Former G.O.O.D. Music affiliate CyHi has shared a new song airing out his grievances with the Kanye West-led label. The six-plus minute “The G.O.O.D. Ole Days,” which CyHi said on social media chronicles “my side of the story,” addresses the rapper’s relationships with Ye, Travis Scott, Kid Cudi, erstwhile label president Pusha T, and more. Listen to it below.
Produced by Mark Byrd and Phil Blackman, “The G.O.O.D. Ole Days” is structured as an interview with the podcast and radio host Gina Views, and opens with a number of questions including “What’s your current relationship with Ye—is there one?” CyHi proceeds to lay out his thoughts on G.O.O.D.’s past decade, acknowledging that West is responsible for much of the upheaval at the label but rapping: “Sometimes Kanye could be a little difficult / I get it, but I understand him in a different way / Y’all just know the beautiful dark twisty Ye.”
Addressing Scott, CyHi alleges that their relationship soured when, after co-writing Scott’s 2018 smash “Sicko Mode,” he couldn’t get the Astroworld rapper to record a guest verse for him in return. “When I helped him with his album, it went like 11 [times] platinum,” CyHi raps, “but I still ain’t got my swap and he mad that I’m even askin’.” CyHi also touches on his connection with Kid Cudi, which he says suffered during the rapper’s 2022 public dispute with West. “It could have got real ugly / They said that Ye almost fucked around and killed buddy,” CyHi raps. “And that’s why they relationship is still muddy / And I’m caught between it all.”
Of all the artists mentioned on “The G.O.O.D. Ole Days,” Pusha T receives the most favorable shout-out, with CyHi calling him “the realest” and comparing his work with the label to when Colin Kaepernick “took a knee for the team.” “He never took a fee, he gave me them verses and hooks for free,” CyHi says. “We stayed tight through all the G.O.O.D. Music beef, ‘cause we both learned about loyalty in the streets.” CyHi concludes the track by teasing a new album, The Story of Mr. EGOT. It will be his first proper LP since his 2017 debut No Dope on Sundays, which featured Scott, Cudi, Ye, Pusha T, and more.
CyHi signed to G.O.O.D. in 2010, shortly after appearing on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’s “So Appalled” and less than a year before the label entered into an exclusive distribution contract with Def Jam. Over the years, G.O.O.D.’s roster has included Big Sean, John Legend, Common, Mos Def, Q-Tip, Teyana Taylor, Desiigner, Valee, 070 Shake, Kacy Hill, and more. The label’s production arm, Very Good Beats, also counted Evian Christ, Hudson Mohawke, and Charlie Heat among its in-house producers. CyHi left the label in 2015, and later signed with Sony Music.
Def Jam ended its affiliation with both G.O.O.D. and Ye in 2021, after the release of Donda. Pusha T, who was appointed G.O.O.D.’s president in 2015, announced in 2022 that he had stepped down from the role. Speaking with XXL at the time, Pusha T explained that he was no longer on speaking terms with West, and disavowed antisemitic remarks West made during an appearance on Alex Jones’ Infowars. In January, West apologized for his inflammatory comments and erratic behavior over the past few years in a full-page Wall Street Journal ad, attributing his actions to brain damage he sustained during a 2002 car crash.
