Freak like Me

"Freak Like Me" is the debut single by American R&B singer Adina Howard. It was released on January 25, 1995, as the lead single from her debut album, Do You Wanna Ride?. It reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks, as well as number two on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart for four weeks, behind "This Is How We Do It" by Montell Jordan in both cases, and was certified platinum by the RIAA for sales of one million copies.[1][2]

This article is about the Adina Howard song. For the book, see Jim Rose Circus § Publications. For the Halestorm song, see Freak Like Me (Halestorm song). For the Brooke Candy song, see Sexorcism (Brooke Candy album).
"Freak Like Me"
Standard artwork (US CD maxi-single pictured)
Single by Adina Howard
from the album Do You Wanna Ride?
ReleasedJanuary 25, 1995
FormatCD single, vinyl single
Recorded1994
GenreR&B
Length4:13
LabelEast West, Lola Waxx
Songwriter(s)Eugene Hanes, Marc Valentine, William 'Bootsy' Collins, George Clinton, Jr.
Producer(s)Mass Order
Adina Howard singles chronology
"Freak Like Me"
(1995)		 "My Up and Down"
(1995)

Background

"Freak like Me" is an R&B song with a g-funk beat.[3] The song's drum beat is sampled from Sly & the Family Stone's "Sing a Simple Song". The song also samples "I'd Rather Be with You" by Bootsy's Rubber Band. Hence, Eugene Hanes, Marc Valentine, William "Bootsy" Collins, and George Clinton's son George Jr. (the last of whom died in 2010) are credited as joint authors and composers. In honor of the song's 20th anniversary, a documentary focusing on the song's (and singer Adina Howard's) impact was released titled Adina Howard 20: A Story of Sexual Liberation.[4] It received a nomination for "Outstanding Independent Documentary" at the 2016 Black Reel Awards.

Music video

The original music video was directed by Hype Williams.[5]

Official versions
  • "Freak Like Me" (LP version) – 4:13
  • "Freak Like Me" (radio version) – 4:04
  • "Freak Like Me" (a cappella) – 2:35
  • "Freak Like Me" (instrumental) – 4:10
  • "Freak Like Me" (dub instrumental) – 4:12
  • "Freak Like Me" (remix featuring rap by Inspector Rick) – 4:17
  • "Freak Like Me" (remix without rap) – 4:06

Track listing
  1. "Freak Like Me" (radio version) – 4:04
  2. "Freak Like Me" (remix featuring rap by Inspector Rick) – 4:17
  3. "Freak Like Me" (dub instrumental) – 4:12
  4. "Freak Like Me" (remix without rap) – 4:06
  5. "Freak Like Me" (instrumental) – 4:10
  6. "Freak Like Me" (a cappella) – 2:35

Charts

Tru Faith & Dub Conspiracy version
"Freak Like Me"
Single by Tru Faith & Dub Conspiracy
Released2000
FormatCD single, 12" single
GenreUK garage
Length4:49
LabelPositiva
Songwriter(s)William Collins, Eugene Hanes, Gary Lee Cooper, George Clinton, Loren Hill, Marc Valentine
Producer(s)Andrew Hunter, George Demetriou, Ian McKenzie, Maxim Elmaki, Nial Montgomery

In 2000, a collaboration between two UK garage groups, Tru Faith & Dub Conspiracy, released a cover version of "Freak Like Me". English singer Imaani provided vocals on the song. This version reached number 12 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 1 on the UK Dance Chart.

CD and 12" formats include remixes by Wideboys and Dome.

Track listing

UK CD maxi-single

  1. "Freak Like Me" (radio edit) – 3:21
  2. "Freak Like Me" (original mix) – 4:49
  3. "Freak Like Me" (Wideboys Vocal Mix) – 5:01
  4. "Freak Like Me" (Dome's Freaky Deaky Mix) – 5:59

UK 12" vinyl

A1. "Freak Like Me" (original mix) – 4:49
A2. "Freak Like Me" (Wideboys Dub) – 4:35
B1. "Freak Like Me" (Vocal Remix) – 5:10
B2. "Freak Like Me" (Freaky Deaky Mix) – 5:10

Charts
Chart (2000) Peak
position
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[7] 44
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[8] 31
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[9] 12
UK Dance (Official Charts Company)[10] 1

Sugababes version
"Freak Like Me"
Single by Sugababes
from the album Angels with Dirty Faces
B-side"Breathe Easy"
ReleasedApril 22, 2002
Format
Recorded2001; London, England
Genre
Length3:14
LabelIsland
Songwriter(s)
  • Eugene Hanes
  • Marc Valentine
  • Loren Hill
  • William Collins
  • George Clinton
  • Gary Numan
Producer(s)Richard X
Sugababes singles chronology
"Soul Sound"
(2001)		 "Freak Like Me"
(2002)		 "Round Round"
(2002)

In 2002, English girl group Sugababes recorded a cover of "Freak like Me". This version was conceived and produced by English producer Richard X. It uses as its backing track a sample of the 1979 song "Are "Friends" Electric?" by Gary Numan and Tubeway Army. In 2001, Richard X had created a bootleg mashup of the original recordings of "Freak Like Me" and "Are "Friends" Electric?", titled "We Don't Give a Damn About Our Friends", which he released under the alias "Girls on Top".[11] That song became a successful underground dance track. Richard X wanted to release the mashup commercially, but he could not get permission from Adina Howard to use her vocals, so he decided to re-record the vocals, enlisting the Sugababes to do so.

"Freak like Me" was released on 22 April 2002 as the lead single from their second studio album, Angels with Dirty Faces (2002). It was the first Sugababes single to feature Heidi Range, who joined after the departure of Siobhán Donaghy in August 2001. The Sugababes version of the song used the radio edit lyrics of Howard's song ("brotha" is used instead of "nigga"). Numan was now credited as a co-writer of the song.

A remix of the song, billed as the "We Don't Give a Damn Mix" appears on Richard X's 2003 album Richard X Presents His X-Factor Vol. 1.

The sound effect featured at the beginning of the song is the coin-insert tone from the popular 1981 video game Frogger. (The sound was also used to begin the song "Froggy's Lament", about the video game itself, on Buckner & Garcia's album Pac-Man Fever.)

Critical reception

In 2012, The Guardian named "Freak like Me" as the best number-one single of 2002.[12] NME complimented the track as "genius" and claimed, "if this gets to number one, we'll be grinning all summer. Yes, even the Critics."[13] Billboard named the song number 45 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.[14]

Numan considered the Sugababes version of "Freak like Me" to be better than "Are 'Friends' Electric?".[15]

Chart performance

On April 22, 2002, "Freak like Me" was released in the United Kingdom. The song became Sugababes' first number-one single when it debuted at number one in the UK Singles Chart, remaining in the top ten for four weeks. It remains one of the best selling singles released by the group, selling over 275,000 copies since its release and being certified Silver.

Outside of the United Kingdom, the song was also successful. While it reached the top ten in Ireland, Norway and Belgium, the song entered the top 30 of most of the charts it appeared on. In Australia, "Freak like Me" became the fourth single by Sugababes to make the singles chart, reaching number 44. It would be their lowest-charting single in Australia until the release of "Shape" in 2003.

Music video

The music video was directed by Dawn Shadforth and Sophie Muller and was filmed in London. It uses the "We Don't Give a Damn Mix" of the song, which is more faithful to the original mash-up. The video is set in a strange nightclub, and acts as an introduction for the recent addition of Heidi Range. It begins outside the nightclub with a man tumbling down the stairs, with Keisha Buchanan in a long coat, seen only from below the knee, walking out of a door, over the man's body and up the stairs. Mutya Buena is seen standing on the stairs facing the direction where the man is lying. Inside, they spot Range dancing and flirting with many guys. They both quickly clash with her, and a fight between them ensues, which ends with Range falling to the floor unconscious. A man tries to help her up, but Buena grabs him by the neck and throws him away from her. Range wakes up again soon after, and stumbles out of the club with another man, where they begin to kiss, until she suddenly bites hard into his arm. Meanwhile, Buchanan takes a man outside, and she leads him into a dark alley, where they flirt briefly, before she scares him away. Buena then goes outside as well, and overpowers a man who towers over her. The music video ends with Buchanan and Buena accepting Range into the group, and dancing into the night. The demonstrations of supernatural strength shown throughout the video and Range biting the man on the arm are generally understood to imply that the women are, as the song suggests, vampire-like "freaks". Julian Morris stars in the music video as one of the boys running from Buena.

Track listing
  • UK CD1
  1. "Freak Like Me" (radio edit) – 3:14
  2. "Freak Like Me" (We Don't Give a Damn Mix) – 3:39
  3. "Breathe Easy" – 4:09
  4. "Freak Like Me" (video) – 3:39
  • UK CD2 (Later withdrawn due to manufacturing error)[16]
  1. "Freak Like Me" (radio edit) – 3:14
  2. "Freak Like Me" (Different Gear Mix) – 8:14
  3. "Freak Like Me" (Capoeira Twins Mix) – 5:33
  4. "Freak Like Me" (Jameson Mix) – 5:46
  • UK Cassette
  1. "Freak Like Me" (radio edit) – 3:14
  2. "Freak Like Me" (We Don't Give a Damn Mix) – 3:39
  3. "Freak Like Me" (Jameson Mix) – 5:46

Charts and certifications

References
  1. "American certifications – Howard, Adina – Freak Like Me". Recording Industry Association of America.
  2. "Best-Selling Records of 1995". Billboard. BPI Communications. 108 (3): 56. January 20, 1996. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
  3. "The Best R&B Videos of the '90s". Complex. November 9, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  4. "Adina Howard 20: A Story of Sexual Liberation" – via www.imdb.com.
  5. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8417634/
  6. "Billboard Top 100 - 1995". Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  7. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 17 no. 38. September 16, 2000. p. 11. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  8. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  9. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  10. "Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  11. "Girls On Top - We Don't Give A Damn About Our Friends / Warm Bitch". Blackmelody.com. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  12. Paphides, Peter (May 31, 2012). "The best No 1 records: Sugababes – Freak Like Me". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved August 4, 2013. It just got bigger and bigger and started to get played and then on the video channels. At one point I was scrolling round the music channels and it was on 3 different channels at the same channel. I did the Graham Norton show and I said I think its better than mine - I think the vocal is a lot more interesting than mine.
  13. "Sugababes - Freak Like Me". NME. April 16, 2002. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
  14. "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time: Critics' Picks". Billboard. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  15. "Gary Numan - Interview". Designer Magazine. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  16. "Freak Like Me". April 22, 2002 – via Amazon.
  17. "Australian-charts.com – Sugababes – Freak Like Me". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  18. "Austriancharts.at – Sugababes – Freak Like Me" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  19. "Ultratop.be – Sugababes – Freak Like Me" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
  20. "Ultratop.be – Sugababes – Freak Like Me" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  21. "Canadian Digital Song Sales". Billboard. July 11, 2003. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  22. "Danishcharts.com – Sugababes – Freak Like Me". Tracklisten. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  23. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 20 no. 20. May 11, 2002. p. 11. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  24. "Offiziellecharts.de – Sugababes – Freak Like Me". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  25. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Freak Like Me". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  26. "Italiancharts.com – Sugababes – Freak Like Me". Top Digital Download. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  27. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 26, 2002" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  28. "Dutchcharts.nl – Sugababes – Freak Like Me" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  29. "Charts.nz – Sugababes – Freak Like Me". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  30. "Norwegiancharts.com – Sugababes – Freak Like Me". VG-lista. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  31. "Arhiva romanian top 100 – Editia 37, saptamina 17.09–23.09, 2002" (in Romanian). Romanian Top 100. Archived from the original on February 16, 2005. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  32. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  33. "Swedishcharts.com – Sugababes – Freak Like Me". Singles Top 100. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  34. "Swisscharts.com – Sugababes – Freak Like Me". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  35. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  36. "Official R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  37. "Jaaroverzichten 2002" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  38. "The Official UK Singles Chart 2002" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  39. "British single certifications – Sugababes – Freak Like Me". British Phonographic Industry.
  40. Copsey, Rob (October 16, 2019). "Sugababes' Official Top 20 biggest singles". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
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