"Frisky" is a song by English rapper

Tinie Tempah Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu (born 7 November 1988), better known by his stage name Tinie Tempah, is a British rapper. He has been signed to Parlophone Records since 2009, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. He created his own entertainment compa ...

, crediting the song's producer

Labrinth Timothy Lee McKenzie (born 4 January 1989), better known by his stage name Labrinth, is an English singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer. After initially pursuing a career in music production, Simon Cowell signed him to his record labe ...

as its featured artist. The track 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 Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

on 7 June 2010 as the second single from the musician's debut studio album, ''

Disc-Overy ''Disc-Overy'' is the debut studio album by the British rapper Tinie Tempah, released in Ireland on 1 October 2010 and in the United Kingdom on 4 October, by Parlophone Records. The original album track list includes Kelly Rowland, Ellie Goul ...

'' (2010). On the chart week ending 19 June 2010, "Frisky" debuted at number two on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

behind " Shout" by

Shout for England "Shout" is 2010 single by Shout for England, an ensemble featuring Dizzee Rascal and James Corden. It was an unofficial anthem

; in Scotland, it debuted at number one, becoming Tempah's second number-one single there.

Background

"Frisky" was first revealed on the radio show 'Koko Pop' on 17 April 2010, where both Tempah and Labrinth performed the track live. It was then four days later, on 21 April, that "Frisky" received its first radio play—from

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

. Speaking to Lowe of the track, Tempah said: "''After Pass Out came out, there was a little bit of 'gosh', yeah the second one, we gotta get it right. Ultimately Zane, as you can probably tell, the record is about having a lot of fun and just trying to push boundaries and make unconventional music that doesn't have to sound a certain way. I just had fun with it, to be honest.''" before informing Lowe that "''I learnt the kind of effective, during all the performances, especially doing Pass Out. It's a tune that kind of really connects with those sounds.''"

Critical reception

Nick Levine of ''

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

'' gave the song a very positive review:

He's already explained precisely how he likes to party - 'til he and his mates "pass out", of course - and now he's got something else to get off his rapidly-swelling chest. Namely his intention to get inside the knickers of a well-turned out, All Saints-sporting fitty who "likes to talk a lot - that's why I call her Trisha". Yes, Tinie Tempah's lines are just as ear-snagging here as they were on his chart-topping debut. Once again, Labrinth fulfils his part of the bargain too, cloaking them in a drum 'n' bass-cum-electropop production that's positively brimming with hooks and vocal trickery. The result? A bit like your barnet after a trip to a trendy East London barbers - sleek and shiny for sure, but pretty street with it..

Track listings

Music video

The HD video of the song was uploaded onto

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

's official

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel on 21 April 2010. On the day, the track received 300 views; reaching 63,000 views by 23 April; and soon after over 140,000 views. Just three weeks after its upload to YouTube, the song had over 940,000 views. It passed the one million mark on 12 May and by 20 July it had over 4,500,000 views. The video features Tinie Tempah and Labrinth in a derelict stone building, surrounded by several female dancers (including Funda Önal) and bright disco lights.

Usage in Media

"Frisky" was featured in the soundtrack of the 2010 racing video game Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2010 singles 2010 songs Labrinth songs Number-one singles in Scotland Parlophone singles Song recordings produced by Labrinth Songs written by Tinie Tempah Tinie Tempah songs Songs written by Labrinth