Freak like Me

Infobox Single
Name = Freak like Me


Artist = Adina Howard
from Album = Do You Wanna Ride?
B-side =
Released = January 24, 1995
Format = CD single, Vinyl single
Recorded = 1994
Genre = R&B
Length = 4:13
Label = East West
Writer = Eugene Hanes, Marc Valentine, Loren Hill, William Collins, George Clinton
Producer = Mass Order
Certification = Platinum
Last single =
This single = "Freak like Me"
(1995)
Next single = "My Up and Down"
(1995)Extra tracklisting
Album = Do You Wanna Ride?
Type = studio
prev_track = "You Got Me Humpin'"
prev_no = 1
this_track = "Freak like Me"
track_no = 2
next_track = "If We Make Love Tonight"
next_no = 3"Freak like Me" is the first single from Adina Howard's 1995 R&B 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 original music video was directed by Hype Williams. The song returned to the public conscience when covered by British pop 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 potrayed 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. Salt-N-Pepa). 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 wouldn't be associated with. Examples of this are Toni Braxton's "You're Makin' Me High" and Monifah's "Touch It".

Original version

Charts

"Breathe Easy"

References

*cite web | title= Generation Sugababes| work= Charts and sales data| url=http://sugababes.generationnetwork.co.uk/| accessdate=May 19| accessyear=2006
*cite web | title= Discogs.com| work= Track listings and formats| url=http://www.discogs.com/| accessdate=May 19| accessyear=2006
*cite web | title= The Guardian Unlimited| work= Song information| url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/critic/feature/0,1169,922797,00.html/| accessdate=May 19| accessyear=2006