"Last Call" - Logic // J. Cole // Kanye West

~O.K. Nawa

Despite my feelings about the scatterbrained Kanye West of today, I've always loved the concept of "Last Call" from his debut album, The College Dropout. This was a loosely woven composition of verses and monologues charting his journey from humble beginnings to fulfilling a dream of signing a record deal. Whether via soliloquy or bars, Mr. West articulates how the grind isn't just about working hard, it's about persevering despite seeing your disappointments followed up by failures. 

In the years since, others have tried their hand at their own "Last Call". In 2009, J. Cole used the track when he dropped The Warm Up mixtape. In 2018, Logic gave it a go when he was provided a track that carried a feel similar to Kanye's production on his his original back in 2004. Both Logic and Cole illustrate the frustration of realizing that progress is a crooked line and the faith it requires to keep grinding until serendipity pays that long awaited visit.

With the help of the nerds at genius.com, I've collected some of the most powerful bars and defining asides from their respective versions of "Last Call". Who did it best?

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Logic

YSIV

(2018)

I'm wishing all your dreams come true, 'cause mine did

And yeah, you know I had to put that in the rhyme kit

But that shit came from sacrifice

Not on the corner selling drugs and smackin' dice

So like, I was staying with him and I was supposed to get a job, right?

And he was like, "Yo, you gotta get a fucking job, bro"

Things were going so good with the music that we kinda stopped talking about it

It seemed like every week something new was happening

And I just sat him down one day and I was like, "Look bro, I—please, like, can you just give me one year, like just give me one year, man, let me put everything into this, and if I don't get it, fuck it, I'll just submit, and I'll just—I'll just blend into society."

And he was like, "Bro I'ma give you one year"

And for one year him, his family, all the homies, Benny, everybody man!

They took care of me, they put—he put clothes on my back, he put food in my stomach

You know, he helped me with microphones, and recording

And yo, almost a year to the fucking day bro, I signed to Def Jam

J. Cole

The Warm Up

(2009)

Making beats writing rhymes, thinking deep fighting time

I'm getting better but wasn't getting younger

And all that time can make the most confident n**** wonder

The Warm Up is about a n**** who did not make the team when he tried out and I know it's a lotta n****s who know that feeling man

You try out, you think you deserve to be one the team and you go that day to look at the cut-list

You wake up and you can't even sleep, you're like, "Damn I'm gon' make the team, I did my thing at tryouts."

You go to the list. All the n****s is looking at their names on the list, some n****s is like, "Aww shit I see my name n**** I'm good, I'm good n**** I'm good, I see my name."

And you go to the list and your name ain't there

And you're like, "How the fuck did I not make this team? I'm better than him, I'm better than him, I'm better than him."

So a lotta n****s either quit or some n****s go harder and so that's kinda how I took the rap shit when I put out The Come Up

So shit fast forward to The Warm Up, this just me, like you know, me being that n**** that's practicing and making sure it's no way, it's undeniable that when I go to tryouts, there's no fucking way the coach is passing up on me, my n****

So that's what this whole mixtape was about and lo and behold, you know

As I'm finishing the mixtape, the deal comes.

Thank God, I'm blessed. Everything happens for a reason.

Kanye West

The College Dropout

(2004)

Last year shopping my demo, I was trying to shine

Every motherf***** told me that I couldn't rhyme

Now I could let these dream killers kill my self-esteem

Or use my arrogance as the steam to power my dreams

Actually, even with that I was still about to take the deal with Capitol [Records] cause it was already on the table and cause of my relationship with 3H. That, you know, cause I told him I was gonna do it, and I'm a man of my word, I was gonna roll with what I said I was gonna do. Then, you know, I'm not gonna name no names, but people told me, "oh he's just a producer rapper," and told 3H that told the heads of the Capitol, and right-- the day I'm talking about, I planned out everything I was gonna do. Man, I had picked out clothes, I already started booking studio sessions, I started arranging my album, thinking of marketing schemes, man I was ready to go. And they had Mel call me, they said, "yo... Capitol pulled on the deal"

And, you know I told them that Roc-A-Fella was interested and I don't know if they thought that was just something I was saying to gas them up to try to push the price up or whatever. I went up... I called G, I said, "man, you think we could still get that deal with Roc-A-Fella?"