I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)

"I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)" is a song by English music producer Jamie xx, with featured vocals from American rapper Young Thug and Jamaican musician Popcaan. The song was released as the third single from Jamie xx's debut studio album, In Colour, on 22 May 2015 in the UK and 28 August in the U.S. The official music video for the song was uploaded to YouTube on 28 September 2015. "I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)" peaked at number 115 on the UK Singles Chart and number 90 on the Australian ARIA Charts. It also appears on the soundtrack for the video game NBA Live 16 and NBA 2K17 while also appearing in an episode of Euphoria. English rapper Skepta's grime-influenced remix of the song made its debut on Drake's OVO Sound Radio on Apple Music's Beats 1 radio station.[1][2]

"I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)"
UK and remixes EP release cover art
Single by Jamie xx featuring Young Thug and Popcaan
from the album In Colour
ReleasedMay 22, 2015 (2015-05-22)
Recorded
  • Fortress Studios
  • (London, England)
Genre
Length3:33
LabelYoung Turks
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Jamie xx
Jamie xx singles chronology
"Gosh"
(2015)		 "I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)"
(2015)
Young Thug singles chronology
"Check"
(2015)		 "I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)"
(2015)		 "Rihanna"
(2015)
Popcaan singles chronology
"Unruly Prayer"
(2015)		 "I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)"
(2015)		 "Way Up"
(2015)
Music video
"I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)" on YouTube

Production

In an interview with The Fader, Jamie Smith stated "I don't feel like I'm very good at making music, in terms of like the technical side of it—it's more like trying stuff out until something that I love happens. Sometimes I'll be quite good at the first 10 seconds of a song, then I'm lost. "I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)" was like that."[3]

The song started with a sample from "Good Times" from The Persuasions.[4] "It's an a cappella record where they are doing barbershop-style backing, and there's a beautiful soul song over the top," Smith stated.[3] This record was found by Smith while he was living in Detroit and "had time to kill" before his tour started. "The day after I bought it, I immediately got that feeling and wanted to get to work right away on making something out of it." While "messing around" with the track for a little while, he then went to New York City and was listening to Hot 97 driving over a bridge; this experience was described by him as "a real catalyst in terms of what direction [he] wanted to take the song."[3][4] "I was listening to hip-hop radio all the time while I was there; and I thought I’d have a go at trying to make a song that would get played on one of those kind of stations."[4]

Afterward, Smith asked various artists to create their own versions of the song, including separate versions from American rapper Young Thug and Jamaican singer Popcaan, and decided to "[splice] the two of them together [for the song] because their voices work really well together."[3] This collaboration was turned out to be the version that Smith he and his team liked for the album.[5] There was also an alternate take of the song which revolves around Persuasions' sample that he played for an interviewer from Pitchfork.[6]

Composition
A child-size version of a steelpan was being used as an instrument on the track.

Many journalists noticed the soul, blues and Caribbean vibe from the song appeared on many other of Smith's records.[4][6] Nick Murray from Rolling Stone called the song the "drinking-in-the-sun type vibe" cut of the album. "I like the contrast in making something that sounds sunny but also has an element of melancholy to it," he explains, discussing again those who mistake the xx as dour. "I think there has always been sort of an element of that brighter side when I make music, just because it's when I'm happiest."[7]

The song was described as a "big, fat, generous morsel of R&B goes to the heart of the way Smith treats his inspirations," with "the subtle Caribbean vibe of so many Jamie xx records", "omnipresent steel drums, exploding with overtones."[6] On the song, Smith used steelpans which he discovered while recording The xx' first album. Later while on tour in the United States, he ended up buying a child-size version of the instrument, which he describes in rapturous terms. "You can make it sound quite melancholy," he says. "But at the same time, it reminds me of paradise.”[6]

Critical reception

"I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)" was ranked at number 10 on the Pazz & Jop annual year-end critics' poll distributed by The Village Voice.[8] The song also came in at #26 on the annual Triple J Hottest 100 for 2015.[9]

Pitchfork Media named the song as the third best track of 2015, adding: "Profane instead of reverent, sun-bright instead of club-dark, drunk instead of ecstatic, "I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)" is about getting low instead of climbing high. Built from little more than a snare roll, finger snaps, and chimes, Jamie xx made a breezy pop confection that alights on dancehall, trap, as well as doo-wop without ever settling on any one sound."[10] In 2019, Uproxx,[11] Stereogum,[12] and Pitchfork[13] ranked the song as the 11th, 65th, and 100th best song of the 2010s respectively.

Music video

The official music video for "I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)", lasting three minutes and thirty seconds, was uploaded on 28 September 2015 to Jamie xx's Vevo channel on YouTube. The video was directed by Rollo Jackson.[14]

Track listing
iTunes Remixes EP[15]
No.TitleLength
1."I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)" (featuring Young Thug and Popcaan)3:33
2."I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)" (Skepta Remix) (featuring Frisco and Popcaan)3:43
3."I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)" (Dre Skull Remix) (featuring Assassin, Konshens, Kranium and Popcaan)4:32
4."I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)" (Instrumental)3:39

Charts
Chart (2015) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[16] 90
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[17] 5
Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[18] 35
Netherlands Single Tip (Single Top 100)[19] 1
Netherlands (Dutch Dance Top 30)[20] 30
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[21] 115
UK Indie (Official Charts Company)[22] 7

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[23] Silver 200,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

Release history
Region Date Label Format Ref.
United Kingdom 22 May 2015 Young Turks Digital download [24]
United States 28 August 2015
[25]
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References
  1. Noisey staff(s) (August 10, 2015). "Skepta Has Given Jamie xx's "I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)" a Grime Twist". Noisey. Vice Media. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  2. Minsker, Evan (August 9, 2015). "Skepta Remixes Jamie xx's "I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)"". Pitchfork Media. Condé Nast. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  3. Smith, Jamie (April 14, 2015). "Jamie xx: Why Dance Music Is So Important". The Fader. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  4. Mack, Emmy (November 7, 2015). "Jamie xx Talks His Debut Solo Album, Future Of The xx & Touring Australia". Music Feeds. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  5. Depland, Michael (September 25, 2015). "Jamie xx On The State Of The xx, His Unlikely Song Of The Summer, And A Decade Of Staying Very Busy". Uproxx. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  6. Sherburne, Philip (May 19, 2015). "Jamie xx: Taking Shelter in Loud Places". Pitchfork. Condé Nast. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  7. Murray, Nice (April 7, 2015). "Jamie xx on Breaking His Stereotype for Bright Solo Debut 'In Colour'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  8. "Pazz & Jop, 2015". The Village Voice. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  9. http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hottest100/15/countdown/
  10. http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/9765-the-100-best-tracks-of-2015/10/
  11. "All The Best Songs Of The 2010s, Ranked". Uproxx. October 9, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  12. "The 200 Best Songs of the 2010s". Stereogum. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  13. "The 200 Best Songs of the 2010s". Pitchfork. 7 October 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  14. "Jamie xx - I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times) ft. Young Thug, Popcaan". YouTube. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  15. "I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times) [Remixes] - EP". iTunes Store United States. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
  16. Ryan, Gavin (6 June 2015). "ARIA Singles: Taylor Swift Bad Blood Spends Second Week At No 1". Noise11. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  17. "Ultratop.be – Jamie XX feat. Young Thug & Popcaan – I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  18. "Ultratop.be – Jamie XX feat. Young Thug & Popcaan – I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  19. "Jamie xx feat. Young Thug & Popcaan - I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 6, 2015.
  20. "Jamie xx feat. Young Thug & Popcaan - I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  21. "Chart Log UK - New Chart Entries - 13.06.2015". zobbel.de. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  22. "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  23. "British single certifications – Jamie xx feat. Young Thug & Popcaan – I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 30 August 2019. Select singles in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times) in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  24. "Jamie xx - I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times) (File, MP3)". Discogs. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  25. "I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times) [feat. Popcaan] - Single by Young Thug & Jamie xx". iTunes United States. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
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