Kanye West
You Don’t Know My Name (Live from VH1 Storytellers)
[Spoken Intro]
So, in the studio we were
And the dudes was on the mic
The one mic, right
And so we're like, "It's gotta be like a conversation, you know?
So how we gon' drop it?"
So, we're kinda freestylin' a couple of ideas
And my favorite word in the whole world is "Baby"
I put "baby" in a song any chance I get
"Baby" just sings good; you can sing "baby" in any way
I'll show you
See, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby — it just works, right?
Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby
See that one, I coulda done that one and made it work
But instead, you know, we said...

[Verse 1]
Baby, baby, baby
From the day I saw you
I really really wanna catch your eye
There's something special 'bout you
And I must really like you
'Cause not a lotta guys are worth my time, no
Ooh baby, baby, baby
It's gettin' kind of crazy
'Cause you are takin' over my mind
[Chorus]
And it feels like ooh ooh
But you don't know my name
And I swear it feels like ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
But you don't know my name
('Round and 'round and 'round we go, will you ever know)

[Verse 2]
Oh, baby, baby, baby
I see us on our first date
You're doin' everything that makes me smile
And when we had our first kiss
It happened on a Thursday
Ooh, it set my soul on fire
Oh, baby, baby, baby
I can't wait for the first time
My imagination's runnin' wild

[Chorus]
It feels like ooh
But you don't know my name
And I swear, it feels like ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
But you don't know my name
('Round and 'round and 'round we go, will you ever know)

[Bridge]
You see, he don't even know what he's doin' to me
He's got me feelin' all crazy inside
I mean, I'm feelin' like, oh, oh oh
Doin' more than I've ever done for anyone's attention
Take notice of what's in front of you
'Cause did I mention you're 'bout to miss a good thing
And you'll never know how good it feels to have all of my affection
And you'll never get a chance to experience my lovin'
[Chorus]
'Cause my lovin' feels like ooh ooh
But you don't know my name
And I swear it, baby, it feels like ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
But you don't know my name
('Round and 'round and 'round we go, will you ever know)

[Interlude]
So, then we got the part of all this talking, right?
So we decided, like
Kanye was like, "You know you're gonna have to talk on this record
You're gonna have to do it"
And I said, "You want me to get on the record and talk?"
He's like, "You know all the bad records..."
Like, bad, not bad meaning bad but bad meaning good
"...got talking on 'em. Like, if you bad, you stop and you talk, especially on these type of records"
So we're sitting there in the control room, and you know, we're vibing on some different things
I was like, "Yeah, okay, if you're in a diner, like, maybe he gets a special thing."
He's like, "Yeah, some hot chocolate."
And I'm like, "Um, and, you know, maybe like I put some extra something in there."
He's like, "Yes, yes, all that." And he's like, "Oh, oh, and you gotta tell him that, you know, you gotta meet him outside the restaurant 'cause you look better outside your work clothes."
And I was like, "Ah, okay. Well let me hop in the booth."
So I went in the booth — here go the booth
And, um, I just started freestylin'
I just started coming off of the top of my head
And I'm like, "Alright, well, let's get on the phone or something"
Like, "Hello? Oh, hey, how you doin'?
Um, you, you don't know me but I work at the, um, the diner on 137th and Lenox
Yeah, you know, the one with the braids?"
So I'm coming off the top of my head with all these things
I'm talking about the cream and the sugar inside the hot chocolate
And I'm going in, and I'm like, "Okay, hold up, I can't, wait, hello? Wait my phone breaking up, my phone, hello?
Oh, hey, how you doin'?"
'Cause, you know, when you finally get the nerve to call someone
If the phone breaks up, you feel crazy
You're like, "Don't, this was my chance"
So we did all of that and we finally end up like the guy's gonna meet me and we talk through the whole conversation
And I came out the booth and we did it two times
And I was like, "I think we got it"
And that was exactly how we did it, we just left it exactly how it was
And it's from top to bottom, talking all that thing
And the amount of hours that me and Peter spent editing that thing to make it good for radio, we won't even talk about it
[Outro]
And it feels like ooh ooh ooh ooh
But you don't know my name
And I swear on my mother and father it feels like
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Ooh do do do do do do
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
(Will you ever know?)
Will you ever know my name?
(Name)

Thank you
Let's do it like this