"Freak like Me" is the first single from Adina Howard's 1995 debut album Do You Wanna Ride?. Like Howard's image, the song can be best described as hypersexual. It reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified platinum by the RIAA.
The song's chorus is a lyrical interpolation of the verses found in Bootsy Collins' "I'd Rather Be with You". While the lyrics in "Freak like Me"'s chorus are different from the Bootsy Collins song, they are sung in identical melody. The song's drum beat is sampled from Sly & the Family Stone's "Sing a Simple Song." The song returned to public awareness when covered by English girl group Sugababes in a production by Richard X.
The song and her hypersexual image is considered groundbreaking in the U.S. R&B/hip hop scene, it portrayed female hip-hop singers more aggressive rather than coy in their sexuality, in a manner that was feminine unlike the female hip-hop artists of before who dressed in men's apparel to express their aggressive image (i.e. MC Lyte). This new, hypersexual image would pave the way for upcoming R&B/hip hop female artists like Foxy Brown and Lil' Kim; in addition, it allowed other artists to become more comfortable in releasing more explicit lyrical content that their previous images would not be associated with. Examples of this are Toni Braxton's "You're Makin' Me High" and Monifah's "Touch It".
Read more about Freak Like Me: Music Video, Official Versions, Sugababes Version
Famous quotes containing the word freak:
“Im not gonna change the way I look or the way I feel to conform to anything. Ive always been a freak. So Ive been a freak all my life and I have to live with that, you know. Im one of those people.”
—John Lennon (19401980)