JIGG featuring Rick James “Superfreak”
Ahhh….“Superfreak”!! That relentless punk-funk groove! Those wink-wink lyrics! That sax solo! The friggin’ Temptations! A serpentine vocal that made you believe he was the freakiest man on the planet! No matter how many times you’ve heard it in in your lifespan, another spin of Rick James’ 1981 OTT uber-jam will never be met with disdain.
On this new one, Atlanta producer/ rapper JIGG rejuvenates the R&B party-starter with a little strip club banger swerve, and while the idea may seem a bit ho-hum on paper (haven’t MC Hammer and Jay-Z mined this one enough?), all it takes is one taste of the opening minute’s display of James’ “Freak”-praising yowls lain atop a molasses-cruising stew of tip-toe synth stabs and other recognizable Southern thug-&-b production tricks and you’ll be quickly won over, wondering why no one thought of using the song in this way before.
Following that exciting intro, JIGG takes over the mic to relate the nature-rising joys of having down-’n-stanky, 3 AM sex sessions with the titular character. His rap contribution is decent, delivering the requisite freak banter these type of songs demand in an ear-friendly (though oh-so-distractingly Plies-like) drawl, but the anticipatory satisfaction of James’ triumphant return for each hook insertion sadly makes his verses feel like an after-thought in the overall picture.
Rick James…even posthumously his presence is hard to overshadow.
JIGG’s debut, Since 1983, is set for a Spring/ Summer release.
DL: “Superfreak” (alt)
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