"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, and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in his tee ...

. 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 , "to sign") is a 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. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

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. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' 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 song ranking 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 2 ...

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 Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30, 1962), better known by his stage name MC Hammer (or simply Hammer), is an American rapper known for hit songs such as "U Can't Touch This", "2 Legit 2 Quit", and "Pumps and a Bump", flashy dance movements, e ...

in 1990,

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

in 2006, and

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...

in 2022.

Recording

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

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

, 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 is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

/ 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) * Hollywood ...

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

the Temptations The Temptations is an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1961 as The Elgins, known for their string of successful singles and albums with Motown from the 1960s to the mid-1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield ...

—whose bass singer, Melvin Franklin, was one of James's idols—and Canadian singer Taborah Johnson. The bass was played by Oscar Alston. 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 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 Weesp () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and an urban area in the Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of Amsterdam in the Provinces of the netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. It had a populati ...

, Netherlands) *Sample replays recorded at Scorccio.com Studio (

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 – 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

in "

U Can't Touch This "U Can't Touch This" is a song co-written, produced, and performed by American rapper MC Hammer. It was released in May 1990 by Capitol Records as the third single from his third album, ''Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em'' (1990), and has been con ...

". The song would then be sampled by

in his 2006 song " Kingdom Come", by American group

Black Eyed Peas The Black Eyed Peas are an American musical group formed in Los Angeles in 1995, composed of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo (rapper), Taboo. Fergie (singer), Fergie was a member during the height of their popularity in the 2000s, and ...

in their 2020 single "

Vida Loca ''Vida Loca'' () is the first studio album by Cuban singer-songwriter Francisco Céspedes, released in August 1997 by WEA Latina. In Spain the album was awarded with an for the best Latin album. It was nominated for Pop Album of the Year by a ...

", and by

in her 2022 single, "

Super Freaky Girl "Super Freaky Girl" is a song by rapper Nicki Minaj from her fifth studio album, ''Pink Friday 2'' (2023). It was released on August 12, 2022, through Republic Records as the lead single from the album. It is an upbeat, raunchy song that sample ...

". 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. He met Kanye West as a teenager, and signed with his record label GOOD Music, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings in 2007. He gained popul ...

's " Dance (A$$)" (2011), which sampled "U Can't Touch This". The chorus of the song appears in a scene in '' Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'' where Sam Witwicky, one of the main protagonists, is driving his Camaro, which is actually the Autobot

Bumblebee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only Extant taxon, extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct r ...

, with a college girl named Alice, who is a

Decepticon The Decepticons are a fictional faction of sentient robots in the ''Transformers'' multimedia franchise. Serving as the main antagonists in the franchise, their goals include conquering their fictional homeworld planet Cybertron, defeating ...

in disguise.

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