“Ghost Town” is perhaps the standout track on ye—at any rate, it’s the album’s sonic climax. Assisted by PARTYNEXTDOOR and long-time collaborator Kid Cudi, Kanye places Jersey newcomer 070 Shake center stage. The record culminates in her triumphant and memorable two-minute-long outro which captures Kanye’s feeling of liberation:

And nothing hurts anymore, I feel kinda free

The song is somewhere between high up and down low: Cudi’s mournful vocals express the feeling of being unloved and rejected, then Shake deliriously chants about feeling free, almost invincible. Painting a picture of deep depression and manic euphoria side by side, “Ghost Town” essentially is the musical epitome of Kanye’s bipolar disorder, which is one of the central themes of the album.

Kanye also once again demonstrates his knack for making good use of relatively odd samples. The short track “Someday” by Shirley Ann Lee serves as the intro before Royal Jesters’s “Take Me For a Little While” from 1965 builds drums and guitar and serves as the lyrical template for Cudi’s chorus.

Interestingly, Shake revealed that they finished the song on the day of the album’s release, which was also the day of Kanye’s listening party. Some earlier version of the song was apparently destined to feature on Kanye and Cudi’s collaborative album KIDS SEE GHOSTS, as the title “Ghost Town” appeared on an early tracklist. Eventually, KSG came with a sequel to “Ghost Town” called “Freeee”.

“Ghost Town” was voted best song of 2018 by the Genius Community!