Jodeci "Freek'n You"

Album: The Show, The After Party, The Hotel (Uptown/ MCA; 1995)
Songwriters: DeVante Swing
R&B Peak Position: #3

"I don't give a damn about nothing else/ Freek'n you is all I see..."

Leading off the era of third album The Show, The After Party, The Hotel, Jodeci's nearly spoofishly un-subtle "Freek'n You" represented the obvious next step in male R&B erotica, succeeding similar-toned entries like "Bump N Grind", "Knockin' Da Boots", "Freak Me" and yes, even "I Wanna Sex You Up", with even more ribald declarations of a "blue-balled" influence.

From it's intro tag (the repeated whisperings of "I wanna freak you") and wallowing bedroom groove to K Ci's classic couplet "Everytime I close my eyes/ I wake up feelin' sooooo horrrrrny!!", the song's intentions were made clear: somebody was about to get boned. It was a far cry from the more romantic sentiment early Jodeci singles had projected, but based on their decidedly anti-Boyz II Men image, it wasn't a particularly surprising tune coming from them at all.

Listening to it now, there's nothing really innovative going on with "Freek'n You". Devante's production offered a less-funky interpretation of Zapp's "Computer Love" (talk box-vocals included) and the track's stab at racy lyricism comes across safe in comparison to what we hear these days. But at the time, the tune felt like the aural equivalent to porn, it was definitely something we didn't want our parents to know we were listening to. Especially the way K Ci forcefully plead his carnivorous desires, sounding as if he was going to jump right through the speakers and snatch off whatever pair of panties was nearest.

While The Show... would produce two more Top 10 hits with the wedding ballad "Love U 4 Life" and feel-good BBQ jam "Get On Up", #3-charter "Freek'n You", the group's last Gold-certified single release, predictably stood out as the album's most talked-about moment, an attention-grabbing finale to arguably the rawest male soul vocal group to enter the game in the '90's.

Best Moment: DeVante's talk-box assisted breakdown and the nursery rhyme-like bridge that followed ("Every freek'n night and every freek'n day/ I wanna freek you baby in every freek'n way...") (3:26)

Jodeci - Freek 'N You
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DL: "Freek'n You" (YFH)

You can't speak about "Freek'n You" without mentioning the remix that teamed them up with Wu Tang "cuz-ahns" Raekwon and Ghostface Killah. With speckled guitar notes and the Jodeci's subdued delivery making it a classic laidback head-nodder, it was highlighted by one of Ghost's finest sixteens in which he recalls an all-nighter of sink freakin' with chicks "butt-naked in a long mink" interspersed with weedhead munchie breaks of "ice cold milk and Lorna Doones".



DL: "Freek'n You (Remix)" (YFH)