"Freaky Friday" is a song recorded by American rapper

Lil Dicky David Andrew Burd (born March 15, 1988), better known by his stage name Lil Dicky, is an American rapper, comedian, and actor. He came to prominence with the release of the music video for his song "Ex-Boyfriend" in 2013, which became popular w ...

, featuring guest vocals from American singer

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to ''Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempor ...

and uncredited vocals from

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, record executive, record producer and rapper. Khaled first gained recognition as a radio host in the 1990s on the radio station 99 Jamz, a ...

, and

Kendall Jenner Kendall Nicole Jenner (born November 3, 1995) is an American model, media personality, and socialite. She is a daughter of Kris Jenner and Caitlyn Jenner, and rose to fame in the reality television show ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians.'' Je ...

. Written by Dicky, Brown,

Ammo Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weapo ...

, Nicholas Audino and produced by

Mustard Mustard may refer to: Food and plants * Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment * Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment ** Mustard seed, seeds of the mustard p ...

Benny Blanco Benjamin Joseph Levin (born March 8, 1988), known professionally as Benny Blanco (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer. He is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is al ...

and Twice as Nice, it was released by Dirty Burd on March 15, 2018, alongside its music video. The song became Lil Dicky's most successful single. It peaked at number eight on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Outside of the United States, "Freaky Friday" topped the charts in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and peaked within the top ten of the charts in Australia, Belgium (Wallonia), Canada, Denmark, and the Republic of Ireland.

Composition

"Freaky Friday" is a

comedy hip hop Comedy hip hop or comedy rap, is a subgenre of lighter hip hop music designed to be amusing or funny, compared to artists who incorporate humor into their more serious, purist hip hop styles. Satirical hip hop is a variant of comedy hip hop d ...

song featuring a

pop rap Pop rap (also known as pop hip-hop, hip pop, melodic hip-hop or melodic rap) is a genre of music fusing the rhythm-based lyricism of hip hop music with pop music's preference for melodious vocals and catchy tunes. This genre gained mainstrea ...

light-synthed

and

production. Lil Dicky, not having released anything for three years before this single, wanted to prove himself to release the best song he could've done, and after that the concept of the song came to him, he decided to realize it with Chris Brown, being considered by him to be the best example of a superstar he would have liked to collaborate with, and the singer was welcomed to complete the song.

Storyline

In the song the artists comically take up the concept of the novel that goes by the same name, swapping their bodies, namely that of a charismatic and controversial superstar (Chris Brown), and that of an emerging artist with a basic life (Lil Dicky). In the song Dicky is euphoric waking up being Brown, and rejoices because he is rich, handsome, famous, surrounded by beautiful girls and able to sing and dance. Going crazy off his euphoria he calls

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

to tell him that he is his biggest fan, and then he realizes that he has a daughter. Meanwhile, Brown in Dicky's body is still dissatisfied with the mediocrity of his life, but he's pleased by the fact that no one judges him in a

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonis ...

way, due to him being

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

or due to the controversies of his past. Subsequently Dicky in Chris' body goes crazy to another level, being exalted by his attractive sexual performances, he posts photos of his

penis A penis (plural ''penises'' or ''penes'' () is the primary sexual organ that male animals use to inseminate females (or hermaphrodites) during copulation. Such organs occur in many animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate, but males d ...

on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a ''internetworking, network of networks'' that consists ...

, and when the real Chris sees them starts looking desperately for him, finding him in the private location of a

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

. He bursts and threatens him, but Dicky warns him that beating him would only mean hurting himself, making him realize that he loves himself, that being the key for both to go back into each others' bodies.

Music video

The music video parodies the 2003 remake of the Lindsay Lohan film ''

Freaky Friday ''Freaky Friday'' is a comedic children's novel written by Mary Rodgers, first published by Harper & Row in 1972. It has been adapted for several films, including versions in 1976, 1995, 2003, and 2018, and was reinterpreted as a horror film f ...

'' and features cameos from

Jimmy Tatro James Richard Tatro is an American actor, comedian, writer and YouTube personality. He is the creator and star of the YouTube channel ''LifeAccordingToJimmy'', which has more than 3.4 million subscribers and over 713 million video views. Tatro ...

and

. As of April 2021, the video has over 700 million views on YouTube. The video shows Lil Dicky at a Chinese restaurant, similar to the 2003 film, ''Freaky Friday'', where a character is at a Chinese restaurant and wishes she was somebody else. In the music video, Lil Dicky is approached by a fan, played by

, who mentions he is a fan of his work. He then says to his girlfriend who he is accompanied by that he is a comedic rapper, who is not that impressive of a rapper. Lil Dicky then says to himself he wishes he was somebody who could dance, and who had credibility. The camera then pans to

on television, mentioning he wishes he was somebody else as well. The Chinese waiter takes note of it, and gives Lil Dicky a

fortune cookie A fortune cookie is a crisp and sugary cookie wafer usually made from flour, sugar, vanilla, and sesame seed oil with a piece of paper inside, a "fortune", usually an aphorism, or a vague prophecy. The message inside may also include a Chines ...

. The video then shows Lil Dicky, supposedly in the body of Chris, and vice versa. The song illustrates the two in each other's bodies. Towards the end, the two are about to fight, and they realize they should not kill each other, and instead love each other. They realize that this will set them back to their original form. The video then ends with cameos from Ed Sheeran, DJ Khaled and Kendall Jenner, where Lil Dicky is then in possession in all of their bodies.

Controversy

Shortly after the song's release, the

Virginia Tech Hokies The Virginia Tech Hokies are the athletic teams representing the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in intercollegiate athletics. The Hokies participate in the NCAA's Division I Atlantic Coast Conference in 22 v ...

women's lacrosse team was heavily scrutinized after members of the team uploaded a video of themselves singing along to Chris Brown's verse, where he (supposedly as Lil Dicky in his body) starts saying "What up my

nigga ''Nigga'' () is a colloquial and vulgar term used in African-American Vernacular English that began as a dialect form of the word ''nigger'', an ethnic slur against black people. The word is commonly associated with hip hop music and Afric ...

" to everyone he encounters. Virginia Tech coach John Sung later apologized on behalf of the team, saying it was a "teachable moment" for the players and that "no malice was involved... They just thought they were just singing along to a song".

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal. *

– composition, engineering *

– composition *

Cashmere Cat Magnus August Høiberg (born 29 November 1987), known professionally as Cashmere Cat, is a Norwegian DJ, record producer, songwriter and musician. He is best known for producing songs for artists including Kanye West, The Kid Laroi, Selena Gomez ...

– composition * Lewis Hughes – composition * Wilbart McCoy III – composition *

– composition *

– composition, production *

– composition, production * Twice as Nice – composition, production * Serban Ghenea – mix engineering * Patrizio Pigliapoco – engineering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2018 singles 2018 songs Lil Dicky songs Chris Brown songs Songs written by Chris Brown Songs written by Cashmere Cat Songs written by Ammo (record producer) Number-one singles in New Zealand Song recordings produced by Benny Blanco Song recordings produced by Mustard (record producer) Song recordings produced by Cashmere Cat Comedy rap songs UK Singles Chart number-one singles Fiction about body swapping Pop-rap songs