Last Name Lyrics
We need peace, love and harmony
Must achieve all that we could be
Just love on me 'cause that's just what I need
Your love on me is all I ever need, need
[Chorus: Ant Clemons]
Part of my flesh was blendin' in with my soul
Do what I feel and I live what I say so
Oh, been travelin' a million miles on this road
I wasn't leavin', I was on my way home
Oh, I wasn't leavin', I was on my way home
I wasn't leavin', I was on my way home
Oh, I wasn't leavin', I was on my way home
I wasn't leavin', I was on my way home
[Verse 1: Kanye West]
They be sellin' somethin' when it's not shame
West stole West, simply got shame
Givin' up, I'm givin' up my slave name
Oh, no, no, I'm givin' up my slave name
Saint, you don't really need a last name
North, you don't really need a last name
Both on the song for the dark chains
I'm givin' up the slave name
It's a choice for me
Y'all can't cut out the voice in me
Y'all can't cut out the Nat in me
Y'all came from my anatomy
Y'all can't cut out the Harriet
I don't care how you carry it
Stomp, stomp, that'd be very lit
God stomp, wanna remarry, yeah
Saint, you don't really need a last name
North, you don't really need a last name
And Chicago, yo, they be lost, but we not bought
Oh, then he tells them
Part of my flesh was blendin' in with my soul
Do what I feel and I live what I say so
Oh, been travelin' a million miles on this road
I wasn't leavin', I was on my way home
Oh, I wasn't leavin', I was on my way home
I wasn't leavin', I was on my way home
Oh, I wasn't leavin', I was on my way home
I wasn't leavin', I was on my way home
[Verse 2: Kanye West & Ant Clemons]
That's like they take our slave women
And bend them quicker than when we hit it
Where you think lightskin came from? (Huh?)
I heard the Chinese buyin' Africa quicker than we would get it
And if you tell somebody you goin' to Africa
Somebody would laugh at ya
Like the top off it, and spend it at the Gucci store
Hold on more, woah, woah
Don't tell me 'bout them woke facts (Woke fact)
Them just sound like broke facts (Broke facts)
I don't know who the fuck told you that (Told you that)
I don't know who the fuck sold you back (Told you that, uh)
Buy your freedom 'fore they sell you back (Sell you back)
Why we need 'em? They just sold you crack (Sold you crack)
So let's done 'em, where the soldiers at? (Soldiers at)
Most of them ain't running, most of them on that bump (Ooh)
Face the gun in the sun, we been brainwashed (Ooh)
Fuck that, we in our own holocaust (Ooh)
It ain't never ended, it all depends (Ooh)
The Jews 'least they said, never again
Part of my flesh was blendin' in with my soul
Do what I feel and I live what I say so
Oh, been travelin' a million miles on this road
I wasn't leavin', I was on my way home
Oh, I wasn't leavin', I was on my way home
I wasn't leavin', I was on my way home
Oh, I wasn't leavin', I was on my way home
I wasn't leavin', I was on my way home
[Outro: Kanye West]
Saint, you don't really need a last name
North, you don't really need a last name
And Chicago, yo, and Chicago
About
On “Last Name,” Kanye tries to disassociate himself from his “slave name,” West, which was most likely given to his family by slave owners generations ago. He plans to give up his name either completely or perhaps create a new one. In a September 2018 tweet, he stated that the “being formally [sic] known as Kanye West” is now simply YE.
Kanye visited the country of Uganda, in Africa, to complete Yandhi. He could have also possibly been searching for a new surname.
The track was originally teased via Instagram on September 27, 2018, at The FADER’s New York office. The track fully leaked on October 14, 2019. This song’s guitar sample is also from the song Wally Wilder by Delicate Steve.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
No, Kanye has frequently discussed the idea in his music, but perhaps most famously on his June 2013 track, “New Slaves,” where he claimed that the African American community is still enslaved.
- Last Name
