Good Life (Kanye West song)

"Good Life"
Single by Kanye West featuring T-Pain
from the album Graduation
B-side "Can't Tell Me Nothing" (Remix)
Released October 2, 2007 (2007-10-02)
Format
Recorded 2007
Genre
Length 3:26
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Kanye West singles chronology
"Stronger"
(2007)		 "Good Life"
(2007)		 "Pro Nails"
(2007)

"Stronger"
(2007)		 "Good Life"
(2007)		 "Pro Nails"
(2007)
T-Pain singles chronology
"Kiss Kiss"
(2007) Kiss Kiss2007		 "Good Life"
(2007) Good Life2007		 "Church"
(2007) Church2007

"Good Life" is a song by American rapper Kanye West released on October 2, 2007 as the third single for his third studio album Graduation (2007). The song features vocals by singer T-Pain and was produced by West and DJ Toomp. It contains a sample of the keyboard outro to "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" performed by Michael Jackson. The song features additional drum programming by Timbaland and additional production by Mike Dean, as well as background vocals by John Legend and Ne-Yo.

The songs lyrics see both T-Pain and West celebrating the finer things in life and acknowledging their success. "Good Life" peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned two nominations at the 50th Grammy Awards for Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Rap Song winning the latter.

Chart performance

"Good Life" debuted at number sixty-three on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs during the chart week of September 22, 2007, where it eventually peaked at number three, becoming West's second top ten single from Graduation on the chart. For the chart week of September 29, 2007, "Good Life" was the "Hot Shot Debut" of the week on the Billboard Hot 100, as it entered at number fourteen due to strong digital downloads. The song climbed to the seventh position, becoming West's second consecutive top ten Hot 100 single from Graduation as well as T-Pain's sixth top ten single. "Good Life" debuted on the Canadian Hot 100 at number thirty-nine and has peaked at number twenty-three. The single generated a strong reaction from the MuchMusic Countdown, where it reached number-one. "Good Life" was able to enter at number thirty-three on the UK Singles Chart before it was officially released in the UK until November 5, 2007. Upon its release, the single was able to rise and peak at the twenty-third position on the chart.

Music video

The rotoscoped forms of Kanye West 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.

Media usage

The song was featured on the HBO television series Entourage during season 4, episode 11, titled "No Cannes Do."[1] In the final moments of the episode, Kanye West makes an appearance and lets Vincent Chase and his crew use his plane to fly to Cannes as the song "Good Life" faded into the credits.

Track listings

US CD single

  1. "Good Life" (Explicit Album Version) – 3:30
  2. "Good Life" (Instrumental) – 3:24
  3. "Can't Tell Me Nothing" (Remix) [featuring Young Jeezy] – 4:09
  4. "Good Life" (Video) – 3:56

UK CD single

  1. "Good Life" – 3:27
  2. "Can't Tell Me Nothing" (Remix) [featuring Young Jeezy] – 4:07

Personnel

Information taken from Graduation liner notes.[2]

  • Songwriters: Kanye West, Faheem Najm, James Ingram, Quincy Jones, Aldrin 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

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2007–08) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[3] 21
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[4] 18
Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[5] 22
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[6] 23
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[7] 20
Germany (Official German Charts)[8] 78
Ireland (IRMA)[9] 24
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[10] 11
Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[11] 79
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[12] 23
US Billboard Hot 100[13] 7
US Adult R&B Songs (Billboard)[14] 40
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[15] 3
US Hot Rap Songs (Billboard)[16] 1
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[17] 18
US Pop 100 (Billboard)[18] 18
US Rhythmic (Billboard)[19] 3

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[20] Silver 200,000double-dagger
United States (RIAA)[21] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ "No Cannes Do" on IMDb
  2. ↑ Graduation (Media notes). Kanye West. Roc-A-Fella Records. 2007.
  3. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Kanye West feat. T-Pain – Good Life". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Kanye West feat. T-Pain – Good Life" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Kanye West feat. T-Pain – Good Life" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Kanye West Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Kanye West feat. T-Pain: Good Life" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Kanye West feat. T-Pain – Good Life". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Chart Track: Week 45, 2007". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Charts.nz – Kanye West feat. T-Pain – Good Life". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  11. ↑ "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 20088 into search. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Kanye West: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Kanye West Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Kanye West Chart History (Adult R&B Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Kanye West Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Kanye West Chart History (Hot Rap Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Kanye West Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Kanye West – Awards (Billboard Singles)". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
  19. ↑ "Kanye West Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  20. ↑ "British single certifications – Kanye West – Good Life". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved October 6, 2018. Select singles in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Good Life in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  21. ↑ "American single certifications – Kanye West – Good Life". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.