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50-487: GOOD Music (often stylized as G.O.O.D. Music ; a backronym for Getting Out Our Dreams ) is an American independent record label founded by rapper Kanye West in 2004. The label entered an exclusive long-term worldwide distribution contract with the Island Def Jam Music Group in 2011. In 2012, the label released its only compilation album, Cruel Summer . In 2015, Pusha T was appointed president of

100-470: A cappella , over beatboxing (as seen in Freestyle ), or over instrumental versions of songs. Freestyling is often done in a group setting called a "cypher" (or "cipher") or as part of a "freestyle battle". Due to the improvised nature of freestyle, meter and rhythm are usually more relaxed than in conventional rapping. Many artists base their freestyle on their current situation or mental state, but have

150-440: A company to forward revenue cuts for his expanding production work. Known at the time as Konman Productions (or Konman Entertainment), it was joined by local talent including Devo Harris , BoogzDaBeast, Brian "All Day" Miller, Arrowstar, GLC , Mikkey Halsted, and Really Doe, among others. Many members of the company have since contributed to West's following projects or sign to what would become known as GOOD Music. Select members of

200-454: A freestyle is" and Kool Moe Dee refers to it as "true" freestyle, and "the real old-school freestyle". Kool Moe Dee suggests that Kool G Rap 's track "Men At Work" is an "excellent example" of true freestyle, along with Rakim 's "Lyrics of Fury". Since the early 1990s onwards, with the popularization of improvisational rapping from groups and artists such as Freestyle Fellowship through to fresh fest competitions, "freestyle" has come to be

250-414: A group of in-house producers. GOOD Music and its associated logo are trademarks of Mascotte Holdings, West's holding company founded in 2004. Backronym A normal acronym is a word derived from the initial letters of the words of a phrase, such as radar from "radio detection and ranging". By contrast, a backronym is "an acronym deliberately formed from a phrase whose initial letters spell out

300-518: A particular word or words, either to create a memorable name or as a fanciful explanation of a word's origin". Many fictional espionage organizations are backronyms, such as SPECTRE (special executive for counterintelligence, terrorism, revenge and extortion) from the James Bond franchise. For example, the Amber Alert missing-child program was named after Amber Hagerman , a nine-year-old girl who

350-460: A radio interview. After performing a freestyle , he left West with a demo tape, and in May 2007, Big Sean was signed to the label. In an August 2007 interview with Billboard , West expressed regrets over starting the label: Running a record label was the biggest mistake I ever made. I never asked to be a label owner. Sony offered it to me, and I took it. But I can't be there when people are calling me to

400-496: A ready supply of prepared lyrics and rhyme patterns they can use as filler. Freestyling can also be used as a songwriting method for albums or mixtapes. A freestyle battle is a contest in which two or more rappers or MCs compete or "battle" each other using improvised lyrics. It is a prominent part of contemporary Hip Hop culture and originated in the African-American community. In a freestyle battle, each competitor's goal

450-476: A record deal with GOOD Music. Despite this, Tyga's only release with the label would be his 2017 single " Feel Me " in a joint venture with Interscope Records . Later that day, Pusha T announced Atlanta-based rap trio Migos had signed a management deal with the label. However, in January 2017, Migos clarified that although there were discussions for a management deal, nothing had come to fruition. On September 9, 2016,

500-516: A release of a compilation album , later entitled Cruel Summer . 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 . 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 . It features West and Big Sean rapping alongside Jay-Z . Cruel Summer

550-428: A spiritual activity. Improvised freestyling can also be used in live performances, to do things such as giving something extra to the crowd and to cover up mistakes. To prove that a freestyle is being made up on the spot (as opposed to something pre-written or memorized), rappers will often refer to places and objects in their immediate setting, or will take suggestions on what to rhyme about. Freestyles are performed

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600-428: Is by saying that it's improvisational rap like a jazz solo". Although this kind of freestyling is very well respected today, Kool Moe Dee states that this was not the case previously: A lot of the old-school artists didn't even respect what's being called freestyle now... any emcee coming off the top of the head wasn't really respected. The sentiment was emcees only did that if they couldn't write. The coming off

650-496: Is commonly stated to mean "possible assistance needed", whereas it is in fact derived from the French word panne , meaning 'breakdown'. Freestyle rap Freestyle is a style of hip hop music where an artist normally improvises an unwritten verse from the head, with or without instrumental beats, in which lyrics are recited with no particular subject or structure. It can also be a written verse with no particular subject. It

700-528: Is key, as a large part of "winning" a battle is how an audience responds to each rapper. Appointed judges may be used in formal contests, but in most cases, the rapper who receives the largest audience response is viewed as the victor. In modern times, with the rise of leagues such as King of the Dot and Ultimate Rap League, most battles are written, with some freestyling incorporated into the verses. This allows for more intricate rhymes and insults. As hip-hop evolved in

750-466: Is often believed to be an abbreviation for "save our ship" or "save our souls" but was chosen because it has a simple and unmistakable Morse code representation – three dots, three dashes, and three dots, sent without any pauses between characters. More recent examples include the brand name Adidas , named after company founder Adolf "Adi" Dassler but falsely believed to be an acronym for "all day I dream about sport". The word Wiki

800-449: Is said to stand for "what I know is", but in fact is derived from the Hawaiian phrase wiki-wiki meaning 'fast'. Yahoo! , sometimes claimed to mean "yet another hierarchical officious oracle", in fact was chosen because Yahoo's founders liked the word's meaning of "rude, unsophisticated, uncouth" (taken from Jonathan Swift 's book Gulliver's Travels ). The distress call " pan-pan "

850-431: Is similar to other improvisational music , such as jazz , where a lead instrumentalist acts as an improviser with a supporting band providing a beat. Freestyle originally was simply verse that is free of style, written rhymes that do not follow a specific subject matter, or predetermined cadence. The newer style with the improvisation grew popular starting in the early 1990s. It is now mainly associated with hip hop . In

900-546: Is the American Contract Bridge League's tools to address cheating in online bridge games. EDGAR was originally named for Edgar Kaplan, whose many contributions to the game included groundbreaking efforts to reduce illegal partnership communication. The new EDGAR tools expected to debut in early 2024 have been launched with the backronym "everyone deserves a game above reproach". Many United States Congress bills have backronyms as their names; examples include

950-450: Is to " diss " their opponent through clever lyrics and wordplay, with heavy emphasis being placed upon the rapper's improvisational ability. Many battles also include metaphorically violent imagery, complementing the "battling" atmosphere. It is considered dishonorable or shameful to recite pre-written or memorized raps during a freestyle battle, because it shows the rapper to be incapable of "spitting" spur-of-the-moment lyrics. A live audience

1000-423: Is unknown, but more likely related to Romani påš xåra ('half-penny') or to Urdu (borrowed from Persian ) safed-pōśh ('white robes'), a term for wealthy people. Another example is the word chav , which is a derogatory term for a working-class youth. This word is probably of Romani origin but commonly believed to be a backronym of "council-housed and violent". Similarly, the distress signal SOS

1050-499: The 2010 BET Hip Hop Awards . In April 2011, West signed American rapper and producer Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest . Kanye West also signed producer Hit-Boy , to Very Good Beats. In 2011, West signed Nigerian artists D'banj and Don Jazzy . In June 2011, GOOD Music signed their first distribution agreement, with Def Jam Recordings . Big Sean's debut Finally Famous was the first album released by GOOD Music with distribution by Def Jam . In late 2011, plans were announced for

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1100-582: The USA PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act) of 2001, and the DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act). Sometimes a backronym is reputed to have been used in the formation of the original word, and amounts to a false etymology or an urban legend . Acronyms were rare in the English language before

1150-465: The president of GOOD Music, while record executive Steven Victor was appointed COO . In January 2016, Mos Def retired from music announcing it in a freestyle released in conjunction with West's G.O.O.D. Fridays series. On June 3, 2016, Kanye West announced GOOD Music's upcoming album, Cruel Winter , in an interview with Big Boy . On September 7, 2016, West announced that former Young Money Entertainment / Cash Money Records artist Tyga , signed

1200-492: The 1930s, and most etymologies of common words or phrases that suggest origin from an acronym are false. Examples include posh , an adjective describing stylish items or members of the upper class. A popular story derives the word as an acronym from "port out, starboard home", referring to 19th-century first-class cabins on ocean liners , which were shaded from the sun on outbound voyages east (e.g. from Britain to India ) and homeward voyages west. The word's actual etymology

1250-545: The 1990s, it was about how hard you could come with a written rhyme with no particular subject matter and no real purpose other than showing your lyrical prowess." Myka 9 explains that Freestyle Fellowship helped redefine the term – "that's what they say I helped do – I helped get the world to freestyle, me and the Freestyle Fellowship, by inventing the Freestyle Fellowship and by redefining what freestyle is... We have redefined what freestyle

1300-609: 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. A month later, Mr Hudson's major label debut, Straight No Chaser , was released. 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 . In September 2010, Brooklyn rapper Mos Def

1350-418: The book How to Rap , Big Daddy Kane and Myka 9 note that originally a freestyle was a spit on no particular subject – Big Daddy Kane said, "in the '80s, when we said we wrote a freestyle rap, that meant that it was a rhyme that you wrote that was free of style... it's basically a rhyme just bragging about yourself." Myka 9 adds, "back in the day, freestyle was bust[ing] a rhyme about any random thing, and it

1400-456: The company, including West, contributed to a bootleg compilation project titled World Record Holders under the recording outfit "Go Getters" in 1999. GOOD Music was founded in 2004 by Kanye West in a joint venture with Sony BMG , shortly after the release of his debut album The College Dropout . Ohio singer John Legend and fellow Chicago rapper Common were the label's initial artists, along with West himself. Legend's Get Lifted (2004)

1450-475: The crowd that forms around freestyle battles, consisting of spectators and onlookers. This group serves partly to encourage competition and partly to enhance the communal aspect of rap battles. The cypher is known for "making or breaking reputations in the Hip Hop community; if you are able to step into the cypher and tell your story, demonstrating your uniqueness, you might be more accepted". These groups also serve as

1500-513: The early 1980s, many rappers gained their fame through freestyle battles. Battles can take place anywhere: informally on street corners, on stage at a concert, at a school, or at events specifically meant for battling (such as Scribble Jam or the Blaze Battle). A cypher or cipher is an informal gathering of rappers , beatboxers , and/or breakdancers in a circle, in order to jam musically together. The term has also in recent years come to mean

1550-707: The label by West, while record executive Steven Victor was appointed chief operating officer (COO). In late 2022, Pusha T stepped down from the position as he was no longer on speaking terms with West. The label has released two number-one US Billboard Hot 100 singles—" All of Me " by John Legend , and " Panda " by Desiigner —as well as nine number-one US Billboard 200 albums— Finding Forever (2007) by Common ; Dark Sky Paradise (2015), I Decided (2017), and Detroit 2 (2020) by Big Sean ; The Life of Pablo (2016), Ye (2018), Jesus Is King (2019), and Donda (2021) by Kanye West; and It's Almost Dry (2022) by Pusha T . In 2001, West established

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1600-481: The label's second release, was the recipient of four Grammy Award nominations. During this time, Chicago-based recording artists GLC , Really Doe, Consequence , and Malik Yusef , as well as West's familial relative Tony Williams were added to its roster. West's second studio album, Late Registration , included guest appearances by each of the label's artists by the time of its August 2005 release. In 2005, West met then-unknown rapper Sean "Big Sean" Anderson before

1650-503: The label, leaving on amicable terms. Cudi felt he was "underused" and would have preferred to record something particular for Yeezus (2013). On June 29, 2013, producer Hit-Boy of Very Good Beats announced that his contract expired and that he was no longer signed to GOOD Music. American Apparel model Kacy Hill was signed to the label December 2014, after appearing as a backup dancer on West's Yeezus Tour . In March 2015, GOOD Music signed HXLT. In November 2015, West appointed Pusha T

1700-448: The next Drink Champs so I'm assuming Ye talkin' crazy." and would also share a photo of him and West from after the interview, writing "Was just [with] this man, he ain't say none of that!" On October 24, 2022, it was revealed that Def Jam had officially parted ways with West and GOOD was no longer distributed by their label. This comes as a response to West's recent controversies involving actions deemed as antisemitic and racist, though it

1750-466: The official GOOD Music Twitter account uploaded an image of an updated artist roster with the caption "THIS IS GOOD MUSIC". The image indicated that several artists had either left or been removed by the label, including D'banj , Malik Yusef , Ryan McDermott, and Mr Hudson . Later that month, in a radio interview with The Breakfast Club , John Legend announced that his fifth studio album, Darkness and Light , would be his last with GOOD Music. GOOD

1800-517: The place. Then there's freestyle where you come off the top of the head. In old school hip-hop , Kool Moe Dee claimed that improvisational rapping was instead called "coming off the top of the head", and Big Daddy Kane stated, "off-the-top-of-the-head [rapping], we just called that 'off the dome' – when you don't write it and [you] say whatever comes to mind". Referring to this earlier definition (a written rhyme on non-specific subject matter), Big Daddy Kane stated, "that's really what

1850-454: The program Drink Champs hosted by N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN , where he would talk with them about different topics, one of them being John Legend and Big Sean leaving his label, where West would state "I already decided that when I die on my tombstone it's going to say, 'I deserve to be here because I signed Big Sean,'" as well as "The worst thing I've ever done was sign Big Sean." Before the episode, Big Sean said on Twitter "I just got asked to be on

1900-473: The same name . West also completed production work on Nas' Nasir and Teyana Taylor's K.T.S.E. , which were released in June 2018. On October 29, 2021, Big Sean announced on Twitter that after 14 years, he has stepped away from Kanye West's GOOD Music label, saying "That's a forever brotherhood, but business wise, I had to start getting a bigger cut! I worked my way out that deal." Afterwards, West would appear on

1950-552: The studio to hear some music or approve clothes for a video. No disrespect to anybody, my focus is [on] Graduation , I've got a hard enough time calling radio programmers and getting them to play " Can't Tell Me Nothing ", a song that's connecting with people but that's only at 1,400 spins. In 2008, British singer-songwriter Mr Hudson was signed, following the release of his debut A Tale of Two Cities (2007). There followed Kid Cudi , and manager Plain Pat . Kid Cudi's debut album, Man on

2000-454: The top of the head rhymer had a built-in excuse to not be critiqued as hard. Many rappers learn to rap through improvised freestyling, and by making freestyling into a conversation or a rhyming game which they play frequently as a way to practice, as described in the book How to Rap . Reasons for freestyling include entertainment, as a therapeutic activity, to discover different ways of rapping, promoting oneself, increasing versatility, or as

2050-457: The video, West chastised his lack of control of the label during a phone call with former manager Scooter Braun , to where he said: "[I]t's gon' be a get me out this motherfucking GOOD Music shit now. And Scooter, ain't gon' be no 'I'm still putting my name on this shit.' I need to get rid of GOOD Music because I'm great. And guess what good is? The enemy of great." G.O.O.D. Music also has a production wing known as Very Good Beats ; this serves as

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2100-485: The widely used term for rap lyrics that are improvised on the spot. This type of freestyle is the focus of Kevin Fitzgerald's documentary, Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme , where the term is used throughout by numerous artists to mean improvisational rapping. Kool Moe Dee suggests the change in how the term is used happened somewhere in the mid to late 1980s, saying, "until 1986, all freestyles were written", and "before

2150-530: Was a written rhyme or something memorized". Divine Styler says: "in the school I come from, freestyling was a non-conceptual written rhyme... and now they call freestyling off the top of the head, so the era I come from, it's a lot different". Kool Moe Dee also refers to this earlier definition in his book, There's A God On The Mic : There are two types of freestyle. There's an old-school freestyle that's basically rhymes that you've written that may not have anything to do with any subject or that goes all over

2200-582: Was abducted and murdered in 1996. Officials later publicized the backronym "America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response". An example of a backronym as a mnemonic is the Apgar score , used to assess the health of newborn babies. The rating system was devised by and named after Virginia Apgar . Ten years after the initial publication, the backronym APGAR was coined in the US as a mnemonic learning aid: appearance, pulse, grimace, activity, and respiration. Another example

2250-562: Was advertised as one of the headlining acts of the ill-fated Fyre Festival in 2017; however, the exact member(s) of the label that were to perform were never established. In May 2017, Pusha T signed Francis and the Lights to GOOD Music. In February 2018, Pusha T followed up by signing Valee with GOOD Music as well. In 2018, West revealed he would produce upcoming albums by GOOD Music label-mates Pusha T and Teyana Taylor, as well as Nas . Pusha T's Daytona , "the first project out of Wyoming",

2300-513: Was released in May to critical acclaim, although the album's artwork—a photograph of deceased singer Whitney Houston's bathroom that West paid $ 85,000 to license—attracted some controversy. The following week, West released his eighth studio album, Ye . West has suggested that he scrapped the original recordings of the album and re-recorded it within a month. The week after, West released a collaborative album with former GOOD Music artist Kid Cudi, titled Kids See Ghosts , named after their group of

2350-452: 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 . In January 2013, Scottish record producer and DJ Hudson Mohawke , announced that he had signed to the production arm of GOOD Music — Very Good Beats. On April 2, 2013, Kid Cudi announced on Power 106 that he was no longer with

2400-420: Was revealed that West was already released from Def Jam following the release of Donda as the album completed his album contract with the label. On December 19, 2022, Pusha T announced that he was no longer on speaking terms with West and has stepped down from his post as President of GOOD Music and is officially off the imprint. In 2023, a 2018 video of West publicly disavowing the company leaked online. In

2450-519: Was signed. Shortly afterwards Consequence released a diss track and left the label. The following month Pusha T announced his signing to the label. 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 . West, Pusha T, Big Sean, Common and Cyhi the Prynce took part in a cypher at

2500-654: Was the label's first album release and quickly led both the artist and label to commercial success. The album won three awards from eight nominations at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards , and was supported by the Best Male R&;B Performance recipient " Ordinary People ", which also peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 . In October 2006, Legend released his second album, Once Again , which won Legend his second consecutive Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance with its single " Heaven ". Common's Be (2005),

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