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"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 is a hip hop song that contains a sample of the keyboard outro to "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" performed by Michael Jackson. And another sample from European Track entitled Volume of the Good Life. Performed and produced by Dayna Staggs Sr. 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.

"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)
Recorded	2007
Genre	Pop
Length	3:26
Label	Roc-A-Fella Def Jam
Songwriter(s)	Kanye West Aldrin Davis Faheem Najm James Ingram Quincy Jones
Producer(s)	Kanye West Toomp
Kanye West singles chronology
"Stronger" (2007) "Good Life" (2007) "Pro Nails" (2007)
T-Pain singles chronology
"Kiss Kiss" (2007) "Good Life" (2007) "Church" (2007)
Music video
"Good Life" on YouTube

The song's lyrics see West celebrating the finer things in life and acknowledging his success. "Good Life" peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and number twenty-three on the UK Singles Chart. The music video was premiered on MTV Jams on September 11, 2007. The song earned two nominations at the 50th Grammy Awards for Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Rap Song, winning the latter. It was nominated for Best Collaboration and Video of the Year at the 2008 BET Awards, managing to win the former.

Background and recording

West and T-Pain spent time in the studio together, most notably working on "Good Life". Speaking on his At: Guitar Center podcast in 2011, T-Pain said that he thought of the song's concept when dining at a restaurant with West, focusing on him ordering lobster and Cristal. T-Pain recalled West was unaware "I was coming up with these things in my head" while he ordered, summarizing that he "pulled up in a regular Cadillac Escalade SUV" and the rapper's Maybach was "waiting on him" outside with a driver: "It's like, this is the good life."[1] Elaborating on this statement, the singer stated that once he heard the beat, he instinctively thought "this is what this song is about".[1] According to record producer Jeff Bhasker, West said on his Glow in the Dark Tour that singing T-Pain's parts of the song through Auto-Tune live inspired his fourth studio album 808s & Heartbreak in 2008. West used the vocal technique for the album, to which T-Pain responded by voicing his approval and declaring: "He just had me in mind."[2][3] T-Pain contributed songwriting to the album's track "RoboCop" and in 2015, he told Billboard that West was inspired by his 2005 debut album Rappa Ternt Sanga for 808s & Heartbreak and also recruited him to create a similar sound.[2]

T-Pain revealed that all his recordings for "Good Life" were hooks, saying five different versions of the chorus were recorded. He explained that West "put all them hooks together" for the song, expressing after hearing the final edit that he "is a genius".[4] T-Pain also recalled that the hooks were simply not "sounding right" to West, with him desiring a "different [hook] that was real anthemic" and quickly impressed him, while he stated the rapper placed one at the end of the song as the bridge.[5] "Good Life" was produced by West and record producer Toomp, with additional production from Mike Dean.[6] Toomp remembered that a lot of the GOOD Music crew were in the studio when creating the song and said "it felt like a party up in there while working on that record".[7] He revealed that the creation started off with West playing a sample of Michael Jackson's "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" (1983), thinking he "always wanted to do something with this", and then they started playing with the sample.[7] Toomp detailed that West sent the sample sounds over to his keyboard to work with, before the rapper began to sing the melody and add the bassline as he added more to the beat, followed by a few players contributing the synthesizers.[7] The producer explained their work showed West's different creative process from other collaborators; he elaborated that the rapper would say, "Alright, I like this. I'm going to put my man Craig in here to put these keys on here."[8] Toomp also said that they "wanted a professional keyboardist to bless that shit" and considered "about four different artists" for the hook, until T-Pain was decided on as the performer and he admitted going through this process taught him about "taking your time and not settling with what you [first] hear".[8] West sped up the sample of "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" for the song, a technique he had utilized frequently since his debut single "Through the Wire" (2003).[9]

Composition and lyrics

Musically, "Good Life" is a pop number.[10][11] The song is built around a sped-up sample of the outro to "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)", written by Quincy Jones and James Ingram, and performed by Jackson.[6][9][12][13] It features layered, squealing synths, performed by Omar Edwards, who also contributed piano.[13][14] Violin was played by Eric Gorfain and Daphne Chen of string quartet the Section Quartet, while the quartet's Leah Katz contributed viola alongside Alma Fernadez, and fellow member Richard Dodd and John Krovoza performed cello.[6] John Legend and Ne-Yo sing the final refrains of "Good Life".[15] The lyrics focus on life being good and West celebrates his success.[16][17] West spins lyrics from 50 Cent's single "In Da Club" that originally were about Lloyd Banks giving 50 advice to being about 50 giving West advice instead.[18]

Release and reception

On September 11, 2007, "Good Life" was included as the fifth track on West's third studio album Graduation.[19] Writing for The Guardian, Dorian Lynskey pointed to the "jubilant" track as among the album's "brilliant, questing pop".[11] Hot Press author John Walshe held a similar opinion, labeling it an example of the "shimmering summertime pop" on the record.[10] James Poletti from Dotmusic observed the song's "gospel euphoria", which had been West's signature for "many of his hits".[20] Louis Pattison of NME thought the song may be the "most luxurious, opulent-feeling production" on Graduation, predicting it to become the biggest hit due to the sample of "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)".[12] He continued, seeing the song as the album's only point where it feels as if "hip-hop's King Midas truly just sat down and did what he does best".[12] Similarly, Pitchfork's Mark Pytlik identified the song as an album highlight and "future smash", asserting that T-Pain's auto-tuned hooks are placed "against a bed of summery, squealing synths".[14] Nathan Rabin from The A.V. Club declared that the song revels "in the trappings of success", which Billboard reviewer Hillary Crosley echoed by branding it "an instant hit".[21][22] Eric Henderson of Slant Magazine lauded the sample for West bringing the pitch down "to T-Pain's wholly synthetic level" and how West "layers Sale of the Century synths around him" because of this showing "the ability to bury ones weaker arguments within their showier claims" that every student should learn, though complained the "vocal Gizmodgery makes me want to throw a shawt one" at the singer.[13] Alex Fletcher was rather mixed in Digital Spy, affirming that the song checks the boxes of a "classic but slightly obscure sample", "bravado lyrics", and "squelching Timbaland-style beats", yet doubted the commercial ability.[23] He elaborated that West disappointed him with a "plodding, predictable trundle" and despite the appeal of the rapper repeatedly proclaiming his greatness, "with tunes like this, he'll end up looking rather daft".[23]

Music video

The music video for "Good Life" was directed by Jonas & François with animation by So-Me.[24] The video premiered on September 11, 2007 as MTV Jams' "Jam of the Week".[25] It features West and T-Pain performing with animated backdrops on a white background and often mouthing the words of the song lyrics, which appear in large letters.[24][26] The version of the song used in the video contains an additional twenty-four seconds that the album version does not have.[27] The music video features a cameo from rapper/model LoLa Monroe.[28] On set, West had to persuade T-Pain to listen to "Good Life" again before the shooting began.[5]

Commercial performance

In the same week as fellow Graduation single "Stronger" topped the US Billboard Hot 100, "Good Life" entered the chart at number 14, standing as the highest entry of the week.[29] It peaked at the seventh position of the Hot 100 on November 10, 2007, becoming West's second consecutive top-10 single from the album, as well as T-Pain's sixth track to reach this ranking.[30][31] The song fell down to number eight on the chart a week later, before rebounding to its peak position on November 24, remaining there for the following week.[32][33] In total, the song spent 21 weeks on the Hot 100.[30] It ranks as West's 10th biggest hit on the chart up to May 31, 2018.[34] "Good Life" debuted at number 63 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart during the week of September 22, 2007, where it eventually peaked at number three.[35] The song topped the US Hot Rap Songs chart, marking West's third number-one on the chart.[36] It further peaked at number three on the US Rhythmic chart, as well as reaching number 18 on both the Mainstream Top 40 and Pop 100 charts.[37][38][39] By September 2020, "Good Life" was certified triple platinum for amassing 3,000,000 equivalent units in the US, standing among West's 39 certifications for the year's third quarter.[40]

For the issue date of September 29, 2007, the track debuted on the Canadian Hot 100 at number 39.[41] "Good Life" ultimately peaked at number 23 on the chart, while it lasted for 20 weeks.[42] The track reached number 11 on the New Zealand Singles Chart, spending two non-consecutive weeks at this position and lasting for 15 weeks.[43] In Australia, it debuted at number 43 on the ARIA Singles Chart and gradually climbed to number 21 over the first eight weeks.[44] The track peaked at number 20 on the Finnish Singles Chart, while it charted at number 23 on the UK Singles Chart.[45][46] "Good Life" spent 22 weeks on the chart and as of October 24, 2019, it stands as West's 26th most popular track of all time in the UK.[46][47] On June 18, 2021, the track was awarded a gold certification by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for pushing 400,000 units in the country.[48] It was less successful in Ireland, reaching number 24 on the Irish Singles Chart.[49]

Accolades

Media usage

The song was used in the ending credits of the HBO television series Entourage during season 4, episode 11, titled "No Cannes Do."[58] 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.[59] On August 31, 2017, Sammie released the song "Good Life" featuring Rick Ross, which includes an interpolation of the lyric "Welcome to the good life".[60]

Track listings

CD/Digital download single (UK)[61][62]

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

CD single (US)[63]

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-Track) – 3:56

Credits and personnel

Information taken from Graduation liner notes.[6]

Recording

• Recorded at Doppler Studios (Atlanta, GA), Sony Music Studios (NYC) and The Record Plant (Hollywood, CA)
• Mixed at Encore Studios (Los Angeles, CA) and Chung King Studios (NYC)

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

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Certifications for "Good Life"

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[48]	Gold	400,000
United States (RIAA)[79]	3× Platinum	3,000,000
United States (RIAA)[79] Mastertone	Platinum	1,000,000*
* Sales figures based on certification alone. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Release dates and formats for "Good Life"

Region	Date	Format	Label(s)	Ref.
United States	October 2, 2007	Rhythmic contemporary radio	Roc A Fella Def Jam	[80]
United Kingdom		Digital download		[62]
	November 5, 2007	CD single		[61]
United States	December 11, 2007			[63]

See also

• BET Award for Best Collaboration
• Grammy Award for Best Rap Song
• List of Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles in 2007
• MTV Video Music Award for Best Visual Effects

References

External links

• "Good Life" lyrics at MTV

На других языках

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- [en] Good Life (Kanye West song)

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[es] Good Life (canción de Kanye West)

«Good Life» —en español: "Buena vida"— es una canción interpretada por el rapero estadounidense Kanye West, con la colaboración musical del artista rhythm and blues T-Pain, producida por el propio Kanye West y DJ Toomp, e incluida en el año 2007 en su tercer álbum de estudio, Graduation.

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