Champions (GOOD Music song)

"Champions" is a song by American rappers Kanye West, Gucci Mane, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Travis Scott, Yo Gotti, Quavo, and Desiigner. It was originally intended to be released as the lead single from the scrapped GOOD Music compilation album Cruel Winter. The song was produced by West alongside Low Pros and Mike Dean, with co-production from Derek Watkins and Charlie Heat, and additional production from Noah Goldstein. A freestyle video was released by Teyana Taylor in September 2016.

Release
"Champions" was first aired on Big Boy's 92.3. Kanye West later released the song as the first single from Cruel Winter. The single was untitled at the time, with "Round and Round" and "Champions" being used as working titles. It was officially released to iTunes on June 12, 2016.

Critical reception
The song was placed at number 49 on Complex's list of 2016's best songs.

Chart performance
On the chart dated July 2, 2016, "Champions" entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 71, powered by first-week digital download sales of 31,000 copies and it debuted at number 7 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales chart. On May 15, 2018, the song was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling over one million digital copies in the United States.

Freestyle video
Teyana Taylor released a video of her freestyling over the track on September 6, 2016. The video is a stop-motion clip that sees Taylor covered in smeared gold paint and dancing militaristically in front of a gray backdrop. It marked Taylor's first video since she starred in the music video for West's single "Fade".

Personnel
Credits adapted from Tidal.


 * Kanye West – vocals, production
 * Gucci Mane – vocals
 * Big Sean – vocals
 * 2 Chainz – vocals
 * Travis Scott – vocals
 * Yo Gotti – vocals
 * Quavo – vocals, recording engineer
 * Desiigner – vocals
 * A-Trak – production
 * Lex Luger – production
 * Mike Dean – production, bass guitar, keyboards, drum programming, recording engineer, mixing
 * Fonzworth Bentley – co-production
 * Charlie Heat – co-production
 * Noah Goldstein – additional production, recording engineer
 * Finis "KY" White – recording engineer
 * Maximilian Jaeger – recording engineer
 * Gregg Rominiecki – recording engineer
 * Thomas Goff – recording engineer
 * William J. Sullivan – assistant recording engineer
 * Kez Khou – mix assistance