"Good Life" is a song by American hip hop artist Kanye West. It was released on October 2, 2007 as the third single for his third studio album Graduation. Although it had already charted prior to the official release. The song was produced by West and DJ Toomp and uses sampled keys from the song "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" as performed by Michael Jackson. "Good Life" also contains additional drum programming and production by Timbaland and Mike Dean, respectively.[1] The song features R&B singer T-Pain as well as background vocals provided by John Legend and Ne-Yo. "Good Life" won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Song at the 50th Grammy Awards.
Chart performance[edit]
The song debuted at number sixty-three on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs during the chart week of September 22, 2007 and eventually peaked at number three, becoming his second top ten single from the album Graduation. The chart week of September 29, 2007, it was the "Hot Shot Debut" of the week on the Billboard Hot 100 debuting at number fourteen due to strong digital downloads. It has since climbed to the seventh position, becoming his second consecutive top ten Hot 100 single from Graduation, and T-Pain's sixth top ten single. The song debuted on the Canadian Hot 100 at number thirty-nine, and has peaked at number twenty-three. "Good Life" showed a strong reaction from the MuchMusic Countdown, where it reached number-one. The song was released in the UK on November 5, 2007, however it reached number thirty-three there without being officially released. Upon its release it has so far risen to twenty-three there.
Music video[edit]
Rotoscoped forms of Kanye and T-Pain against a white backdrop.
The music video for "Good Life" was directed by Jonas & François with animation by So-Me. The video premiered on September 11, 2007 as MTV Jams' "Jam of the Week". It features West and T-Pain performing with animated backdrops and often mouthing the words of the song lyrics, which appear in large letters. The version of the song used in the video contains an additional twenty-three second intro that the album version does not have. The video also features rapper/model LoLa Monroe. The video has reached #4 so far on VH1's VSpot Top 20 Countdown. It ranked #40 on VH1's "Top 40 Videos of 2007." The video was the recipient of several awards nominations, winning "Best Hip-Hop Video" at the BET Hip Hop Awards and "Best Special Effects in a Video" at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Track listings[edit]
US CD single
- "Good Life" (Explicit Album Version) – 3:30
- "Good Life" (Instrumental) – 3:24
- "Can't Tell Me Nothing" (Remix) – 4:09
- "Good Life" (Video) – 3:56
UK CD single
- "Good Life" – 3:27
- "Can't Tell Me Nothing" (Remix) – 4:07
Personnel[edit]
Information taken from Graduation liner notes.[1]
- Songwriters: Kanye West, Faheem Najm, James Ingram, Quincy Jones, Adrian Davis
- Producers: Kanye West, DJ Toomp
- Additional drum programming: Timbaland
- Additional production: Mike Dean
- Recorders: Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer, Paul Sheehy
- Mix engineer: Mike Dean
- Piano/synths: Omar Edwards
- Violins: Eric Gorfain, Daphne Chen
- Viola: Leah Katz, Alma Fernadez
- Cello: Richard Dodd, John Krovoza
- Background vocals: John Legend, Ne-Yo
Chart positions[edit]
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Certifications[edit]
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References[edit]
- ^ a b Graduation (Album notes). Roc-A-Fella Records. 2007.
- ^ "Australian-charts.com – Kanye West feat. T-Pain – Good Life". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Hung Medien.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Kanye West feat. T-Pain – Good Life" (in Dutch). Ultratip. ULTRATOP & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Kanye West feat. T-Pain – Good Life" (in French). Ultratip. ULTRATOP & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch.
- ^ "Canadian Hot 100 – Good Life". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 2008-02-09. Retrieved 2008-02-09. [dead link]
- ^ "Finnishcharts.com – Kanye West feat. T-Pain – Good Life". Suomen virallinen lista. Hung Medien.
- ^ "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts, News, Neuerscheinungen, Tickets, Genres, Genresuche, Genrelexikon, Künstler-Suche, Musik-Suche, Track-Suche, Ticket-Suche – musicline.de" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
- ^ a b "Kanye West and T-Pain - Good Life worldwide chart positions and trajectories". acharts.us. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
- ^ "Charts.org.nz – Kanye West feat. T-Pain – Good Life". Top 40 Singles. Hung Medien.
- ^ "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 20088 into search.
- ^ "The Billboard Hot 100 – Good Life". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 2008-02-16. Retrieved 2008-02-16. [dead link]
- ^ "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs – Good Life". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 2008-04-26. Retrieved 2008-04-26. [dead link]
- ^ "Hot Rap Tracks – Good Life". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 2008-04-26. Retrieved 2008-04-26. [dead link]
- ^ "Pop 100 – Good Life". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 2008-03-22. Retrieved 2008-03-22. [dead link]
- ^ "RIAA – Gold & Platinum". Recording Industry Association of America. Nielsen Business Media Inc. 2008-12-12. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
External links[edit]
