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"All Falls Down" is a song by American hip hop artist
Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
. It was released as the third single from his debut album, ''
The College Dropout ''The College Dropout'' is the debut studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West. It was released on February 10, 2004, by Def Jam Recordings and Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records. In the years leading up to release, West had received pra ...
''. The song was written and produced by West and features singer
Syleena Johnson Syleena Johnson ( Thompson; September 2, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television presenter from Chicago, Illinois. Personal life Johnson is the daughter of 1960s rhythm and blues, R&B Hi Records singer Syl Johnson and Bre ...
. The hip hop song contains an
interpolation In the mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points. In engineering and science, one often has a n ...
of "Mystery of Iniquity" by
Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential musicians of her generation. ...
from her live album ''
MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 ''MTV Unplugged No. 2.0'' is a live album by American singer and rapper Lauryn Hill. The performance comes from her 2002 ''MTV Unplugged'' special recorded on July 21, 2001 at MTV Studios in Times Square, New York City. Hill abandoned the hip h ...
'', therefore Hill is credited as a composer. It was released in February 2004 and entered the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
at number ten and peaked at number seven on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on May 11, 2004, his first solo Top 10 hit in the USA. The song was nominated for
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration The Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance (awarded as Best Rap/Sung Collaboration until 2017, and Best Rap/Sung Performance from 2018 to 2020) is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and original ...
at the
47th Grammy Awards The 47th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2005, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording of the year beginning from October 1, 2003, through September 30, 2004. They were hosted by Queen Lati ...
, Viewer's Choice at the 2004 BET Awards and received nominations for a total of four awards at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards. The original version of the single featuring Lauryn Hill's vocals sampled from "Mystery of Iniquity" on the chorus of the song, was featured in the
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
documentary ''
Jeen-Yuhs ''jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy'' (or ''jeen-yuhs'') is a 2022 American documentary film directed by Coodie & Chike about the life of American rapper, record producer, and fashion designer Kanye West and, to a lesser extent, Coodie Simmons. Accolad ...
''.


Background

The song contains an
interpolation In the mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points. In engineering and science, one often has a n ...
of "Mystery of Iniquity" by
Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential musicians of her generation. ...
from her live album ''
MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 ''MTV Unplugged No. 2.0'' is a live album by American singer and rapper Lauryn Hill. The performance comes from her 2002 ''MTV Unplugged'' special recorded on July 21, 2001 at MTV Studios in Times Square, New York City. Hill abandoned the hip h ...
''. West originally attempted to acquire legal clearance to sample the recording but due to various complications, the permission was withheld. West then called upon
Syleena Johnson Syleena Johnson ( Thompson; September 2, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television presenter from Chicago, Illinois. Personal life Johnson is the daughter of 1960s rhythm and blues, R&B Hi Records singer Syl Johnson and Bre ...
to re-sing the relevant vocal portions of "Mystery of Iniquity" which ended up in the final track. The version of the song with the original sample can be heard on West's ''Freshman Adjustment'' mixtape. However, the earliest version of the song can be found on West's 2001 mixtape ''The Prerequisite,'' on which it was called "Dream Come True". Lyrically, "All Falls Down" examines the self-consciousness and insecurity within society, particularly the black community, and how these characteristics pertain to
economic materialism Materialism can be described as either a personal attitude which attaches importance to acquiring and consuming material goods or as a logistical analysis of how physical resources are shaped into consumable products. The use of the term materia ...
. In a 2013 interview with
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
, West revealed
Dead Prez Dead Prez, often stylized as dead prez, is an American hip hop duo composed of stic.man and M-1, formed in 1996 in New York City. They are known for their confrontational style, combined with lyrics focused on both militant social justice, sel ...
's impact on the song;
"It wasn’t until I hung out with Dead Prez and understood how to make, you know, raps with a message sound cool that I was able to just write “All Falls Down” in 15 minutes.”


Live performances

West performed the song live on
Def Poetry Jam ''Russell Simmons presents Def Poetry'', better known as simply ''Def Poetry Jam'' or ''Def Poetry'', is a spoken word poetry television series hosted by Mos Def and airing on HBO between 2002 and 2007. The series features performances by establ ...
in 2004 as a poem titled "Self Conscious". A performance of "All Falls Down" was included on West's 2006
live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
''
Late Orchestration ''Late Orchestration'' is a live album by American rapper and producer Kanye West, released on April 24, 2006, on Mercury Records. The album features recordings of live renditions of songs derived from his first two studio albums, ''The College ...
'', which was recorded in 2005 at
Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...
in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. It was performed live by West in 2015 as the closer to his headlining set at
Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...
. The song was performed by West as part of a medley at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards, as well on numerous television shows, including; ''
Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...
'', ''
Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (known commonly as ''TRL'') was an American television program broadcast on MTV that premiered on September 14, 1998. TRL featured popular music videos played during its countdown, and was also used as a promotion tool by ...
'', ''
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...
'', and '' Later... with Jools Holland''.


Music video

The
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
for "All Falls Down" was directed by
Chris Milk Chris Milk is an American entrepreneur, innovator, director, photographer, and immersive artist. He is co-founder and CEO of Within (Virtual Reality) (formerly Vrse), a virtual reality technology company, and co-founder of Here Be Dragons (for ...
and shot at
Ontario International Airport Ontario International Airport is an international airport two miles east of downtown Ontario, California, Ontario, in San Bernardino County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino. It ...
in
Ontario, California Ontario is a city in southwestern San Bernardino County in the U.S. state of California, east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino, the county seat. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire metropolitan area, ...
. It follows West as he accompanies his girlfriend, played by
Stacey Dash Stacey Lauretta Dash (born January 20, 1967) is an American actress. Dash played Dionne Marie Davenport in the 1995 feature film ''Clueless'' and its television series of the same name. She has also appeared in the films '' Moving'', ''Mo' Mone ...
, to the airport to catch her flight. The video is shot in first-person perspective, displaying the journey from their car to the airport terminal through West's eyes. The music video also features cameos by GLC,
Consequence Consequence may refer to: * Logical consequence, also known as a ''consequence relation'', or ''entailment'' * In operant conditioning, a result of some behavior * Consequentialism, a theory in philosophy in which the morality of an act is determi ...
,
Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...
,
Kel Mitchell Kel Johari Rice Mitchell (born August 25, 1978) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He was an original cast member of the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series ''All That'' for its first five seasons (1994–1999), where he was often paired a ...
, and Syleena Johnson, who features on the song, as the lady who checks Dash in at the airport reception. ''
Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
'' named it the 18th best music video of the 2000s decade.


Lyrical analysis

"All Falls Down" is placed as the fourth song of
Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
's debut studio album, ''
The College Dropout ''The College Dropout'' is the debut studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West. It was released on February 10, 2004, by Def Jam Recordings and Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records. In the years leading up to release, West had received pra ...
.'' The album is notable for containing complex societal issues, which West strives to advertently cover in ways relating to the Black American community. These thematic concepts, prevalent through the entirety of the album, are omnipresent within this specific song. West in "All Falls Down" decides to vulnerably share his own imperfections. This shines through his divulge into chronic issues with personal insecurities, which he recognizes as a problem that relates to the greater population within society than just himself. Within the concept of insecurities, West makes the decision to specifically home in on the continuous, dividing matter of excessive
materialism Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which holds matter to be the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materiali ...
, or a desire for it, in an attempt to pertain to an affluent appearance. While focusing on this topic, he admits that although being subject to this affair, he knowingly understands the mindset contradictory to such a lifestyle pertaining to short-term, consumerist happiness. Yet, he still finds himself to be a participant in this way of life. West also ties this thematic idea to an even deeper, underlying meaning. The reason this lifestyle is adopted is in an attempt to recompense for everything the Black American community has taken from them in the past. But, in the process of making up for the prior oppression they had received, West scrutinizes their new subjugation, this excessive materialism, as a result. West ends with a claim that he recognizes his submission to such a lifestyle, but also knows that it is not just him that falls subject to such behavior. Hip hop journalist Davey D describes the song lyrically as " escribinga number of Black pathologies including self-hate, drug abuse, and the worship of white wealth. estphilosophically concludes that White men are the financial benefactors of all Black pathologies."


Accolades

''
Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
'' named "All Falls Down" the third best song of 2004.


Track listings


12" vinyl #1

A-Side # "All Falls Down" (Clean) # "All Falls Down" (Dirty) # "All Falls Down" (A cappella) B-Side # "Get 'Em High" (Clean) # "Get 'Em High" (Extended Dirty) # "Get 'Em High" (A cappella)


12" vinyl #2

A-Side # "All Falls Down" (Explicit) # "All Falls Down" (Edited) B-Side # "Heavy Hitters" (Dirty) # "Heavy Hitters" (A cappella)


CD single #1

# "All Falls Down" (Album Version Explicit) # "Heavy Hitters" (Dirty)


CD single #2

# "All Falls Down" # "Get 'Em High" # "Heavy Hitters" # "Through the Wire"


CD single #3

# "All Falls Down - Explicit" # "All Falls Down" - Edited" # "Heavy Hitters (Feat. GLC)" # "Get 'Em High (Feat.
Talib Kweli Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He earned recognition early on through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with ...
& Common)" # "All Falls Down - Video"


Personnel

Information taken from ''The College Dropout'' liner notes. *Songwriters:
Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
,
Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential musicians of her generation. ...
*Producer: Kanye West *Record engineer: Tatsuya Sato, Rabeka Tunei *
Mix engineer A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...
:
Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is an American mixing engineer.Daley, Dan (May 2005).Manny Marroquin. ''Sound on Sound''. Retrieved February 10, 2007 He has received ten Grammy awards for his professional audio work. Life and career M ...
*Guitar: Eric "E-Bass" Johnson *Acoustic guitar: Ken Lewis


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Release history


References


External links


"All Falls Down" Lyrics
at
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
(archived from 2009) {{authority control 2004 singles Kanye West songs Music videos directed by Chris Milk Song recordings produced by Kanye West Songs written by Kanye West Songs written by Lauryn Hill Roc-A-Fella Records singles Def Jam Recordings singles 2004 songs Songs about consumerism Syleena Johnson songs