Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)

On April 19, 2018, Kanye West announced a collaborative album with Kid Cudi. West released his eighth studio album Ye on June 1, 2018, with vocals from Kid Cudi included on the tracks "No Mistakes" and "Ghost Town". The album also features additional vocals from Ty Dolla Sign on "All Mine", "Wouldn't Leave" and "Violent Crimes". 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". West went on to contribute a feature to his single "Ego Death", released in July 2020. "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. Fellow album track "4th Dimension" also shows continuity of the prequel, with both of the tracks sampling gospel singer Shirley Ann Lee's "Someday". West rapped nonsense words on his single "Lift Yourself" in April 2018, before he re-used the song's "whoop! Scoop!" phrases on GOOD Music president Pusha T's "What Would Meek Do?" the following month. "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" was produced by West and Kid Cudi, while co-produced by Mike Dean, Jeff Bhasker, and BoogzDaBeast, with additional production being handled by Andrew Dawson alongside Andy C and Russell "Love" Crews. The sampling of Mr. Chop stood among West's numerous samples taken from the record label Now-Again Records in the Summer of 2018. ==Composition and lyrics==

{{Listen Musically, "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" is a rap rock number, with psychedelic elements. The song is built around a chopped up sample of "Stark", written and performed by Mr. Chop. According to Spins Zoe Camp, Garvey's proclamation "lays the track's liberating themes bare". It contains voice modulation, as well as off-key cries. West and Kid Cudi trade turns to perform for the chorus, which includes the former of the two yelling. They are followed by Ty Dolla Sign and a gospel choir, with him harmonizing as the song's beat drops out. In the lyrics of "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)", Kids See Ghosts demonstrate the recovery from mental illness and showcase liberation. "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", West re-uses the nonsensical "Scoop!" phrase from "Lift Yourself", shouting it on the song. ==Release and promotion==

in March 2018|Ty Dolla Sign accompanied Kids See Ghosts for their performance of the song at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2019. "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. On the day of the album's release, multiple tracks were mislabeled on streaming services as the result of a technical error, though "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" was the exception to the error. As part of their first show billed as Kids See Ghosts, the duo delivered a performance of the song at the 2018 Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival. 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. The duo were backed by visuals that featured pulsating bright colors for their performance inside a transparent box, and rapper Tyler, the Creator sang along with the line "I feel freeeee" while in the crowd. 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." 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. After the performance, Kids See Ghosts delivered a rendition of "Ghost Town". ==Critical reception==

The song was met with universal acclaim from music critics, with strong praise for the composition. Jack Hamilton of Slate categorized the song as the "most fun and exuberant track" on Kids See Ghosts, labeling it heavily comparable to English musician David Bowie's work because of the "booming walls of vocals, gnashing distortion, and thundering drums". Christopher R. Weingarten of Rolling Stone expressed certainty in "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" being "fantastic", hailing it as "gorgeously arranged" like tracks on West's fifth studio album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) "with a more spontaneous feel". Writing for Entertainment 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". Spencer Kornhaber from The 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 crunchy funk-rock tune from [...] Mr. Chop", alongside highlighting Ty Dolla Sign's performance and West's vocals that differ from his. 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-out psychedelic rock of the '70s". He continued, analyzing that the duo move forward "with a clear state of mind", and noticing their "childlike innocence and fearlessness". Accolades 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. 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". In July 2020, Cool Accidents placed Ty Dolla Sign's appearance among his 11 best guest features. On October 25, 2018, it was reported that West's team had submitted the song for consideration in the categories of Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. According to TMZ, 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. ==Commercial performance==

Upon the release of Kids See Ghosts, "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 62. Simultaneously, the song debuted at number 30 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. In Canada, it peaked at number 58 on the Canadian Hot 100. Elsewhere, the song reached number 72 in Australia on the ARIA Singles Chart. It further charted at numbers 66 and 72 on the Irish Singles Chart and Singles Digitál Top 100 in Ireland and Slovakia, respectively. ==Controversy==

biography photograph|Ronald Oslin Bobb-Semple launched a lawsuit over the song's sampling of a Marcus Garvey speech. On March 7, 2019, Ronald Oslin Bobb-Semple sued the duo, Ty Dolla Sign, and record labels Def Jam and Universal Music for the song's alleged sampling of his recording "The Spirit of Marcus Garvey (Garvey speaks to an all-Black audience)" (2002). Court documents obtained by The 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)". Bobb-Semple further noted Kids See Ghosts and Ty Dolla Sign had received "substantial profits", and that he wanted a "fair cut". 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. 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 as fair use despite not having obtained authorization to use it. In January 2020, the parties reached a settlement regarding the lawsuit. ==Credits and personnel==

Recording • Recorded at West Lake Ranch, Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Personnel • Kanye West songwriter, production • Kid Cudi songwriter, production • Mike Dean songwriter, co-production, mixer • Jeff Bhasker songwriter, co-production • Ty Dolla Sign songwriter, featured artist • Corbin Littler songwriter • BoogzDaBeast co-production • Andrew Dawson additional production, engineer • Andy C additional production • Russel "Love" Crews additional production • Zack Djurich engineer, acoustic guitar • Mike Malchicoff engineer • William J. Sullivan engineer • Nicolo Aglietti engineer, Fender Jaguar electric guitar, sound effects and dubbing, production • Jenna Felsenthal assistant engineer • Jess Jackson mixer • Sean Solymar assistant mixer Information taken from the Kids See Ghosts liner notes and Tidal. ==Charts==