In response to a request to sing a song for the kids in The College Dropout… Read Full Bio ↴In response to a request to sing a song for the kids in The College Dropout’s “Intro,” Kanye gets the kids to sing a song to celebrate dealing drugs out of desperation. In fact, according to Complex, West originally titled the song “Drug Dealing.”

This serves as a great opener for the album’s theme of “not caring” about societal norms on things such as education, drug dealing, music, etc.

We Don't Care
Kanye West Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Oh yeah, I got the perfect song for the kids to sing
And all my people that's

Drug dealin' just to get by
Stackin' 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" (yeah, yeah, yeah, uh)

If this is your first time hearin' 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
Flickin' 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"
Sittin' 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 sittin' your ass at home
So we forced to sell crack, rap, and get a job
You gotta do somethin' man, your ass is grown

Drug dealin' just to get by
Stackin' 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"

The second verse is for my dogs working 9 to 5
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 layaway, 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 want to move south
Scratchin' 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 nigga's money is homo, it's hard to get straight
But we gon' keep bakin' 'till the day we get cake
And we don't care what people say
My niggas

Drug dealin' just to get by (yeah)
Stackin' 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, uh)

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, blows, 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
You tryna to put me on the school bus
With the space for the wheelchair
I'm trying to get the car with the chromey wheels here
You trying to 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

Drug dealin' just to get by
Stackin' 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"

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Kanye West's song "We Don't Care" primarily deals with the harsh realities of being vulnerable to selling drugs and indulging in other unlawful activities to make ends meet, and simultaneously highlighting the lack of resources and opportunities for black people. In the first verse, Kanye raps about how his community is surviving through drug dealing to stack money and eventually achieve economic freedom. He also mentions how the world underestimated them and believed that they would not survive beyond the age of twenty-five, yet they proved them wrong, and hence, they don't care about people's assumptions or opinions. The chorus emphasizes this attitude towards allowing others' opinions to determine their worth, and instead focus on their own self-worth.

In the second verse, Kanye shifts his focus to the struggles of people working a 9 to 5 job, yet still failing to make ends meet. Here, he talks about how people are selling makeup, bootlegged tapes, and resorting to various illegal means to meet their basic needs. He points out how people have to put things on layaway just to come back and buy them later, and also how parents claim other people's kids for their income tax. Kanye explains how the lack of opportunities coerces people to take up selling drugs or turning to crimes, and society has failed them in that regard.

Overall, "We Don't Care" is a poignant song that addresses the adversities faced by many people living in the black community. Kanye talks about the systemic issues and limited resources and how they compel people to indulge in illegal activities. Nevertheless, he raises a sense of community pride by stating the prideful message that they don't care what people say.

Line by Line Meaning

Oh yeah, I got the perfect song for the kids to sing
I have a perfect song that the kids can sing

Drug dealin' just to get by
We have to sell drugs to survive

Stackin' money 'til it get sky high
We save money until it accumulates a lot

We wasn't supposed to make it past twenty-five
We were not expected to live past the age of 25

Joke's on you, we still alive
We managed to survive despite the odds against us

Throw your hands up in the sky and say
Raise your hands to the sky and say

"We don't care what people say" (yeah, yeah, yeah, uh)
We don't mind what others say about us

If this is your first time hearin' this
If this is your first time listening to this

You are about to experience something so cold, man
You are about to experience something very real

We never had nothin' handed
We never had anything given to us

Took nothin' for granted
We did not take anything for granted

Took nothin' from no man
We did not take anything from anyone

Man, I'm my own man
I am my own person

But as a shorty I looked up to the dope man
As a child, I admired drug dealers

Only adult man I knew that wasn't broke, man
The only adult I knew who was not poor was a drug dealer

Flickin' Starter coats, man
Wearing Starter jackets

Man, you don't know, man
You don't understand

This is for my niggas outside all winter
This is for my friends who face winter without proper shelter

'Cause this summer, they ain't finna say
Because they won't say this summer

"Next summer I'm finna"
"Next summer I'm going to"

Sittin' in the hood like community colleges
Staying in the neighborhood like community colleges

This dope money here is lil' Trey's scholarship
The money we earn from selling drugs is like a scholarship for Trey

'Cause ain't no tuition for having no ambition
Because there's no cost for lacking ambition

And ain't no loans for sittin' your ass at home
And there's no loans for staying at home with no income

So we forced to sell crack, rap, and get a job
We are forced to sell drugs, rap, or get a traditional job

You gotta do somethin' man, your ass is grown
You have to do something, you're an adult

The second verse is for my dogs working 9 to 5
The second verse is for my friends who work traditional jobs

That still hustle 'cause a nigga can't shine off $6.55
Who still sell drugs because they can't thrive on a minimum wage of $6.55

And everybody selling makeup, Jacob's
And everyone is selling makeup and knockoff products

And bootlegged tapes just to get they cake up
And bootlegged tapes just to make money

We put shit on layaway, then come back
We use layaway to purchase items and come back to get them later

We claim other people kids on our income tax
We claim other people's children as dependents on our tax returns

We take that money, cop work, then push packs to get paid
We use the tax refund to buy drugs and sell them to make money

Mama say she want to move south
My mother wants to move to the southern United States

Scratchin' lottery tickets, eyes on a new house
Scratching lottery tickets and hoping to buy a new home

'Round the same time, Doe ran up in dude house
At the same time, Doe broke into someone's home

Couldn't get a job, so since he couldn't get work
Doe could not get a job, so he decided to sell drugs

He figured he'd take work
He decided to sell drugs

The drug game bulimic, it's hard to get weight
The drug market can be inconsistent and difficult to make consistent profits

So nigga's money is homo, it's hard to get straight
So the money we get from selling drugs is volatile and can be difficult to manage

But we gon' keep bakin' 'till the day we get cake
But we will keep working until we have enough money to enjoy life

You know the kids gon' act a fool
You know the kids will act foolishly

When you stop the programs for after school
When you cancel after-school programs

And they DCFS, some of 'em dyslexic
And they deal with the Department of Children and Family Services, some of them are dyslexic

They favorite 50 Cent song "12 Questions"
Their favorite 50 Cent song is "21 Questions"

We scream, "rocks, blows, weed, park"
We shout out drugs and locations

See, now we smart
Now we are intelligent

We ain't retards the way teachers thought
We are not as unintelligent as our teachers believed

Hold up, hold fast, we make more cash
Wait and see, we will make more money

Now tell my mama I belong in that slow class
Now tell my mother I belong in a slower class

It's bad enough we on welfare
It's terrible that we rely on welfare

You tryna to put me on the school bus
You're trying to send me to school on a bus

With the space for the wheelchair
The bus has space for a wheelchair

I'm trying to get the car with the chromey wheels here
I want a car with chrome wheels

You trying to cut our lights out like we don't live here
You're trying to disconnect our electricity as if we don't live here

Look what was handed us, fathers abandoned us
Look at what we were given; our fathers abandoned us

When we get them hammers, go on call the ambulance
When we have guns, someone will end up being injured

Sometimes I feel no one in this world understands us
Sometimes I feel that nobody in this world can relate to us

But we don't care what people say
But we don't care about people's opinions

Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Miri Ben-Ari, Ross Vannelli, Kanye Omari West

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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