Super Rich Kids

Album: Channel Orange (2012)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song from Frank Ocean's debut album, Channel Orange, finds him highlighting absentee parents too busy earning their riches to raise their children. "The maids come around too much. Parents never come around often enough," the New Orleans-raised Ocean sings. Later on it segues into a chorus where Ocean lifts some lyrics and the vocal melody from Mary J. Blige's 1992 hit single "Real Love":

    Real love
    I'm searching for a real love
  • The song is set in Ladera Heights, a neighborhood in Los Angeles county that has become a mecca for upper-class Black families. Another Channel Orange track, "Sweet Life," is set in the same location.
  • "Super Rich Kids" features a slow, methodical rap verse from Ocean's fellow Odd Future member Earl Sweatshirt. While Frank's neglected kid ends up experiencing suicidal thoughts because of the lack of real love he receives, the youngster in Earl's story erupts and vandalizes his Dad's Jaguar with a baseball bat.
  • Ocean soundtracked the "Monstrous Ball" episode of American aspirational teen drama Gossip Girl, which was screened on November 12, 2012. It features a number of tracks from Channel Orange, including this aptly-titled tune. The commission was the first time one artist had wholly scored a single episode of Gossip Girl.
  • This song plays over the end credits of Sofia Coppola's movie The Bling Ring, which is about, er, super rich kids.
  • The writers of "Real Love" are credited on this track along with Ocean, Earl Sweatshirt, and James Ho, who is a producer on the track along with Ocean and Malay.
  • There was a dispute over the sample of Mary J. Blige's "Real Love" on this track. The New York-based indie TufAmerica sued Ocean's record label Universal in February 2014, claiming they "failed and refused to secure a license" to use the track. The label brought the suit despite only having a 3.15% share in "Real Love."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Chris Frantz of Talking Heads

Chris Frantz of Talking HeadsSongwriter Interviews

Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz on where the term "new wave" originated, the story of "Naive Melody," and why they never recorded another cover song after "Take Me To The River."

Benny Mardones

Benny MardonesSongwriter Interviews

His song "Into The Night" is one of the most-played of all time. For Benny, it took him to hell and back.

Psychedelic Lyrics

Psychedelic LyricsMusic Quiz

Whoa man! Do you know which band came up with these cosmic lyrics?

Dar Williams

Dar WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

A popular contemporary folk singer, Williams still remembers the sticky note that changed her life in college.

Tony Banks of Genesis

Tony Banks of GenesisSongwriter Interviews

Genesis' key-man re-examines his solo career and the early days of music video.

Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt On How To Create A Music Scene

Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt On How To Create A Music SceneSong Writing

With $50 and a glue stick, Bruce Pavitt created Sub Pop, a fanzine-turned-label that gave the world Nirvana and grunge. He explains how motivated individuals can shift culture.