"Super Freak" is a 1981 single produced and performed by American singer

Rick James James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in ...

. The song, co-written by James and Alonzo Miller, was first released on James' fifth album, '' Street Songs'' (1981) and became one of James'

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a ...

s. "Freak" is a slang term for the sexually adventurous, as described in the song's lyrics, "She's a very kinky girl / The kind you don't take home to mother". ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' magazine ranked the song number 477 in its list of the

500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine '' Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 i ...

in 2004, number 481 in 2010, and number 153 in an updated list in 2021. The song was nominated for the Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance at the 1982 Grammys. The song has been sampled by MC Hammer in 1990 and by

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accents ...

in 2022.

Recording

"Super Freak" was recorded with other tracks for the '' Street Songs'' album between December 1980 – January 1981 at the

Record Plant The Record Plant is a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and currently operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it has produced highly influential albums, including Blo ...

, in

Sausalito, California Sausalito ( Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's ...

and

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

/ Hitsville U.S.A. Recording Studios,

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

, California. It features background vocals from James' Motown labelmates

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

—in which the

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low b ...

was Greg "Big Money" Brown, Melvin Franklin—and Canadian singer

Taborah Johnson Taborah Johnson, also known as Tabby Johnson, is a Canadian singer and actress. She is the sister of actor Clark Johnson and rock and jazz singer Molly Johnson. She began her career in the Toronto production of ''Hair'' as a teenager. She was ...

. The tenor saxophone solo is by Stone City Band member Daniel LeMelle. James' improvised lyrics were later toned down by Los Angeles DJ Alonzo Miller, who received co-writing credit. James apparently was not particularly excited about the song, but reputedly wanted to have something on the album that "white folks could dance to."

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Beatfreakz version

In 2006, Dutch music group Beatfreakz covered the song as "Superfreak" and released it as a single. This cover reached number seven on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and number six in Finland and Hungary.

Track listings

Dutch CD single #"Superfreak" (radio edit) #"Superfreak" (club mix) #"Superfreak" ( Fonzerelli remix) #"Superfreak" (Dennis Christopher De-Electro remix) #"Streetgirl" (album version) UK 12-inch single :A1. "Superfreak" (Beatfreakz club mix) :A2. "Superfreak" (Fonzerelli remix) :B1. "Superfreak" (Dennis Christopher De-Electro remix) :B2. "Superfreak" (Friday Night Posse remix) UK CD1 #"Superfreak" (radio edit) #"Superfreak" (Beatfreakz club mix) UK CD2 #"Superfreak" (radio edit) #"Superfreak" (Fonzerelli remix) #"Superfreak" (Dennis Christopher De-Electro remix) #"Superfreak" (Verdez remix) #Extended interactive CD-ROM

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the Dutch and UK CD1 liner notes. Studios *Recorded at Beatfreakz Studios ( Weesp, Netherlands) *Sample replays recorded at Scorccio.com Studio (

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Spain) Personnel *Rick James, Alonzo Miller – writing *Sandro – vocals *Jassy Tamar Husk – additional vocals *Beatfreakz – production *Hal Ritson – vocal production *

Mark Summers Mark Summers is the English CEO, sound engineer and music producer of Scorccio, a music production company founded in the UK in 1996. A London DJ since 1979, he is a guest lecturer and masterclass presenter on sample replay production, sound e ...

– sample replay production *Ben Cook – executive production *Dipesh Parmar – executive production assistant *Antonio Petronzio – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

Sampling

The predominant riff of the song was most popularly sampled in 1990 by MC Hammer in " U Can't Touch This". 32 years later, the song was sampled by

in "

Super Freaky Girl "Super Freaky Girl" is a song by rapper Trinidadian- american Nicki Minaj, released on August 12, 2022, by Young Money Entertainment and Republic Records. It is an upbeat, raunchy song that samples Rick James' 1981 single "Super Freak," as Mina ...

". Minaj previously appeared in the remix of

Big Sean Sean Michael Leonard Anderson (born March 25, 1988), known professionally as Big Sean, is an American rapper. Anderson began his music career in 2007 and gained popularity in 2010 with his third mixtape '' Finally Famous Vol. 3: Big''. He then s ...

's "

Dance (A$$) "Dance (Ass)", often stylized "Dance (A$$)", is a song by American rapper Big Sean, released as the third single from his debut studio album, '' Finally Famous'' (2011). It was added to urban radio formats on September 20, 2011 as the album's thir ...

" (2011), which sampled "U Can't Touch This".

References

External links

Super Freak at Discogs
{{Authority control 1981 songs 1981 singles 2006 singles American new wave songs Gordy Records singles Data Records singles Rick James songs Songs written by Rick James Song recordings produced by Rick James Spinnin' Records singles Songs about BDSM

Recording

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Beatfreakz version

Track listings

Credits and personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

Sampling

See also

References

External links