!"
• "Heard 'Em Say": "And I heard 'em say, nothing's ever promised tomorrow or today."
• "Touch the Sky": "I gotta testify, come up in the spot lookin' extra fly, 'fore the day I die, Imma touch the sky"
• "Gold Digger": "Now, I ain't sayin' she a gold digger, but she ain't messin' with no broke niggas."
• "Drive Slow":
  • "You never know, homie, might meet some hoes, homie/You need to pump your brakes and drive slow, homie."
  • "He told me don't rush to get grown, drive slow, homie."
  • "You never know, homie, about these hoes, homie/You need to pump your brakes and drive slow, homie."
• "My Way Home": "I'm on my way home, I left three days ago, but no one seems to know I'm gone."
• "Crack Music":
  • "Shorty come and see his mama straight overdosin'/And this is the soundtrack, this the type of music that you make when you 'round that, crack music, nigga."
  • "This dark diction has become America's addiction, those who ain't even black use it/We gon' keep baggin' up this here crack music."
• "Roses": "To get there, we run, we fly, we drive. 'Cause with my family we know where home is, and so instead of sending flowers, we the roses."
• "Bring Me Down": "I always knew that one day, they'd try to bring me down."
• "Addiction": "What's your addiction? Is it money? Is it girls? Is it weed? I've been afflicted, by not one, not two, but all three."
• "We Major": "Cool out, thinking we local, c'mon, homie, we major."
• "Hey Mama":
  • "Hey mama, I wanna scream so loud for you, 'cause I'm so proud of you/Let me tell you what I'm about to do. Hey mama, I know I act a fool but, I promise you I'm goin' back to school, I appreciate what you allowed for me, I just want you to be proud of me."
  • "Come on mommy just dance wit' me, let the whole world see your dancing feet. Now when I say Hey, y'all say, Mama, now everybody answer me, hey mama."
  • It don't gotta be Mother's Day, or your birthday, for me to just call and say, Hey Mama.
• "Celebration": "Yeah, you know what this is, it's a celebration, bitches!"
• "Gone":
  • "They claim you never know what you got 'til it's gone, I know I got it, I don't know what y'all on."
  • "Shorties at the door 'cause they need more inspiration for their life, their souls, and their songs, but they said, "Sorry, Mr. West is gone"."^note Featured rapper Consequence uses the word "gone" in 21 different capacities during his verse.
• "Late":
  • "I'll be late for that, baby, I'll wait for that, if you had a taste of that, you'd probably pay for that."
  • "I know it's late and I took all year but you can stop complainin' 'cause I'm finally here."

Graduation

• "Good Morning":
  • "Good morning, on this day we become legendary, everything we dreamed of."
  • "Good morning, and look at the valedictorian scared of the future while I hop in the Delorean."
• "Champion":
  • "Did you realize, that you were a champion in their eyes?"
  • "This is the story of a champion, runners on their mark and they pop their guns. Stand up, stand up, here he comes."
• "Stronger": "N-Now th-that that don't kill me, can only make us stronger."
• "I Wonder": "And I wonder if you know what it means to find your dreams come true."
• "Good Life":
  • "Welcome to the good life, where niggas who sell D won't even get pulled over in they new V"
  • "Welcome to the good life, where we like the girls who ain't on TV 'cause they got more ass than the models."
  • "I always had a passion for flashin', before I had it, I closed my eyes and imagined the good life."
• "Can't Tell Me Nothing": "La, la, la la, wait 'til I get my money right. La, la, la la, then you can't tell me nothing, right? Excuse me, was you saying something? Uh-uh, you can't tell me nothing!"
• "Barry Bonds": "And here's another hit, Barry Bonds."
• "Drunk and Hot Girls": "We go through too much bullshit just to mess with these drunk and hot girls."
• "Flashing Lights": "Flashing lights (lights, lights)"^note Echoes throughout the song
• "Everything I Am":
  • "Damn, here we go again. People talking shit, but when the shit hit the fan, everything I'm not made me everything I am."
  • "Let me know if you feel it, man, 'cause everything I'm not made me everything I am."
• "The Glory":
  • "I did it for the glory."
  • "These haters be killing themselves they wanna come and get the glory."
• "Homecoming": "I'm comin' home again, Do you think about me now and then? 'Cause I'm comin' home again."
• "Big Brother": "My big brother was B.I.G.'s brother, used to be Dame and Biggs' brother."^note This song, an ode to Kanye's mentor, best friend, and idol Jay Z, drops the title several more times throughout the verses
• "Good Night": "I don't wanna say goodbye to you, so I'll just say good night to you."
• "Bittersweet Poetry":
  • "I fucked up and I know it, G, I guess it's bittersweet poetry."

808s & Heartbreak

• "Say You Will": "Hey, hey, hey, hey, don't say you will, unless you will. Hey, hey, hey, hey, don't say you will, then play you will, I pray you will."
• "Welcome to Heartbreak": "My god-sister getting married by the lake, but I couldn't figure out who I'd wanna take/Bad enough that I showed up late, I had to leave 'fore they even cut the cake, welcome to heartbreak."
• "Heartless": "In the night, I hear 'em talk the coldest story ever told, somewhere far along this road he lost his soul to a woman so heartless. How could you be so heartless?"
• "Amazing":
  • "It's amazing I'm the reason everybody fired up this evening."
  • "And no matter what, you'll never take that from me. My reign is as far as your eyes can see, it's amazing, so amazing."
• "Love Lockdown": "So keep your love lockdown, your love lockdown. [...] Now keep your love lockdown, you lose."
• "Paranoid": "Why are you so paranoid? Don't be so paranoid. Baby, don't worry about it. Hey there, don't even think about it. You worry 'bout the wrong things."
• "RoboCop": "You need to drop it now, drop it, drop it, 'cause I don't want no RoboCop."
• "Street Lights": "Seems like street lights, glowing, happen to be just like moments, passing, in front of me."
• "Bad News": "When you decide to break the rules? 'Cause I just heard some real bad news."
• "See You in My Nightmares": "I got the right to put up a fight, but not quite, 'cause you cut off my light. But my sight is better tonight, and I might see you in my nightmare."
• "Coldest Winter": "Memories made in the coldest winter, goodbye my friend, will I ever love again?"
• "Pinocchio Story": "Pinocchio's story goes, I just wanna be a real boy."

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

• "POWER":
  • "No one man should have all that power."
  • "Stop tripping, I'm tripping off the power, 'til then, fuck that the world's ours."^note In one instance, the word "power" changes to "powder" before the start of the bridge, therefore changing the meaning of the entire song
  • "You got the power to let power go?"
• "All of the Lights": "Turn up the lights in here, baby, extra bright, I want y'all to see this. Turn up the lights in here, baby, you know what I need, want you to see everything, want you to see all of the lights."
• "Monster":
  • "Bitch, I'm a monster, no-good bloodsucker."
  • "Gossip, gossip, nigga, just stop it. Everybody know I'm a motherfuckin' monster."^note Name dropped several more times throughout all verses
• "So Appalled":
  • "I'm so appalled, Spalding ball, balding Donald Trump taking dollars from y'all."
  • "I'm so appalled, I might buy the mall, just to show niggas how much more I have in store."
• "Runaway": "Baby, I got a plan, run away fast as you can."^note Repeated throughout
• "Hell of a Life": "Grab my hand and baby, we'll live a hell of a life."^note If you listen closely, Kanye never actually enunciates the 'f' in "life" clearly enough, perhaps intentionally to make it sound like he's saying "hell of a lie" instead, indicating that what he's saying is nothing more than a fantasy, an illusion, a lie
• "Blame Game": "Let's play the blame game, I love you more. Let's play the blame game, for sure."
• "Lost in the World": "I'm lost in the world, been down my whole life. I'm new in the city, but I'm down for the night."

Watch the Throne

• "No Church in the Wild": "Human beings in a mob, what's a mob to a king? What's a king to a god? What's a god to a non-believer, who don't believe in anything? Will he make it out alive? Alright, alright, no church in the wild."
• "Lift Off":
  • "Lift off, takin' my coat off. Showing my tattoos, I'm such a show off."
  • "Lift off, rappers hear Watch the Throne, they gon' be pissed off."^note A distorted sample of NASA announcer Jack King announcing "lift off" from the Apollo 11 launch repeats throughout
• "Niggas in Paris": "Doctors say I'm the illest 'cause I'm suffering from realness, got my niggas in Paris and they going gorillas, huh"
• "New Day": "Sun in the sky, you know how I feel. Breeze driftin' on by, it's a new dawn, it's a new day"
• "That's My Bitch":
  • "Pop champagne, I'll give you a sip. 'Bout to go dumb, how come? Yeah, that's my bitch."
  • "Now shoo, children, stop looking at her tits. Get ya own dog, ya heard? That's my bitch."
• "Welcome to the Jungle": "I asked her where she wanna be when she 25, She turned around and looked at me and said 'alive', welcome to the jungle."
• "Who Gon Stop Me":
  • "'Til I die, Imma fucking ball, now who gon' stop me''?"
  • "Who gon' stop me, huh? Beat the odds, beat the Feds, it wouldn’t be wise to bet against the kid."
• "Made in America": "Oh, sweet baby Jesus, we made it in America."
• "Why I Love You": "Ooooh, I love you so, but why I love you, I'll never know."
• "Illest Motherfucker Alive": "Take it how you want 'til a nigga dead. 'Til then, I'm the illest motherfucker alive. Whole world aiming at a nigga head, because I'm the illest motherfucker alive."
• "H.A.M.": "I'm about to go H.A.M.: Hard as a motherfucker, let these niggas know who I am."
• "Primetime": "Primetime, basking in the lime, Cassius in his prime, coloring out of the line, 'cause they don't want nobody that's colored out of the lines."
• "The Joy":
  • "The joy of children laughing around you, these are all the makings of you."
  • "We victorious, they'll never take the joy from us."

Yeezus

• "On Sight": "On sight, on sight"
• "I Am A God": "I am a god"
• "New Slaves":
  • "Used to only be niggas, now everybody playin', spendin' everything on Alexander Wang, new slaves."
  • "Meanwhile the DEA teamed up with the CCA, they're tryna lock niggas up, they're tryna make new slaves. See, that's that privately owned prison, get your piece today. They prolly all in the Hamptons, braggin' 'bout what they made."
• "Hold My Liquor": "I can hold my liquor, but this man can’t handle his weed."^note As the song progresses and slowly becomes unhinged and more chaotic, the lyric changes to "I can't handle no liquor".
• "I'm In It": "That's why I'm in it and I can't get out."
• "Blood on the Leaves": "Before the limelight stole ya, remember we were so young, when I would hold you, before the blood on the leaves. I know there ain't wrong with me, something strange is happenin'..."
• "Send It Up": "We can send this bitch up, it can go down"."
• "Bound 2": "Bound to fall in love"

The Life of Pablo

• "Ultralight Beam": "We're on an ultralight beam, this is a God dream."
• "Famous": "For all the girls that got dick from Kanye West, if you see 'em in the streets, give 'em Kanye's best, why? They mad they ain't famous, they mad they still nameless"
• "the last great american dynasty": "And they said, 'There goes the last great American dynasty."
• "Highlights": "Highlights, tell everybody I'm back in town. We only makin' the highlights, tell my mama that I only want my whole life to only be highlights."
• "Waves": "Waves don't die, let me crash here for the moment, I don't need to own it, no lie''."
• "FML":
  • "I been waiting for a minute for my lady"
  • "They wish I would go ahead and fuck my life up, can't let them get to me"^note This song can take on multiple meanings for the acronym FML, the first being "for my lady" as he talks about his marriage and the second being the more traditional definition of "fuck my life"
• "Real Friends":
  • "Real friends, how many of us? How many of us, how many jealous?"
  • "Who your real friends? We all came from the bottom. I'm always blamin' you, but what's sad, you're not the problem"
  • "Real friends, I guess I get what I deserve, don't I?"
  • "How many of us are real friends, to real friends, 'til the reel end, 'til the wheels fall off, 'til the wheels don't spin?"
• "Wolves": "Cover Nori in lambs' wool, we surrounded by the fuckin' wolves."
• "30 Hours":
  • "You had me drivin' far enough to switch the time zone. You was the best of all time at the time though. Yeah, you wasn't mine though. But I still drove 30 hours. And I still drove 30 hours to you..."
  • "I used the Western Union for you like it's no prob', 'cause you was in college complainin' 'bout it's no jobs, but you were suckin' a nigga dick the whole time. Well, I guess a blowjob's better than no job... and I drove back 30 hours..."
• "No More Parties in LA": "No more parties in L.A., Please, baby, no more parties in L.A."
• "Fade": "Your love is fadin', I feel it fade"

ye

• "I Thought About Killing You": "Today, I seriously thought about killing you. I contemplated, premeditated murder. And I think about killing myself. And I love myself way more than I love you, so… today, I thought about killing you, premeditated murder."
• "Wouldn't Leave": "My wife callin', screamin', say we 'bout to lose it all. Had to calm her down 'cause she couldn't breathe, told her she could leave me now, but she wouldn't leave."
• "No Mistakes": "Make no mistakes, girl, I still love you."

Kids See Ghosts

• "Feel the Love": "I can still feel the love"
• "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)": "I don't feel pain anymore. Guess what, baby? I feel freeee...."
• "Reborn": I'm so, I'm so reborn, I'm movin' forward. Keep movin' forward, keep movin' forward. Ain’t no stress on me Lord, I’m movin' forward."
• "Kids See Ghosts": "Kids see ghosts sometimes"

Jesus is King

• "Every Hour": "Sing every hour, every minute, every second , sing each and every millisecond (Sing till the power of the lord comes down)"
• "Closed on Sunday": "Closed on Sunday, you're my Chick-fil-A"
• "On God": "'How you get so much favor on your side?' 'Accept Him as your Lord and Saviour,' I replied. Thou shalt love thy neighbor, not divide. Imma ride, that's on God."
• "Everything We Need":
  • "Life too short, go spoil yourself. Feel that feel, enjoy yourself 'cause we have everything we need."
  • "What if Eve made apple juice? You gon' do what Adam do? Or say, 'Baby, let's put this back on the tree', 'cause we have everything we need."
• "Water": "We are water."
• "God Is": "God is my light in darkness."^note  title is repeated elsewhere throughout the song
• "Hands On": Hands up high, hands on, hands on, hands on, hands up, in your face, the reason..."
• "Use This Gospel": "Use this gospel for protection. It's a hard road to Heaven. We call on Your blessings, In the Father, we put our faith."
• "Jesus is Lord": "Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess, Jesus is Lord"

Donda

• "Jail": "Guess who goin' to jail tonight?"
• "God Breathed": "I know God breathed on this, I know God breathed on this..."
• "Off The Grid": "We off the grid, grid, grid, this for my kid, kid, kid..."
• "Praise God": "We gon' praise our way out the grave, dawg, livin', speakin', praise God..."
• "Ok Ok": "Okay, okay, I'm not okay..."
• "Junya": "Junya Watanabe on my wri'..."
• "24": "Twenty-four hours, twenty-four candles, twenty-four hours..."
• "Remote Control": "Got it on remote controoOOooOOooOOoool..."
• "Moon": "I wanna go to the moon, don't leave so soon..."
• "Heaven and Hell": It's not especially audible, but the background vocal samples of the 20th Century Steel Band’s 1975 song "Heaven and Hell is on Earth" do sing "Heaven and Hell..."
• "Keep My Spirit Alive": "Keep my spirit alive, alive..."
• "New Again": "Make me new again, make me new again..."
• "Lord I Need You": "Well, Lord, I need You to wrap Your arms around me..."
• "Come to Life": "Make it all come to life..."
• "No Child Left Behind": "No chiiiiild left behind..."

Misc.

• "Apologize": "We fill your lives with nothing but lies, and I would like to apologize."
• "Chain Heavy" (feat. Talib Kweli & Consequence):
  • "My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain too heavy"
  • "My chain heavy, stop in that traffic, coppers harass us, the D.A. attack us, want us in chains like B.A. Baracus"
  • "So don't get distracted, keep your aim steady, or there'll be a chain reaction since my chain's heavy"
• "Christian Dior Denim Flow" (feat. Kid Cudi, Pusha T, John Legend, Lloyd Banks & Ryan Leslie): "Christian Dior denim flow, I told her I’m tryin' to eat out, so what we goin' to dinner fo'?"
• "Cold" (feat. DJ Khaled): "Way too cold, I promise you'll need some Theraflu"
• "Clique" (feat. Big Sean, & Jay-Z): "Ain't nobody fuckin' with my clique"
• "Don't Look Down" (feat. Mos Def, Big Sean & Lupe Fiasco): "Don't look down, it's an impossible view. Fly like an eagle, whatever you do. Don't look down, it's an impossible view, spread your wings, aerial"
• "GO!" (Common feat. Kanye West): "(Go!) go, go, go, go, go, go, and on the count of three, everybody run back to your fantasy"
• "G.O.O.D. Friday" (feat. Common, Kid Cudi, Pusha T, Big Sean & Charlie Wilson): "Now, put your hands up to the sky, until the day in that we die, and we'll be here all evening, G.O.O.D. Fridays, I hope you have a nice weekend"
• "Live Fast, Die Young" (Rick Ross feat. Kanye West): "They say we can't be livin' like this for the rest of our lives. Well, we gon' be livin' like this for the rest of tonight. And you know they gon' be bangin' this shit for the rest of our lives, so live fast, die young, live fast, die young, live fast, and die young."
• "Looking for Trouble" (feat. Pusha T, Cyhi The Prynce, Big Sean & J. Cole):
  • "Not looking for trouble, but you found it, motherfucker."
  • "Boy, we looking for trouble, maybe if we wasn’t black, then we wouldn’t have struggled."
  • "Heard you looking for trouble, what, I’m 'sposed to run?"
• "Lord, Lord, Lord" (feat. Mos Def, Swizz Beatz, Raekwon & Charlie Wilson): "Lord, lord, lord, lord, lord, lord"
• "Mercy" (feat. Big Sean, Pusha T & 2 Chainz): "Lamborghini Mercy, your chick, she so thirsty, I'm in that two-seat Lambo with your girl, she tryna jerk me"
• "My Way": "It goes my way, Chi way, this way or the highway."
• "New God Flow" (feat. Pusha T): "I believe there's a God above me, I'm just the god of everything else. I put holes in everything else, New God Flow, fuck everything else"
• "Only One" (feat. Paul McCartney): "Hello, my only one, just like the mornin' sun, you'll keep on risin' 'til the sky knows your name. Hello my only one, remember who you are. No you're not perfect, but you're not your mistakes."
• "Selfish" (Slum Village feat. Kanye West and John Legend): "Maybe I'm selfish, I want you to myself, I can't help it."
• "Take One for the Team" (feat. Keri Hilson, Pusha T & Cyhi The Prynce): "Doin' my thing, pocket full of green, hand on my dick in my thousand-dollar jeans; your girl a queen, my girl a thing, you know what, though? Imma take, Imma take this one for the team."
• "This Way" (Dilated Peoples feat. Kanye West): "I can't live my life this way."
• "White Dress":
  • "Now, she back in the club in a tight dress, with dreams of someday wearing a white dress."
  • "Even though I met you in a club in a tight dress, at first sight I could picture you in a white dress."

Album Title Drop examples:

• "Last Call": "Ain't nobody expect Kanye to end up on top / They expected that College Dropout to drop and then flop"
• "We Major": "They ask, 'Why you call it Late Registration, 'Ye'? Cause we takin' these muhfuckas back to school."
• "Good Morning": "I guess, this is my dissertation, homie this shit is basic, welcome to graduation, good morning."
• "I Am A God": "I just talked to Jesus / He said 'What up, Yeezus?'"
• "I Thought About Killing You": "Ye, Ye, Ye season, nigga, we obey"
• "Kids See Ghosts": "Kids see ghosts sometimes."
• The name "Donda" fittingly shows up all throughout Donda, but most particularly in "Donda Chant" (which consists of nothing but "Donda" repeated over and over again), and a Title Track also called "Donda".

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