"Super Rich Kids" is a song by American singer

Frank Ocean Christopher Francis "Frank" Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux; October 28, 1987), is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. His works are noted by music critics for featuring avant-garde styles and introspective, elliptical lyrics. Ocean ...

featuring rap vocals from

Earl Sweatshirt Thebe Neruda Kgositsile (born February 24, 1994), also known by his stage name Earl Sweatshirt, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Kgositsile was originally known by the moniker Sly Tendencies when he began rapping in 2008, ...

, and the fifth single from Ocean's debut studio album, ''

Channel Orange ''Channel Orange'' (stylized as ''channel ORANGE'') is the debut studio album by American R&B singer-songwriter Frank Ocean. It was released on July 10, 2012, by Def Jam Recordings. After releasing his mixtape '' Nostalgia, Ultra'' the previous ...

''. It was first performed live by Ocean in 2011 and then on his Channel Orange Tour in 2012. The single was released in March 2013. The song is in the style of R&B and

neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...

, and includes references to and samples of the songs "

Bennie and the Jets "Bennie and the Jets" (also titled "Benny & the Jets") is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. The song first appeared on the ''Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'' album in 1973. "Bennie and ...

" by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

, "

Got to Give It Up "Got to Give It Up" is a song by American music artist Marvin Gaye. Written by the singer and produced by Art Stewart as a response to a request from Gaye's record label that he perform disco music, it was released in March 1977. Upon its releas ...

" by

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

, and " Real Love" by

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

. It addresses young, wealthy characters' ennui and fears of the

financial crisis A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and man ...

with dry humor. The song received positive reviews and charted on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

R&B Songs Hot R&B Songs is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular R&B songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stations, digital download sales and streaming data. It was establis ...

chart and the

UK singles 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 ...

and

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

. The song also appeared on the TV show ''

Gossip Girl ''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series, developed for television by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, ran on The CW network for six sea ...

'' and the film ''

The Bling Ring ''The Bling Ring'' is a 2013 crime film written and directed by Sofia Coppola featuring an ensemble cast led by Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Emma Watson, Taissa Farmiga, and Claire Julien. It is based on the 2010 ''Vanity Fair'' article "T ...

''.

Background

"Super Rich Kids" was written by

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

, Kirk Robinson, Nathaniel Robinson Jr., Roy Hammond,

Mark Morales Mark Anthony Morales (February 19, 1968 – February 18, 2021), better known by the stage name Prince Markie Dee, was an American rapper, songwriter, producer, actor, and radio personality. Morales was a member of the Fat Boys, a pioneering hi ...

and Mark RooneyFrank Ocean - Super Rich Kids Sheet Music - Download and Print
Musicnotes.com. Accessed from June 1, 2013. and produced by Malay.Frank Ocean - Super Rich Kids
djbooth.net. Accessed from June 2, 2013. Ocean and Malay came up with "Super Rich Kids" on their first day working together on Ocean's debut album, ''

''. According to Ocean, the 2000 film ''

Traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...

'' was an inspiration for the song.Ocean-ography
GQ. December 2012. Retrieved October 29, 2013. Ocean first performed the song during his debut solo tour in 2011, and later performed it on the Channel Orange Tour. The single release was originally announced on January 23, 2013. It 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 March 11,R.Kelly & Justin Bieber Hang Out Like Besties + Prince Drops New Music "Screwdriver" + Frank Ocean's Next Single "Super Rich Kids"
The YBF. January 23, 2013. Accessed from June 1, 2013. and in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on the 17th.

Composition

Music

"Super Rich Kids" is an R&B and

ballad set in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

and a slow half-time groove

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 60

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. The key the song was composed in is

E♭ major E-flat major (or the key of E-flat) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats. Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E minor, (or enharmonically D ...

, with a

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

of D#maj9−C#6−C#maj9−Fm11−G#dim9 followed throughout the song. The song includes a piano part that references the thumping piano line of

's 1973 song "

", Petridis, Alexis (July 11, 2012)
"Frank Ocean: Channel Orange – review"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. Accessed from June 1, 2013.Richard, Chris (July 10, 2012)
"Music review: Frank Ocean's 'Channel Orange'"
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''. Accessed from June 1, 2013. and

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...

and

synth A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

arpeggio A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves. An arpeggio () is a type of broken chord, in which the notes that compose a chord are played ...

s are also present.Youssef, Sobhi (July 15, 2012)
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange

SputnikMusic Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...

. Accessed from June 2, 2013. According to ''

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quiet ...

'', "a stomping piano and the steady smack of kickdrum anchors the ghostly crowd noise from a vast débutantes ball, as the synths quiver both nauseously and as subtly as candle-smoke in a floor draft."Calvers, John (July 3, 2012)
The Future's Bright: Frank Ocean's Channel Orange Track-by-Track
''

''. Accessed from June 2, 2013.

Lyrics

"Super Rich Kids" addresses young, wealthy characters' ennui and fears of the

with dry humor. The song's chorus takes its lyrics and melody from

's " Real Love".Lee, Christina (May 4, 2013)
Michael Buble Sings Frank Ocean’s “Super Rich Kids”: Watch

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...

. Accessed from June 1, 2013. The track includes a verse from

, which, according to ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'', is a reminder of Ocean as "

OFWGKTA Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, better known as Odd Future and often abbreviated as OF, was an American Hip hop music, hip-hop Musical collective, music collective formed in Los Angeles County, California in 2007. The original members were Ty ...

at the end of the day." '' Paste'' magazine said that "Earl's low verses push Ocean way up into his vocal range."Billings, Lake (July 18, 2012)
Frank Ocean: Channel Orange
Paste. Accessed from June 1, 2013. According to ''Sound and Motion'' magazine, the track "Super Rich Kids" is described by ''

Muso's Guide ''Musos' Guide'' or ''musosguide'' is a UK-based online magazine. It was launched in 2003, and has been re-launched four times. It is an editorially independent magazine. History ''Muso's Guide'' was first launched on 30 June 2003 by then-amateur j ...

'' as "a contemporary version of a

Jay McInerney John Barrett "Jay" McInerney Jr. (; born January 13, 1955) is an American novelist, screenwriter, editor, and columnist. His novels include '' Bright Lights, Big City'', ''Ransom'', '' Story of My Life'', ''Brightness Falls'', and ''The Last of ...

novel,"Wink, Richard (March 1, 2013)
Single Review : Frank Ocean – Super Rich Kids

. Accessed from June 2, 2013. and by ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' as "something

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

knocked out in the 1970s." HipHopDX.com said that "at no point are the lyrics judgemental. If anything they’re compassionate."Reyes, Jon (July 13, 2012)
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
HipHopDX.com. Accessed from June 2, 2013. The song also takes samples from

s "

", and a reference to the 1970s

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

Good Times ''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was television's first African ...

'' (the "Dy-no-mite!" catchphrase of the character

J.J. Evans ''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was television's first Africa ...

Critical reception

The single received acclaim from critics. ''Sound and Motion'' magazine said that it "could easily be listened to repeatedly or just set on in the background for an evening's entertainment." ''

'' said the song "could be viewed as one of those tail end singles from a brilliant album that doesn't stand strong on its own (Can anyone remember 'Until The End of Time' from ''FutureSex/LoveSounds'' or 'Broken-Hearted Girl' from ''I am ... Sasha Fierce''?). Ocean, proving his talent as a songwriter, and a jaded voice for this frustrated introspective generation is able to find something profound from a superficial world." The song became an Editor's Pick on djbooth.net. Critical reactions of the song in reviews of ''

'' were also positive. ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' called the track a "stand out, tying together the album’s two themes of class and love."Locker, Melissa (July 10, 2012)
Frank Ocean Pours His Heart Out on Channel Orange: Album Review
''

''. Accessed from June 2, 2013. ''

'', in a track-by-track review, said that "the steadiness of the beat is immediately familiar but wholly fresh – it's like Ocean snatched 'Benny and the Jets' and threw the composition down a trap door into another universe." ''No Ripcord'' said that "it's so incongruous against the crass commercialism and consuming greed that pervades so much of

popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...

that it's astonishing." ''

'' listed

's appearance in the song number 15 on their "25 Best Guest Verses of 2012".Andrew Martin, Ernest Baker (December 29, 2012)
15. Earl Sweatshirt on Frank Ocean's "Super Rich Kids"
''

''. Accessed from June 1, 2013.

In other media

The song appeared on the ''

'' episode "Monstrous Ball", along with four other Frank Ocean tracks: "

Lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

", "

Pyramids A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilate ...

", " Sweet Life" and " Thinkin Bout You". The song also appears as the seventeenth track on the soundtrack for the film ''

'' and on the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

miniseries ''Big Little Lies''. The song was also covered by

Misha B Misha Amber Bryan (born 10 February 1992), known by her stage name Misha B, is a British singer. She rose to notability as a finalist on the eighth series of '' The X Factor'' in 2011, where she finished in fourth place. Several sources have n ...

.Bridgewater, Paul (March 27, 2013)
Watch Misha B in session covering Frank Ocean’s ‘Super Rich Kids’
thelineofbestfit.com. Accessed from July 10, 2013.

Lawsuit

In 2014, record label TufAmerica filled a copyright lawsuit against Vivendi and Universal Music Group for the sampling of Mary J. Blige's "Real Love" in "Super Rich Kids". This was because, according to the lawsuit, the sample included a sample of "Impeach the President".

Charts

Weekly charts

Certifications

References

{{Good article 2013 singles 2013 songs Def Jam Recordings singles Frank Ocean songs Songs written by Frank Ocean Songs written by Malay (record producer) Songs written by Earl Sweatshirt Neo soul songs Songs written by Kirk Robinson