The Top 7 Kanye Outros
You need to know how to close out to be the greatest of all time, and there isn’t anyone in rap who knows this more than Kanye West. As tribute to Yeezy, here are my seven favorite Kanye outros ranked in order of greatness.*
7. We Major
Undoubtedly one of the most exuberant songs that Kanye ever dropped, “We Major” deserves its 2 minute outro. Capitalizing on the song’s greatness and defining Late Registration (literally), the outro serves as the close to one of the great Yeezy masterpieces.
6. “Ghost Town”
“Ghost Town” serves as the anchor and soul of Ye, taking the album to another level of greatness filled with guitars, lasers, and guest stars. But the best star is the rookie 070 Shake who contributed an electrifying performance that solidified Ye’s legitimacy. Juxtaposing innocence with self-harm in the outro, Shake captures 2018 Kanye perhaps better than Kanye could himself.
5. “Family Business”
Beautiful song. I smile every time I hear it. A touching reminiscence of a comically atypical family, even if not Kanye’s, makes this one of the most pleasing listens in Kanye’s discography [1]. It truly demonstrates how unique of a rapper Kanye was in the mid 2000s; The samples and choruses in the outro confirm this.
4. “Famous”
The Life of Pablo would not be the same without its controversial and iconic fourth track. “Famous” takes from a variety of music forms; in its finished form, it exists as one of the enduring highlights from this fragmented album. The first half of the song is good, but it’s all over when Swizzy takes the mike over a reggae jam.
3. “Runaway”
You can hardly make a word out of the bulk of the outro, but that’s what makes this song so special. One of Kanye’s most acclaimed songs, the lengthy “Runaway” offers auto-tune, distortion, heavenly orchestration, and much more surrounding its piano skeleton. This song would not be what it is without the outro.
2. “Welcome to Heartbreak”
Spine-tingling all the way through to the end, “Welcome to Heartbreak” in many ways serves as a prelude to the great “Runaway” for following the lead of the piano in exposing the flaws of glamor and fame. If you ever see me bob my head with headphones in, there is a really good chance that I’m listening to this outro. If I’m not just listening to it, I’m watching its music video, possibly my favorite music video of all time.
- “Hold My Liquor”
Absolutely this is my number one. I feel like I’m in a spaceship breaking through space and time on my way to meet the gods, both old and new. If I ever pass out, just play the outro and I’m back up and alive. The perfect bridge between the first and second half of Yeezus, “Hold My Liquor” links pain and pleasure plus Chicago rap and Indie for Kanye to reveal his demons to the world. But it’s Mike Dean’s electric guitar solo on the outro that elevates the song, the album, and Kanye’s career.
*I capped the list at seven because these are the Kanye songs that I will play regularly just to hear the outro.
[1] “Kanye West — Family Business.” Genius. February 10, 2004. Accessed June 01, 2019. https://genius.com/Kanye-west-family-business-lyrics.