GOOD Music

GOOD Music
Parent company	Universal Music Group
Founded	2004
Founder	Kanye West
Distributor(s)	Def Jam Recordings (Worldwide) Virgin EMI Records (In the UK)
Genre	Various
Country of origin	United States
Location	New York City, New York
Official website	www.good-music.com

GOOD (Getting Out Our Dreams) Music, Inc. is an American record label founded by hip hop artist and record producer Kanye West in 2004. The label houses Kanye West, Big Sean, Pusha T, Desiigner, Teyana Taylor, D'banj, John Legend and Marco Viscardi. The label's producers include Hudson Mohawke, Q-Tip, Travis Scott, NØID, Jeff Bhasker, S1. The label has released ten albums certified gold or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

History

2004–07

Rapper Kanye West founded the record label during 2004.

West founded GOOD Music in 2004, in conjunction with Sony BMG, shortly after releasing his debut album, The College Dropout. John Legend, Common, and West were the label's inaugural artists.^[1]

Legend's Get Lifted (2004) was the label's first album release - this received eight nominations and three wins at the 2006 Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist and Best R&B Album.^[2] In October 2006, Legend released his second album, Once Again, which won a Grammy for the song "Heaven".^[3]

Common was one of the label's first signees.

Common's Be (2005), the label's second release, was the recipient of four Grammy Award nominations. The label later added GLC, Really Doe, Malik Yusef, Tony Williams and Consequence to its artists.^[4] West's second studio album, Late Registration, included featured guest appearances by every artist signed to GOOD Music's roster at the time of its release in August 2005.^[5] In May 2007, Detroit rapper Big Sean signed to the label.^[6]

2008–2011

In 2008, West signed British singer-songwriter Mr Hudson, after hearing A Tale of Two Cities. He also signed then up-and-coming rapper Kid Cudi, after hearing his respective work from producer and manager Plain Pat.^[7][8] Kid Cudi's debut album, Man on the Moon: The End of Day was released under GOOD Music on September 15, 2009. The album earned three Grammy nominations and was certified Gold by the RIAA.^[9] A month later Mr Hudson's solo debut, Straight No Chaser, was released.^[10]

The label held a cypher for the 2010 BET Hip Hop Awards in June, that featured West, Common, Big Sean and new signee Cyhi the Prynce.^[11] In late 2010, West released several tracks featuring himself, and others members of the GOOD Music roster, in a free weekly giveaway known as, G.O.O.D. Fridays.^[12] In September 2010, West signed Brooklyn rapper Mos Def to GOOD Music.^[13] and shortly afterwards Consequence released a diss track and left the label.^[14] The following month Pusha T announced his signing.^[15] Late in 2010, Kid Cudi released his second studio album Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager, followed by West's fifth album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.^[16][17]

In April 2011, West signed Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest as a producer.^[18] and signed producer Hit-Boy to Very G.O.O.D. Beats.^[19] In 2011, West signed Nigerian artists D'banj and Don Jazzy.^[20] In June 2011, GOOD Music signed their first distribution agreement, with Def Jam Recordings.^[21][22] Big Sean's debut Finally Famous was the first album released by GOOD Music with distribution by Def Jam.

2012–present

Kid Cudi signed to the label in 2008 and left in 2013, following the release of his third album Indicud.

In late 2011, plans were announced for a release of a compilation album, later entitled Cruel Summer.^[23] The album's lead single "Mercy", was released on April 6, 2012 and features verses from Kanye West, Pusha T and Big Sean, as well as GOOD Music affiliate 2 Chainz.^[24] The album was also preceded by the singles "New God Flow" and "Clique", the latter of which peaked at number 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100. and features West and Big Sean rapping alongside Jay-Z.^[25] Cruel Summer was released on September 18, 2012. It was accompanied by the eponymous short film Cruel Summer, which was shot in Qatar; the film premiered at Cannes Film Festival.^[26] The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.^[27]

In January 2013, Scottish record producer and DJ Hudson Mohawke, announced that he had signed to the production arm of G.O.O.D. Music - Very G.O.O.D. Beats.^[28] On April 2, 2013, Kid Cudi announced on Power 106 that he was no longer with the label, leaving on amicable terms. Cudi felt he was "underused" and would have preferred to record something particular for Yeezus (2013).^[29] On June 29, 2013 producer Hit-Boy of Very G.O.O.D. Beats announced that his contract expired and that he was no longer signed to GOOD Music.^[30] American Apparel model Kacy Hill was signed to the label December 2014, after appearing as a backup dancer on West's Yeezus Tour.^[31]

In November 2015, Pusha T became the president of GOOD Music.^[32] In January 2016, Mos Def retired from music announcing it in a freestyle released in conjunction with West's GOOD Fridays series.^[33] In February 2016, Brooklyn rapper Desiigner, signed a record deal with the label and subsequently appeared on West's seventh solo album The Life of Pablo (2016).

Artists

Singer John Legend has been signed to the label since 2004 and has released five studio albums on it.

Mos Def signed to the label in 2010 and will leave after retiring in 2016.

Current acts

Act	Year signed	Releases under the label
John Legend	2004	5
Malik Yusef	2005	1
Big Sean	2007	4
Mr Hudson	2008	1
CyHi the Prynce	2010	—
Mos Def[33]		—
Pusha T		3
D'banj[34]	2011	—
Q-Tip		—
Teyana Taylor	2012	1
Ryan McDermott[35]	2013	—
Kacy Hill[31]	2014	1
HXLT[36]	2015	1
Desiigner[37]	2016	—

Former acts

Act	Years on the label	Releases under the label
Really Doe	2004–2008	—
GLC	2004–2010	—
Tony Williams[38][39]	2004–2010	—
Common	2004–2010	3
Consequence	2004–2011	1
Sa-Ra	2005–2007	—
Kid Cudi	2008–2013	3

Very G.O.O.D. Beats

GOOD Music also has a production wing known as "Very G.O.O.D. Beats"; this serves as a group of in-house producers.

Current producers

• 88-Keys^[40]
• Benny Cassette^[41]
• Charlie Heat^[42]
• Evian Christ^[43]
• Hudson Mohawke^[44]
• Jeff Bhasker
• Kanye West
• Lifted^[45]
• No I.D.
• Noah Goldstein^[40]
• Q-Tip^[46]
• Symbolyc One (S1)^[47]
• Travis Scott^[47]
• Southside

Former producers

• Devo Springsteen^[48]
• Don Jazzy^[49]
• Hit-Boy^[30]
• Keezo Kane^[50]

Discography

• As of June 2011, all releases are distributed by Def Jam Recordings, unless otherwise noted.

Artist	Album	Details
John Legend	Get Lifted (released with Columbia)	Released: December 28, 2004 Chart position: #4 U.S. RIAA certification: 2× Platinum
Common	Be (released with Geffen)	Released: May 24, 2005 Chart position: #2 U.S. RIAA certification: Gold
John Legend	Once Again (released with Columbia)	Released: October 24, 2006 Chart position: #3 U.S. RIAA certification: Platinum
Consequence	Don't Quit Your Day Job! (released with Columbia)	Released: March 6, 2007 Chart position: #113 U.S.
Common	Finding Forever (released with Geffen)	Released: July 31, 2007 Chart position: #1 U.S. RIAA certification: Gold
John Legend	Evolver (released with Columbia)	Released: October 28, 2008 Chart position: #4 U.S. RIAA certification: Gold
Common	Universal Mind Control (released with Geffen)	Released: December 9, 2008 Chart position: #12 U.S.
Malik Yusef	G.O.O.D. Morning, G.O.O.D. Night	Released: June 2, 2009 Chart position: —
Kid Cudi	Man on the Moon (released with Universal Motown)	Released: September 15, 2009 Chart position: #4 U.S. RIAA certification: Gold
Mr Hudson	Straight No Chaser	Released: October 19, 2009 Chart position: #25 UK
John Legend and The Roots	Wake Up! (released with Columbia)	Released: September 21, 2010 Chart position: #8 U.S.
Kid Cudi	Man on the Moon II (released with Universal Motown)	Released: November 9, 2010 Chart position: #3 U.S. RIAA certification: Gold
Big Sean	Finally Famous	Released: June 28, 2011 Chart position: #3 U.S.
Pusha T	Fear of God II: Let Us Pray	Released: November 8, 2011 Chart position: #66 U.S.
GOOD Music	Cruel Summer	Released: September 18, 2012 Chart position: #2 U.S.
Kid Cudi	Indicud (released with Republic)	Released: April 16, 2013 Chart position: #2 U.S.
Big Sean	Hall of Fame	Released: August 27, 2013 Chart position: #3 U.S.
John Legend	Love in the Future (released with Columbia)	Released: September 3, 2013 Chart position: #4 U.S. RIAA certification: Gold
Pusha T	My Name Is My Name	Released: October 8, 2013 Chart position: #4 U.S.
Teyana Taylor	VII	Released: November 4, 2014 Chart position: #19 U.S.
Big Sean	Dark Sky Paradise	Released: February 24, 2015 Chart position: #1 U.S. RIAA certification: Platinum
Pusha T	King Push – Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude	Released: December 18, 2015 Chart position: #20 U.S.
Kanye West	The Life of Pablo	Released: February 13, 2016 Chart position: #1 U.S.
HXLT	HXLT	Released: February 26, 2016 Chart position: —
TWENTY88 (Big Sean and Jhené Aiko)	TWENTY88 (released with Artium)	Released: April 1, 2016 Chart position: #5 U.S.

References

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26. G.O.O.D. Music Covers Complex's August/September 2012 Issue! | Complex
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