Released January 8, 2016 Recorded 2015 Length 4:11 | Format Streaming Genre Hip hop Label GOOD
Def Jam | |
"Real Friends" is a song by American rapper Kanye West, featuring vocals from fellow rapper Ty Dolla $ign. It was released as a promotional single from West's seventh studio album, The Life of Pablo, on January 8, 2016, as part of West's GOOD Fridays program.
Contents
Release
On January 8, 2016, Kim Kardashian, West's wife, announced via Twitter the release of "Real Friends", The Life of Pablo's actual first single, will initiate the return of West's GOOD Fridays program. West has previously done a weekly free music giveaway leading up to the release of his fifth studio album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. "Real Friends" was released the day it was announced via SoundCloud simultaneously with the album's (then titled Swish) release date and a snippet of the forthcoming GOOD Friday release, titled "No More Parties in LA", which features guest vocals from Kendrick Lamar.
Critical reception
"Real Friends" received universal acclaim from music critics. At Pitchfork, Jonah Bromwich awarded the song the "Best New Track" tag, labeling it as "heavy, grizzled, and sad" and complimenting its production and lyrical content. Adelle Platon of Billboard called the song's beat "dreamy", commenting that "[Kanye] waxes poetic about trust issues and reflects on how he could be a better BFF and family man."
Pitchfork listed "Real Friends" on their ranking of the 100 best songs of 2016 at number 14.
Remixes
In January 2016, singer Erykah Badu released a remix of the track titled "Trill Friends" which was named "Best New Track" by Pitchfork. Rapper Waka Flocka Flame also released his own remix version of the song in April 2016.