"Freak" is a song by American rapper and singer

Doja Cat Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini (born October 21, 1995), known professionally as Doja Cat (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she began making and releasing music on SoundCl ...

released through

Kemosabe Records Kemosabe Records is an American record label founded by record producer Dr. Luke in 2011. It was launched as an imprint of RCA Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. Based in Los Angeles, California, the label has signed acts including ...

and

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

on August 7, 2020. Originally uploaded exclusively to

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

in 2018, it was repackaged and released commercially due to popular demand by fans online. The single samples the 1959 song, "

Put Your Head on My Shoulder Put or PUT may refer to: Finance * Put option, a financial contract between a buyer and a seller * CBOE S&P 500 PutWrite Index (ticker symbol) Science and technology * Programmable unijunction transistor Computing * Parameterized unit testing ...

" by

Paul Anka Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter and actor. His songs include " Diana", “ You Are My Destiny", “Lonely Boy", " Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and " (You're) Having My Baby". Anka also wr ...

. A standalone

promotional single A promotional recording, promo, or plug copy is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as mu ...

, "Freak" received a limited vinyl release via

Urban Outfitters Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN) is a multinational lifestyle retail corporation headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Operating in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, select Western European countries, Poland, the United Arab Em ...

in November 2020.

Background and release

Prior to its re-release, "Freak" had gained popularity on the video-sharing platform

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

, where it had been used in over 1.2 million videos. In late June 2020, Doja Cat teased multiple new songs on an Instagram Live which she stated would all be released together in an upcoming project. Alongside the announcement of "Freak", Doja Cat wrote that she had released the song to hold her fans off while she works on "a new surprise." Both a clean and explicit version were released digitally. In November 2020, a limited edition vinyl release of the song was made available exclusively through

to support 11/11 Singles Day.

Credits and personnel

Recording and management * Engineered at Lineage Studios (Los Angeles, California) * Vocals Recorded at The Sound Factory (Los Angeles, California) * Mastered at

Bernie Grundman Mastering Bernie Grundman (born 16 December 1943, Minneapolis) is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chri ...

(Hollywood, California) * Doja Cat Music/

Prescription Songs Prescription Songs is an independent music publishing and licensing company founded in 2009 by Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald. History Between 2013 and 2017, Prescription Songs held a joint publishing deal with Nashville-based Big Machine Records t ...

(BMI), Yeti Yeti Yeti/WB Music Corp. (ASCAP), Cameron Bartolini Music (ASCAP), EPA Publishing/PW Ballads/Songs of Universal, Inc. (BMI), Chrysalis Standards, Inc./BMG Rights Management (BMI), Universal Music – Careers (BMI), EMI Blackwood Music, Inc. (BMI), Waters of Nazareth Publishing/Warner Geo Met Ric Music (GMR) * Contains a sample from "

", words and music by

, published by EPA Publishing/PW Ballads/Songs of Universal, Inc. (BMI) and 1938 (Renewed 1986) Chrysalis Standards, Inc./BMG Rights Management (BMI)/BMG Blue (BMII) administers 100% for the World ex USA obo Paul Anka/Chrysalis Standards, Inc. (BMI), used courtesy of Paul Anka Productions, by arrangement with Primary Wave Music * Contains a portion of the composition "

Milkshake A milkshake (sometimes simply called a shake) is a sweet beverage made by blending milk, ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners such as butterscotch, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, or fruit syrup into a thick, sweet, cold mixture. It may ...

", written by

Chad Hugo Charles Edward Hugo (born February 24, 1974) is an American musician and record producer. Alongside childhood friend Pharrell Williams, he formed the production duo the Neptunes in 1992, with whom he has produced numerous hit records for variou ...

and

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

, published by Universal Music – Careers (BMI), EMI Blackwood Music, Inc. (BMI) and Waters of Nazareth Publishing/Warner Geo Met Ric Music (GMR) Personnel *

– vocals, songwriting, production *Cameron Bartolini – songwriting; production,

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

* David Sprecher – songwriting; additional production, engineering *

– songwriting *

Neal H Pogue Neal H Pogue (born December 27, 1963) is an American producer, audio engineer and mixer originally from Roselle, New Jersey, and based in Los Angeles. Pogue is a multi-time Grammy Award winner, having first won for his engineering and mixing ...

– mixing *

Mike Bozzi Mike Bozzi is an American mastering engineer at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood, California. He won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year for mastering Childish Gambino's " This Is America", and is a six-time nominee for the Grammy Award fo ...

– mastering Credits adapted from "Freak" vinyl liner notes.

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control Doja Cat songs 2020 singles 2018 songs Songs written by Paul Anka Songs written by Doja Cat Songs written by Yeti Beats Songs written by Chad Hugo Songs written by Pharrell Williams Songs written by Omarion