Life of the Party (Original Version) Lyrics
It's after hours at that glamorous blind spot
Where they're taking it easy, swapping personal experiences
Let's listen in America Today
Life of the party, mhm, 'til I almost cry, mhm
It's the life of the party to think I could've almost died
Lord, help us
[Verse 1: André 3000]
Hey, Miss Donda
You run into my mama; please tell her I said, "Say something"
I'm startin' to believe ain't no such thing as heaven's trumpets
No after-over, this is it, done
If there's a Heaven, you would think they'd let ya speak to your son
Maybe she has in the form of a baby's laugh I heard
Passing by in a stroller remindin' me, "Hey, keep rolling"
I don't know; maybe she has with a prick of a blade of grass
I've been layin' on way too long, got me itchy
Got up and roamed a lil' more
Miss Donda, you see my mama, tell her I'm lost
You see, she'd always light a cigarette, we'd talk, I would cough
Exaggeratin' a lil' bit, so she get the point
Tryna get her to stop smokin', I would leave and fire up a joint
'Til I quit, started back up again, twenty years later
All that time, y'all thought nigga was high, thought I was crazy
My mom, she ain't cut no corners
Got me back on track; I don't miss her overstepping
But do miss her showin' Seven civilian life shit
Ah, Miss Donda, you see my mama whisper her this:
The real reason I was geeked to go to church
Must confess, when y'all grown-ups would be in Bible study
That girl helping me with my homework? Her and I were fuckin'
So pure and perverted, so spirit spinning and dirty
So on, so on and so on, we hoped that no one heard us
Sh-sh, ah, ah
And to this day, I think her mama knew but let us explore
Miss Donda, you see my father, please, ask him:
Why he never married? Always smiled, but was he happy inside?
Because I carried my mother's name, did he carry shame with him?
I'm sure she did it out of spite; 'twas her decision at birth
Shit, she probably was hurt, ah, poor baby
Two young people with different views, a lot for a young lady
No coincidence, they both passed away from heart conditions
There's a dissidence at play; dad and mom do hard division
Three Thou', poster child for big dick niggas raised by their mothers
I'm supposed to smile as if God knew that I would be troubled
Keeps me around, for what? I don't know
But I do know that it's crucial that we do so, pronto
I don't know how much long though
Mama, your son in the red hat
Had suffered set-backs, had, "shouldn't-have-said-thats"
Had made everyone mad
He made "808s" so he's everyone dad, know he ever gets sad
Hotel rooms by the shore, close my eyes, I can see more
Nobody punkin' me, nobody pressure me, nobody gangsta me
Especially when the gangstas eat thanks to me
And my favorite principal name was Mrs. Wooten
She was strict, the perfect instructor for young Putin
Vladimir, just so that is clear
Whom should we fear when we know Dad is here?
Daddy's right here, Daddy's right here
I don't play, boy
Over y'all dead body 'fore my daughter pose in Playboy
We don't condone over-sexualization of the kids in the home
Battery in my back
This house of pain won't ever last
CyHi told me to my face that "SICKO MODE" was his biggest song
Well go'n 'cause Donda was the best ghostwriter I ever had
South Park had jokes about fish sticks
'Til this day, the whole team can kiss this dick
I put Virgil and Drake on the same text
And it wasn't about the matching Arc'teryx or Kid Cudi dress
Just told these grown men, "Stop it with the funny shit"
I might hire the whole team from ACG
So don't text me like I'm Juanita JCV
Or more important, Monica Corgan, who was there for me
Somebody really there for me was rare for me
That was new air to breathe
When I was underappreciated, undervaluated
Stockholders told me, "Board rooms will bore you"
Can't remember going by your rules, try to follow the Lord's rules
Thought we was the new Abu Dhabi
Told Drake "Don't play with me on GD"
And he sent that message to everybody
So if I hit you with a "W-Y-D"
You better hit me with, "Yes sir, I'm writing everything you need"
I told you I was gonna take the summer back
So any of the cap, won't take none of that
Where my motherfuckin' red hat?
Security and the nannies be forever handling
I can't stand it when there's talks about puttin' the kids back in
Sierra Canyon when daddy got his own school
Trav, smile for these white people if you want (C'mon)
While we build a team to get Hoover out the joint
I do what I want, bro, in my life
Serve and protect long as it's my wife
Screaming on M-A-N's for trying to lower the percentage of SKIMS
See, I was going in
Back when they thought I was only making Ms, now it's nine-billi'
You ain't gotta like me, but you feel me
Do y'all feel me? Really?
Get off Scott Free, I'm talking Ridley
Get off our knees, that's if you're with me
Get off your knees, that's if you're with me
Get off your knees and let's get free
Get off your knees and let's get free
Really, I mean really
Really, I mean really
I need release, I don't need police
I'm like, "nigga, please"
Y'all can't hear me, (Harmonizing), for the real me
For the real me, I mean, mhmm-mm
[Outro: DMX]
Alright, it's gonna shoot us in the- woah, uh-oh, uh-oh
Ready mama? (Yup)
I'm so proud of you, yup, you're gonna have so much fun
They gonna shoot us in the air, mama, okay?
C'mon, P, I got you, it's okay, mama
Hold your head back, hold your head back (Three, two, one)
Daddy's here, daddy's here, daddy's right here
It's okay, mama, daddy's here, daddy here
Help, help, daddy's right here, I'm scared
Okay, okay, I got you, it's okay
Okay, we goin' slow, we goin' slow down
It's okay, stop cryin', daddy got you, see, it's over, you did it, P!
You already did it! See? It's already over! Yay! You did it!
Big Girl! It's already over! It's already over, it's already over
Daddy right here, daddy right here
I told you I'm not gon' let you go
I'm not gon' let you go, mama, okay?
Daddy got you, daddy gon' bring us all the way down, okay?
How was it? (We good)
You did a good job (It was scary)
Good job!
About
“Life of the Party” is an unreleased track by Kanye West recorded during his Donda sessions. It features a guest verse from André 3000.
As part of the surrounding narrative of the 2021 Kanye/Drake beef, the track was leaked one week after Donda’s official release by Drake himself on his special radio show Sound 42, a program broadcast in promotion of his new album Certified Lover Boy on September 4, 2021.
The song was also featured in a since deleted video posted on Consequence’s Instagram and reportedly also played at Kanye’s Las Vegas private listening party on July 18, 2021.
This song was also supposedly played at the Chicago listening party rehearsals but was cut from the album at the last minute. It was previewed one more time by Kanye himself while he was in Berlin on September 2, 2021. Kanye also stated that a video shoot is planned for this song.
On September 5, 2021, André 3000 responded to the unofficial release of this song:
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Following the leak of this song by Drake, André 3000 issued a public statement:
A few weeks ago Kanye reached out about me being a part of the Donda album. I was inspired by his idea to make a musical tribute to his mom. It felt appropriate to me to support the Donda concept by referencing my own mother, who passed away in 2013. We both share that loss. I thought it was a beautiful choice to make a clean album but, unfortunately, I didn’t know that was the plan before I wrote and recorded my verse. It was clear to me that an edited ‘clean’ format of the verse would not work without having the raw, original also available. So, sadly, I had to be omitted from the original album release.
The track I received and wrote to didn’t have the diss verse on it and we were hoping to make a more focused offering for the Donda album but I guess things happen like they are supposed to. It’s unfortunate that it was released in this way and two artists that I love are going back and forth. I wanted to be on Certified Lover Boy too. I just want to work with people that inspire me. Hopefully I can work with Kendrick on his album. I’d love to work with Lil’ Baby, Tyler and Jay-Z. I respect them all.
Snippets of the song trace back to a 2020 Dame Dash documentary, but the Andre 3000 & Kanye verses are from 2021
