"Super Rich Kids" is a song by American singer and rapper

Frank Ocean Frank Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux; October 28, 1987) is an American singer and songwriter. He has been credited by several music journalism, music critics as a pioneer of the alternative R&B genre. Ocean has won two Grammy Awards and a B ...

featuring fellow American rapper

Earl Sweatshirt Thebe Neruda Kgositsile (born February 24, 1994), known professionally as Earl Sweatshirt, is an American rapper and record producer. Kgositsile was originally known by the moniker Sly Tendencies when he began rapping in 2008, but changed his na ...

. It was released as the fifth single from Ocean's debut studio album ''

Channel Orange ''Channel Orange'' (occasionally stylized as ''channel ORANGE'') is the debut studio album by the American R&B singer-songwriter Frank Ocean. It was released on July 10, 2012, by Def Jam Recordings. After releasing his mixtape '' Nostalgia, Ultr ...

'' on March 11, 2013. It was first performed live by Ocean in 2011 and then on his Channel Orange Tour in 2012. The song is in the style of R&B and

neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from Soul music, soul ...

, and includes references to and samples of the songs "

Bennie and the Jets "Bennie and the Jets" (also titled "Benny & the Jets") is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. The song first appeared on the ''Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'' album in 1973. "Bennie and ...

" by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

, "

Got to Give It Up "Got to Give It Up" is a song by American music artist Marvin Gaye. Written by the singer and produced by Art Stewart as a response to a request from Gaye's record label that he perform disco music, it was released in March 1977. Upon its rele ...

" by

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

, and " Real Love" by

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actress, and entrepreneur. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Qu ...

. It addresses young, wealthy characters' ennui and fears of the

financial crisis A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with Bank run#Systemic banki ...

with dry humor. The song received positive reviews and charted on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

R&B Songs Hot R&B Songs is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular R&B songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stations, digital download sales and streaming data. It was establis ...

chart and the UK Singles Chart and

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

. The song also appeared on the TV show ''

Gossip Girl ''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series created and developed by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage and based on the series of novels of the same name by Cecily von Ziegesar. It follows a group of students on Manhattan's ...

'' and in the film ''

The Bling Ring ''The Bling Ring'' is a 2013 crime film written and directed by Sofia Coppola featuring an ensemble cast led by Emma Watson, Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Taissa Farmiga, Claire Julien, Georgia Rock and Leslie Mann. It is based on the 20 ...

''.

Background

"Super Rich Kids" was written by

, Malay,

, Kirk Robinson, Nathaniel Robinson Jr., Roy Hammond, Mark Morales and Mark RooneyFrank Ocean - Super Rich Kids Sheet Music - Download and Print
Musicnotes.com. Accessed from June 1, 2013. and produced primarily by Malay.Frank Ocean - Super Rich Kids
djbooth.net. Accessed from June 2, 2013. Ocean and Malay came up with "Super Rich Kids" on their first day working together on Ocean's debut album, ''

''. According to Ocean, the 2000 film ''

Traffic Traffic is the movement of vehicles and pedestrians along land routes. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic laws and informal rules that may have developed over time to facilitate the orderly an ...

'' was an inspiration for the song.Ocean-ography
GQ. December 2012. Retrieved October 29, 2013. Ocean first performed the song during his debut solo tour in 2011, and later performed it on the Channel Orange Tour. The single release was originally announced on January 23, 2013. It was released in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

on March 11,R.Kelly & Justin Bieber Hang Out Like Besties + Prince Drops New Music "Screwdriver" + Frank Ocean's Next Single "Super Rich Kids"
. The YBF. January 23, 2013. Accessed from June 1, 2013. and in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on the 17th.

Composition

Music

"Super Rich Kids" is an R&B and

ballad set in

common time A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

and a slow half-time groove

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 60

beats per minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...

. The key the song was composed in is

E♭ major E-flat major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats. Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E minor, (or enharmonically D minor). The E-flat major ...

, with a

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural, or simply changes) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from ...

of E♭maj9−A♭13sus4−D♭maj9−B♭9sus4−B♭7#5b9 followed throughout the song. The song includes a piano part that references the thumping piano line of

's 1973 song "

", Petridis, Alexis (July 11, 2012)
"Frank Ocean: Channel Orange – review"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. Accessed from June 1, 2013.Richard, Chris (July 10, 2012)
"Music review: Frank Ocean's 'Channel Orange'"
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. Accessed from June 1, 2013. and

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (anatomy) * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * Horns (novel), ''Horns'' (novel), a dar ...

and

synth A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

arpeggio An arpeggio () is a type of Chord (music), chord in which the Musical note, notes that compose a chord are individually sounded in a progressive rising or descending order. Arpeggios on keyboard instruments may be called rolled chords. Arpe ...

s are also present.Youssef, Sobhi (July 15, 2012)
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
SputnikMusic. Accessed from June 2, 2013. According to ''

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quietu ...

'', "a stomping piano and the steady smack of kickdrum anchors the ghostly crowd noise from a vast débutantes ball, as the synths quiver both nauseously and as subtly as candle-smoke in a floor draft."Calvers, John (July 3, 2012)
The Future's Bright: Frank Ocean's Channel Orange Track-by-Track
''

''. Accessed from June 2, 2013.

Lyrics

"Super Rich Kids" addresses young, wealthy/rich characters' ennui and fears of the

with dry humor. The song's chorus takes its lyrics and melody from

's " Real Love".Lee, Christina (May 4, 2013)
Michael Buble Sings Frank Ocean’s “Super Rich Kids”: Watch

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolator or Idolater may also refer to: * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), a 2005 album by Blood Stain Child * ''Idolator'', a 1986 album by Ole Evenrud * "Idolater", a ...

. Accessed from June 1, 2013. The track includes a verse from Earl Sweatshirt, which, according to ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'', is a reminder of Ocean as "

OFWGKTA Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, better known as Odd Future and often abbreviated as OF or OFWGKTA, was an American alternative hip-hop music collective formed in Los Angeles, California in 2007. The group consisted of rappers, producers, fi ...

at the end of the day." ''

Paste Paste is a term for any very thick viscous fluid. It may refer to: Science and technology * Adhesive or paste ** Wallpaper paste ** Wheatpaste, a liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water * Paste (rheology), a substance that behaves as ...

'' magazine said that "Earl's low verses push Ocean way up into his vocal range."Billings, Lake (July 18, 2012)
Frank Ocean: Channel Orange

. Accessed from June 1, 2013. According to ''Sound and Motion'' magazine, the track "Super Rich Kids" is described by ''

Muso's Guide ''Musos' Guide'' or ''musosguide'' is a UK-based online webzine. It was launched in 2003, and has been re-launched four times. It is an editorially independent magazine. History ''Muso's Guide'' was first launched on 30 June 2003 by then-amateur j ...

'' as "a contemporary version of a

Jay McInerney John Barrett "Jay" McInerney Jr. (; born January 13, 1955) is an American novelist, screenwriter, editor, and columnist. His novels include '' Bright Lights, Big City'', ''Ransom'', '' Story of My Life'', '' Brightness Falls'', and ''The Last o ...

novel,"Wink, Richard (March 1, 2013)
Single Review : Frank Ocean – Super Rich Kids

. Accessed from June 2, 2013. and by ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' as "something

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer-songwriter and musician renowned for her extensive contributions to popular music. She wrote or co-wrote 118 songs that charted on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billbo ...

knocked out in the 1970s." ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...

''.com said that "at no point are the lyrics judgemental. If anything they’re compassionate."Reyes, Jon (July 13, 2012)
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
HipHopDX.com. Accessed from June 1, 2012. The song also takes samples from

s "

", and a reference to the 1970s

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

Good Times ''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans (actor), Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was televis ...

'' (the "Dy-no-mite!" catchphrase of

Jimmie Walker James Carter Walker Jr. (born June 25, 1947) is an American actor and comedian. He portrayed James ("J.J.") Evans Jr., the older son of James Evans Sr. and Florida Evans, on the CBS television comedy series ''Good Times''. The show ran from 19 ...

's character J.J. Evans).

Critical reception

The single received acclaim from critics. ''Sound and Motion'' magazine said that it "could easily be listened to repeatedly or just set on in the background for an evening's entertainment." ''Muso's Guide'' said the song "could be viewed as one of those tail end singles from a brilliant album that doesn't stand strong on its own (Can anyone remember ' Until The End of Time' from ''

FutureSex/LoveSounds ''FutureSex/LoveSounds'' is the second studio album by American singer Justin Timberlake, released on September 8, 2006, by Jive Records and Zomba Group of Companies, Zomba. Following a three-year writing hiatus, Timberlake conceived the album ...

'' or '

Broken-Hearted Girl "Broken-Hearted Girl" is a song by American singer Beyoncé for her third studio album '' I Am... Sasha Fierce'' (2008). Written by Beyoncé, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, and production duo Stargate, it was initially a classic rhythm and blues s ...

' from '' I Am... Sasha Fierce''?). Ocean, proving his talent as a songwriter, and a jaded voice for this frustrated introspective generation is able to find something profound from a superficial world." The song became an Editor's Pick on DJBooth.net. Critical reactions of the song in reviews of ''Channel Orange'' were also positive. ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' called the track a "stand out, tying together the album’s two themes of class and love."Locker, Melissa (July 10, 2012)
Frank Ocean Pours His Heart Out on Channel Orange: Album Review
''

''. Accessed from June 2, 2013. ''

'', in a track-by-track review, said that "the steadiness of the beat is immediately familiar but wholly fresh – it's like Ocean snatched 'Benny and the Jets' and threw the composition down a trap door into another universe." ''No Ripcord'' said that "it's so incongruous against the crass commercialism and consuming greed that pervades so much of

popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art

f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...

or mass art, sometimes contraste ...

that it's astonishing." ''

'' listed Earl Sweatshirt's appearance in the song number 15 on their "25 Best Guest Verses of 2012".Andrew Martin, Ernest Baker (December 29, 2012)
15. Earl Sweatshirt on Frank Ocean's "Super Rich Kids"
''

''. Accessed from June 1, 2013.

In other media

In 2012, the song appeared on the ''

season 6 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and polar ...

episode "Monstrous Ball", along with four other Frank Ocean tracks: " Lost", "

Pyramids A pyramid () is a Nonbuilding structure, structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a Pyramid (geometry), pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid ca ...

", "

Sweet Life Sweet Life may refer to: * ''Sweet Life'' (album), a 1999 album by Renée Geyer * "Sweet Life" (Paul Davis song), a 1978 song by Paul Davis * "Sweet Life" (Frank Ocean song), a 2012 song by Frank Ocean * "Sweet Life (La vie est belle)", a 2013 s ...

" and " Thinkin Bout You". The song also appears as the seventeenth track on the soundtrack for the film ''

'' and on the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

miniseries ''Big Little Lies''. The song was also covered by

Misha B Misha Amber Bryan (born 10 February 1992), known by her stage name Misha B, is a British singer. She rose to notability as a finalist on the eighth series of ''The X Factor'' in 2011, where she finished in fourth place. Several sources have no ...

.Bridgewater, Paul (March 27, 2013)
Watch Misha B in session covering Frank Ocean’s ‘Super Rich Kids’
thelineofbestfit.com. Accessed from July 10, 2013.

Lawsuit

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

for the sampling of Mary J. Blige's "Real Love" in "Super Rich Kids". This was because, according to the lawsuit, the sample included a sample of the Honey Drippers song " Impeach the President".

Charts

Weekly charts

Certifications

References

{{Good article 2013 singles 2013 songs Def Jam Recordings singles Frank Ocean songs Songs written by Frank Ocean Songs written by Malay (record producer) Songs written by Earl Sweatshirt Neo soul songs Songs written by Kirk Robinson