| "Good Life" |
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| Single by Kanye West featuring T-Pain |
| from the album Graduation |
| Released |
October 2, 2007 |
| Format |
CD single, digital download, USB flash drive |
| Recorded |
2006 |
| Genre |
Hip hop, electro hop, R&B |
| Length |
3:26 |
| Label |
Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam |
| Writer(s) |
Kanye West, Faheem Najm, James Ingram, Quincy Jones, Adrian Davis |
| Producer |
Kanye West, DJ Toomp, (additional drum programming by Timbaland) |
| Certification |
Platinum (RIAA) |
| Kanye West singles chronology |
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This article is about the Kanye West song. For the OneRepublic song, see Good Life (OneRepublic song).
"Good Life" is the third single from American rapper Kanye West's album Graduation. The song features R&B artist T-Pain, and uses sampled keys from the song "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" as performed by Michael Jackson.[1] It contains background vocals provided by John Legend and Ne-Yo as well as additional drum programming and production by Timbaland and Mike Dean, respectively. The single was officially released on October 2, 2007, even though it had already charted. The song won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Song at the 50th Grammy Awards.
[edit] Chart performance
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 off of 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.
[edit] Music video
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 model Angel Melaku. 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.
[edit] Track listings
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
[edit] Personnel
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
[edit] Charts
[edit] Chart positions
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[edit] Sales and certifications
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[edit] References
[edit] External links
