| "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" | |
|---|---|
| Song byKids See Ghosts featuringTy Dolla Sign | |
| from the albumKids See Ghosts | |
| Released | June 8, 2018 (2018-06-08) |
| Studio | West Lake Ranch,Jackson Hole, Wyoming |
| Genre | Rap rock |
| Length | 3:26 |
| Label | |
| Songwriters | |
| Producers |
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| Kids See Ghosts track listing | |
"Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" is a song by Americanhip hop duoKids See Ghosts, composed of the rappersKanye West andKid Cudi, from their first albumKids See Ghosts (2018). The song features a guest appearance from American musicianTy Dolla Sign. It is the sequel to West's song "Ghost Town" from his eighth studio album,Ye (2018). The first song "Ghost Town” was sung by West,PARTYNEXTDOOR and Kid Cudi. produced by West and Kid Cudi, with co-production fromMike Dean,Jeff Bhasker, and BoogzDaBeast, while additional production was handled byAndrew Dawson,Andy C, and Russell "Love" Crews. Apart from BoogzDaBeast, the lead and co-producers wrote the song alongside Ty Dolla Sign and Corin Littler, who has the stage name of Mr. Chop and received songwriting credit due to his work beingsampled.
Arap rock number withpsychedelic elements, "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" samples "Stark" by Mr. Chop and an excerpt of a speech byMarcus Garvey. In the lyrics, Kids See Ghosts demonstrate recovering from mental illness and represent liberation. The song received universal acclaim frommusic critics, who generally expressed highly positive opinions of the composition. Some praised the vocals, while other critics appreciated the song's creativity. It was submitted for the61st Annual Grammy Awards, though ultimately failed to receive any nominations at the ceremony.
"Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" charted at number 62 on the USBillboard Hot 100, while it reached number 58 on theCanadian Hot 100. The duo and Ty Dolla Sign performed the song at theCoachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2019. Ronald Oslin Bobb-Semple issued a lawsuit over the song in March 2019, pressing the accusation of exploiting "The Spirit of Marcus Garvey (Garvey speaks to an all-Black audience)" without permission or payment. Kids See Ghosts and their co-defendants responded three months later, arguingfair use and that there was nothing wrong with the duo's actions, later reaching a settlement with Bobb-Semple in January 2020.
On April 19, 2018,Kanye West announced a collaborative album withKid Cudi.[1] The album was revealed as being titledKids See Ghosts by West, with him setting its release date as June 8, 2018.[1] Kid Cudi had been featured on a number of tracks by West prior to the announcement, including "Welcome to Heartbreak" (2008) and "Gorgeous" (2010).[1] West released his eighth studio albumYe on June 1, 2018, with vocals from Kid Cudi included on the tracks "No Mistakes" and "Ghost Town".[2][3] The album also features additional vocals fromTy Dolla Sign on "All Mine", "Wouldn't Leave" and "Violent Crimes".[3] On June 4, 2018, the musician teased a joint album with West.[4] The rapper had expressed a desire to collaborate on an album four days previously, calling himself and Ty Dolla Sign "one of the best combinations ever" while affirming that he is simply "trying to go week after week and improve on the craft".[4] West elaborated, naming the collaborator among "the strongest artists we have living" and admitting that "anything I can do to support, get around, produce, take my hands and chop up I'm with it".[4] Ty Dolla Sign later recalled "going off on the backgrounds, noAuto-Tune" when working with West in a phone conversation withRolling Stone on August 30, 2018.[5] West went on to contribute a feature to hissingle "Ego Death", released in July 2020.[6]
"Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" serves as the sequel to "Ghost Town", but credits Kids See Ghosts as the lead performers and Ty Dolla Sign as a featured artist.[7][8] This differs from the prequel crediting West as the lead artist and Kid Cudi,PartyNextDoor, and070 Shake as additional vocalists.[3] The titles ofKids See Ghosts and the track, respectively, are part of a "spooky-ghost routine" that is continued from "Ghost Town"; the album also includes a songof the same name.[9][10] "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" includes aninterpolation of lyrics from the song.[11] Fellow album track "4th Dimension" also shows continuity of the prequel, with both of the trackssamplinggospel singer Shirley Ann Lee's "Someday".[11] Prior to combining rap androck, both members of Kids See Ghosts had shown admiration for guitar artists.[9] The genres had previously been compared by West in an interview withBBC Radio 1 hostZane Lowe, during which he said of rappers: "We the new rock stars and I'm the biggest of all of them!"[12] West rapped nonsense words on his single "Lift Yourself" in April 2018, before he re-used the song's "whoop! Scoop!" phrases onGOOD Music presidentPusha T's "What Would Meek Do?" the following month.[9][13] "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" was produced by West and Kid Cudi, while co-produced byMike Dean,Jeff Bhasker, and BoogzDaBeast, with additional production being handled byAndrew Dawson alongsideAndy C and Russell "Love" Crews.[8] The lead producers and co-producers, with the exception of BoogzDaBeast, co-wrote the track with Ty Dolla Sign and Corin Littler; the latter of the two is known under the stage name of Mr. Chop and was credited as a songwriter due to his recording "Stark" (2008) being sampled.[8][14] The sampling of Mr. Chop stood among West's numerous samples taken from therecord labelNow-Again Records in the Summer of 2018.[15]
Musically, "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" is arap rock number,[16][17] withpsychedelic elements.[14][18] The song is built around achopped up sample of "Stark", written and performed by Mr. Chop.[7][8][9] Anelectric guitar riff is taken from the recording.[18] For the intro of the song, an excerpt from a speech byblack nationalistMarcus Garvey is sampled alongside "Stark".[7][11][19] According toSpin's Zoe Camp, Garvey's proclamation "lays the track's liberating themes bare".[20] Drums are heavily featured, which aredistorted.[9][21][22] The song also includes percussion, acello, and anacoustic guitar; the latter of the three was played by Zack Djurich.[8][21][23] It contains voice modulation, as well asoff-key cries.[9][24] West and Kid Cudi trade turns to perform for the chorus, which includes the former of the two yelling.[11][18][25] They are followed by Ty Dolla Sign and a gospel choir, with him harmonizing as the song's beat drops out.[11][26][27]
In the lyrics of "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)", Kids See Ghosts demonstrate the recovery from mental illness and showcase liberation.[28][29] On the chorus, a message of it being acceptable to not feel okay is conveyed.[30] "Nothing hurts me anymore / Guess what, baby? I feel freeeee", proclaim both members of Kids See Ghosts separately, interpolating 070 Shake's lyrics "And nothing hurts any more / I feel kind of free" from "Ghost Town",[11][18][30] as well as representing freedom in a triumphant moment.[10] The word "free" is stretched out vocally through extra e's being used to echo the song title, withreverberation being applied to it.[11][31][32] West re-uses the nonsensical "Scoop!" phrase from "Lift Yourself", shouting it on the song.[14][33]
"Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" replaced "Ghost Town" as the fourth track on Kids See Ghosts' eponymous debut studio album, released on June 8, 2018.[10][34] On the day of the album's release, multiple tracks were mislabeled onstreaming services as the result of a technical error, though "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" was the exception to the error.[35][36] As part of their first show billed as Kids See Ghosts, the duo delivered a performance of the song at the 2018Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival.[37] The song was the fifth track of their set, though it was the fourth track that they released under the Kids See Ghosts moniker to be performed.[38] The duo were backed by visuals that featured pulsating bright colors for their performance inside atransparent box, and rapperTyler, the Creator sang along with the line "I feel freeeee" while in the crowd.[39][40][41] Kids See Ghosts went on to perform "Ghost Town" as the closer to their set, during which the crowd sang along with the line "I feel kinda free."[41] For Kid Cudi's weekend two set at the 2019Coachella Music Festival, he brought out West at the Sahara Tent as a surprise.[42] They were joined by Ty Dolla Sign to perform a rendition of "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)", with Kid Cudi taking running jumps across the stage at multiple points.[42][43][44] After the performance, Kids See Ghosts delivered a rendition of "Ghost Town".[42][44]
The song was met with universal acclaim frommusic critics, with strong praise for the composition. Jack Hamilton ofSlate categorized the song as the "most fun and exuberant track" onKids See Ghosts, labeling it heavily comparable to English musicianDavid Bowie's work because of the "booming walls of vocals, gnashing distortion, and thundering drums".[22] Christopher R. Weingarten ofRolling Stone expressed certainty in "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" being "fantastic", hailing it as "gorgeouslyarranged" like tracks on West's fifth studio albumMy Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) "with a more spontaneous feel".[45] Writing forEntertainment Weekly, Chuck Arnold voiced a similar viewpoint; he remarked that the song "is the [same] type of wide-screen soundscape" as the album's tracks, while also stating there is "a liberating rush" from being able to feel "demons being kicked to the curb".[29] Spencer Kornhaber fromThe Atlantic commented how the song and "Ghost Town" are "a duo" that he considered to be the standout tracks of their respective albums, noticing the songs "roil with peeling guitar, off-key yowls, and drunken drumming". Kornhaber further praised the song for building on "a crunchyfunk-rock tune from [...] Mr. Chop", alongside highlighting Ty Dolla Sign's performance and West's vocals that differ from his.[9]
NPR's Sidney Madden wrote Mr. Chop's sampled "soaring electric guitar riff" backs the "declarations of freedom" from West and Kid Cudi on "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" that "erupt into an all-out rebel yell", as well as commenting how the sample resembles "fuzzed-outpsychedelic rock of the'70s".[18] AtPitchfork,Jayson Greene said that while "a buzzing cello pecks at its tendons and the distorted drums smash into bone" on the song, the listener is left with contemplation of "the scary sort of freedom West prizes".[21] He elaborated, noting it is "the freedom of mania" where you allow your mind to "gallop off its leash in as many directions at once" and that the song can give anyone with experience of this type of freedom "a pang of recognition in this exhilaration".[21] ForThe Guardian, Dean Van Nguyen assured the song is the "undoubted centrepiece" ofKids See Ghosts, analyzing that it is "anacid-laced trip into bohemian spiritualism".[16] Van Nguyen admitted that with rap rock crossovers being generally "execrable", he cannot envision West making the song "without Cudi in the booth to summon the spirit of flower power".[16]NME critic Jordan Bassett picked the "defiant" interpolation of "Ghost Town" on the chorus as a stand out on the album.[30]
ForExclaim!, Riley Wallace stated the song fully shows West and Kid Cudi on "their journeys to bettering themselves" via "the power of positivity" as "the two notoriously creative, controversial and often elusive artists" seem to shed "the demons, shackles and negativity" that troubles them.[46] He continued, analyzing that the duo move forward "with a clear state of mind", and noticing their "childlike innocence and fearlessness".[46] InThe A.V. Club, Marty Sartini Garner called the song a "barbaric yawp" that continues "Ghost Town" and "aims to blast through any ambiguities", noting both members of Kids See Ghosts "sound as big and bold and alive as they ever have". He went on to highlight the beat's "brash power" for coming across "like an exclamation point at the end of a very long and digressive sentence", though was unhappy with the intention of it being "seen as a statement" due to it feeling "hard to shake the idea that you're joining in a dubious celebration" because West is unclear about what he's free from.[47]
NME ranked "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" as the 20th best song of 2018, with the publication's Dan Stubbs hailing it as a "standout track" from West's Wyoming Sessions.[a][33] He further called the track "an empowering blast of booming vocals, thunderous drums" and West's "liberal shouts" of "Scoop!", arguing that the use of the catchphrase may be West's "most admirable contribution to 2018's cultural melee".[33] It was listed as the 98th best song of 2018 bySpin, while also being named byThe Guardian music journalist Harriet Gibsone as one of the best tracks of the year.[20][49] In July 2020,Cool Accidents placed Ty Dolla Sign's appearance among his 11 best guest features.[50] On October 25, 2018, it was reported that West's team had submitted the song for consideration in the categories ofBest Rock Song andBest Rock Performance at the61st Annual Grammy Awards.[51] According toTMZ, the song had already gone through the screening process for the categories at the time and "since been sent out on the first round ballot to voters", with the submissions awaiting enough support to be nominated.[51] However, the song was ultimately nominated in neither of the categories at the ceremony.[52]
Upon the release ofKids See Ghosts, "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" entered the USBillboard Hot 100 at number 62.[53] Simultaneously, the song debuted at number 30 on the USHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[54] In Canada, it peaked at number 58 on theCanadian Hot 100.[55] Elsewhere, the song reached number 72 in Australia on theARIA Singles Chart.[56] It further charted at numbers 66 and 72 on theIrish Singles Chart andSingles Digitál Top 100 in Ireland and Slovakia, respectively.[57][58]
On March 7, 2019, Ronald Oslin Bobb-Semple sued the duo, Ty Dolla Sign, and record labelsDef Jam andUniversal Music for the song's alleged sampling of his recording "The Spirit of Marcus Garvey (Garvey speaks to an all-Black audience)" (2002).[59] Court documents obtained byThe Blast and TMZ saw him accuse them of exploitation of "the actual voice, words and performance" with lack of authorization or monetary compensation and state that he hadn't been given any of the profit made from "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)".[59][60] Bobb-Semple further noted Kids See Ghosts and Ty Dolla Sign had received "substantial profits", and that he wanted a "fair cut".[61] The damages sought by Bobb-Semple were reportedly unspecified and a warning was sent out to Kids See Ghosts, Ty Dolla Sign, and the record labels to prevent them from still profiting off his work.[59] At the time, neither of the two artists had issued any comments about his lawsuit.[62]
Kids See Ghosts went on to file a legal response to the lawsuit on June 4, 2019, with various co-defendants for their response, including Ty Dolla Sign, Def Jam, Universal Music, and West's record label GOOD Music. Bobb-Semple's infringement claim was denied by the defendants, with them asserting that the usage of the sample does actually classify asfair use despite not having obtained authorization to use it.[63][64] They continued, arguing that even if copyright infringement was present, Kids See Ghosts' actions were "innocent and non-willful", and pointed out Bobb-Semple not having provided any facts to support the duo's "alleged willfulness". Kids See Ghosts made the accusation of Bobb-Semple's original complaint being "barred by theFirst Amendment to the United States Constitution" and characterized him as misusing copyright.[63] West demanded for the case to be thrown out of court. It has been shown by West that he is not opposed to giving credit where it is due, with him having reached out to the estate ofLouis Prima to clear a sample for "4th Dimension".[64] In January 2020, the parties reached a settlement regarding the lawsuit.[65]
Recording
Personnel
Information taken from theKids See Ghosts liner notes andTidal.[8][67]
| Chart (2018) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[56] | 72 |
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[55] | 58 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[57] | 66 |
| Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[58] | 86 |
| UK Audio Streaming (OCC)[68] | 78 |
| USBillboard Hot 100[69] | 62 |
| USHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[54] | 30 |
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