G.O.O.D. Fridays

Lore & Background

West initially announced that the free music program would release songs from August 20, 2010, to Christmas 2010. However, at the beginning of November, West announced that he was extending G.O.O.D. Fridays until the end of January (although this never ended up happening). 15 tracks were released through the program. Three tracks appeared on West's album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: "Monster", "Devil in a New Dress" (with a new Rick Ross feature), and "So Appalled". A remix to "Power", a track on the album, was released as the first song in the series. An alternate version of the remix of Justin Bieber's "Runaway Love" (previously a track on his album My World 2.0) was released on Justin Bieber's remix album, Never Say Never: The Remixes. The song "Looking for Trouble" was released as a bonus track on J. Cole's third mixtape, Friday Night Lights. "Christmas in Harlem" was released on streaming services. "The Joy" would be released much later, as one of the deluxe tracks to Kanye and Jay-Z's collab, Watch the Throne, around a year later.

In Their Own Story

The program was relaunched in 2016 in support of The Life of Pablo; 3 tracks were released through the relaunch, with all of the tracks ("Real Friends", "No More Parties in LA", and "30 Hours") appearing on the album. West described the series as "an exercise in the power of art."

Reader's Guide

The original G.O.O.D. Fridays run in 2010 released 15 tracks, each with its own cover art. The first song was a remix of "Power." Three of those tracks ended up on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: "Monster", "Devil in a New Dress" (with a new Rick Ross feature), and "So Appalled." Other tracks found homes elsewhere: an alternate remix of Justin Bieber's "Runaway Love" appeared on Bieber's remix album Never Say Never: The Remixes; "Looking for Trouble" became a bonus track on J. Cole's Friday Night Lights mixtape; "Christmas in Harlem" later hit streaming services; and "The Joy" appeared as a deluxe track on Watch the Throne about a year later. The 2016 relaunch was much shorter—only three tracks: "Real Friends", "No More Parties in LA", and "30 Hours"—all of which made it onto The Life of Pablo.

Did You Know?

• The first song in the G.O.O.D. Fridays series was a remix of Kanye West's own track 'Power'.
• Three G.O.O.D. Fridays tracks—'Monster', 'Devil in a New Dress', and 'So Appalled'—appeared on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
• The track 'The Joy' was released about a year later as a deluxe track on Watch the Throne, the collaborative album by Kanye West and Jay-Z.
• The 2016 relaunch of G.O.O.D. Fridays only released three tracks, and all of them ended up on The Life of Pablo.
• Kanye West described the G.O.O.D. Fridays series as 'an exercise in the power of art.'

Strategic Album Promotion

G.O.O.D. Fridays was a weekly free music release by Kanye West, launched in support of his fifth studio album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010), and again for his seventh studio album The Life of Pablo (2016). The original intention was to release a free new song every Friday for a few months to promote his album. West initially announced that the free music program releases songs from August 20, 2010, to Christmas 2010. However at the beginning of November, West announced that he was extending G.O.O.D. Fridays until the end of January (although this never ended up happening).

Musical Output and Integration

15 tracks have been released through the program and three tracks appeared on West's album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, those tracks being "Monster", "Devil in a New Dress" (with a new Rick Ross feature), and "So Appalled". Meanwhile, a remix to "Power", a track on the album, was released as the first song in the series. An alternate version of the remix of Justin Bieber's "Runaway Love" (previously a track on his album My World 2.0) was released on Justin Bieber's remix album, Never Say Never: The Remixes. The song "Looking for Trouble" was released as a bonus track on J. Cole's third mixtape, Friday Night Lights. "Christmas in Harlem" was released on streaming services. "The Joy" would be released much later, as one of the deluxe tracks to Kanye and Jay-Z's collab, Watch the Throne, around a year later.

Extended Legacy and Archival

All of the G.O.O.D. Friday tracks come with their own cover art. "Christmas in Harlem" was released on streaming services. "The Joy" would be released much later, as one of the deluxe tracks to Kanye and Jay-Z's collab, Watch the Throne, around a year later.

The 2016 Relaunch

The program was relaunched in 2016 in support of The Life of Pablo; 3 tracks were released through the relaunch, with all of the tracks ("Real Friends", "No More Parties in LA", and "30 Hours") appearing on the album. West described the series as "an exercise in the power of art."