"Freak" is a song by American singer and rapper

Doja Cat Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini (born October 21, 1995), known professionally as Doja Cat ( ), is an American rapper and singer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she began making and releasing music on SoundCloud as a teenager. Her song ...

released through

Kemosabe Records Kemosabe Records is an American record label founded by American record producer and songwriter Dr. Luke and owned by Sony Music Entertainment. The label is based in Los Angeles, California. History In November 2011, Sony Music Entertainment ann ...

and

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

on August 7, 2020. Originally uploaded exclusively to

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...

in 2018, it was repackaged and released commercially due to popular demand by fans online. The single samples the 1959 song, "

Put Your Head on My Shoulder "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" is a song written by Canadian-born singer-songwriter Paul Anka. Anka's version was recorded in August 1958 at Bell Sound Studios in New York City, three weeks before he recorded his no. 1 hit " Lonely Boy", and w ...

" by

Paul Anka Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known for his signature hit songs including " Diana", " Lonely Boy", "Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and " (You're) Having My Baby". Anka also ...

. A standalone

promotional single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

, "Freak" received a limited vinyl release via

Urban Outfitters Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN) is a multinational lifestyle retail corporation headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Operating in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, select Western European countries, Poland the United Arab Emirates, Kuw ...

in November 2020.

Background and release

Prior to its re-release, "Freak" had gained popularity on the video-sharing platform

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

, where it had been used in over 1.2 million videos. In late June 2020, Doja Cat teased multiple new songs on an

Instagram live Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can be ...

which she stated would all be released together in an upcoming project. Alongside the announcement of "Freak", Doja Cat wrote that she had released the song in order to hold her fans off while she works on "a new surprise." Both a clean and explicit version were released digitally. In November 2020, a limited edition vinyl release of the song was made available exclusively through

in order to support 11/11 Singles Day.

Credits and personnel

Recording and management * Engineered at Lineage Studios (

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

) * Vocals Recorded at The Sound Factory (Los Angeles, California) * Mastered at

Bernie Grundman Mastering Bernie Grundman is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chris Bellman, Patricia Sullivan, and Mi ...

(

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

) * Doja Cat Music/Prescription Songs (BMI), Yeti Yeti Yeti/WB Music Corp. (ASCAP), Cameron Bartolini Music (ASCAP), EPA Publishing/PW Ballads/Songs of Universal, Inc. (BMI), Chrysalis Standards, Inc./BMG Rights Management (BMI), Universal Music - Careers (BMI), EMI Blackwood Music, Inc. (BMI), Waters of Nazareth Publishing/Warner Geo Met Ric Music (GMR) * Contains a sample from “

”, words and music by

, published by EPA Publishing/PW Ballads/Songs of Universal, Inc. (BMI) and 1938 (Renewed 1986) Chrysalis Standards, Inc./BMG Rights Management (BMI)/BMG Blue (BMII) administers 100% for the World ex USA obo Paul Anka/Chrysalis Standards, Inc. (BMI), used courtesy of Paul Anka Productions, by arrangement with Primary Wave Music * Contains a portion of the composition “

Milkshake A milkshake (sometimes simply called a shake) is a sweet beverage made by blending milk, ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners such as butterscotch, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, fruit syrup, or whole fruit into a thick, sweet, cold mixture ...

”, written by

Chad Hugo Charles Edward Hugo (born February 24, 1974) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. With close friend Pharrell Williams, he formed the production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he has prod ...

and

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...

, published by Universal Music - Careers (BMI), EMI Blackwood Music, Inc. (BMI) and Waters of Nazareth Publishing/Warner Geo Met Ric Music (GMR) Personnel *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

*Cameron Bartolini – songwriting; production,

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

* David Sprecher – songwriting; additional production, engineering *

– songwriting *

Neal H Pogue Neal H Pogue is an American producer, audio engineer and mixer originally from Roselle, New Jersey, and based in Los Angeles. Pogue is a multi-time Grammy Award winner, having first won for his engineering and mixing work on Outkast's ''Speak ...

– mixing *

Mike Bozzi Mike Bozzi is an American mastering engineer at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, California. He won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year for mastering Donald Glover, Childish Gambino's "This Is America (song), This ...

– mastering Credits adapted from "Freak" vinyl liner notes.

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

Doja Cat songs 2020 singles 2018 songs Songs written by Paul Anka Songs written by Doja Cat Songs written by Yeti Beats Songs written by Chad Hugo Songs written by Pharrell Williams Songs written by Omarion {{2020s-song-stub