Freaky Friday
by Lil Dicky (featuring Chris Brown)

Album: Single release only (2018)
Charted: 1 8
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The idea for this song came to Lil Dicky while watching the body switching movie Freaky Friday on ABC Family. He recalled to Billboard:

    "I was sitting in my parents house, like I was just home, and I was just watching TV and the movie came on, and I had seen the movie a ton of times, but like, I love the movie, and then I was just watching it and I thought, the concept is so universally appreciated, like the body-switch concept I think that everybody really enjoys, and I've never really seen it applied to music, and it's such an opportunity because imagine being able to have access to other artists' vocal range, like vocal cords. It's just a funny thing to be able to, through a different artist's voice, speak."
  • The song features Chris Brown. Lil Dicky recalled how he recruited Breezy for the tune:

    "I got with a bunch of people and started writing the song and thinking about all the different ways, like the jokes to be made and stuff like that. And we got it to a very rough, demo-y place, and I wanted to show Chris, and it's hard. Like imagine hearing an unfinished demo without seeing the video? It's like harder to understand from hearing just the song.

    So I got a guy who sounds a lot like Chris Brown, to sing the song so it could help him really visualize it. I remember thinking in my head, "I can't confuse him." Like, already it's such a confusing premise. I remember when I talked to people they were like, "Wait, are you gonna be his voice?" So it was very confusing especially without a video, you know? But I played him the demo, and I've never seen someone get my music more than when I played him that demo. Like he laughed at every single joke, understood every single angle, and like it was awesome to see cause I didn't know what to expect. But he really loved it and he just gets me and my music, and he recorded it like the next night."
  • Chris Brown also appears in the music clip switching bodies with Dicky for a day. After they change back into their regular bodies, the MC switches bodies again, but this time with Ed Sheeran, DJ Khaled and Kendall Jenner. Dicky recalled: "I knew in the end I wanted to turn to a few different other people, so really I made everything, but that, excluding the ending. And Ed Sheeran is a friend of mine, so like I showed him [the video], and he thought it was so funny, so good and he wanted to be a part of it. So, you know, now I got Ed on it, and once I got Ed, it was easier to go to Khaled 'cause he's friends with my manager, Scooter Braun. I don't know Khaled that well, but he loved the video. I think the common thread is they all loved the video. The cherry on top was Kendall, I waited on Kendall to the very end, and she killed it. We recorded it at Kris Jenner's house, and I literally went there and recorded her, and it was so fun. She was having so much fun."
  • The song climbed to #1 on the UK singles chart dated April 8, 2018. It was Lil Dicky's first UK chart-topper and the second for Chris Brown, who previously reached the summit with "Turn Up The Music" in 2012.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Deconstructing Doors Songs With The Author Of The Doors Examined

Deconstructing Doors Songs With The Author Of The Doors ExaminedSong Writing

Doors expert Jim Cherry, author of The Doors Examined, talks about some of their defining songs and exposes some Jim Morrison myths.

Does Jimmy Page Worship The Devil? A Look at Satanism in Rock

Does Jimmy Page Worship The Devil? A Look at Satanism in RockSong Writing

We ring the Hell's Bells to see what songs and rockers are sincere in their Satanism, and how much of it is an act.

Brandi Carlile

Brandi CarlileSongwriter Interviews

As a 5-year-old, Brandi was writing lyrics to instrumental versions lullabies. She still puts her heart into her songs, including the one Elton John sings on.

Bass Player Scott Edwards

Bass Player Scott EdwardsSong Writing

Scott was Stevie Wonder's bass player before becoming a top session player. Hits he played on include "I Will Survive," "Being With You" and "Sara Smile."

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"Songwriter Interviews

Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."

Taylor Dayne

Taylor DayneSongwriter Interviews

Taylor talks about "The Machine" - the hits, the videos and Clive Davis.