Neha Patil (Editor)

I Need a Freak

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"I Need A Freak" is an influential rap / electro song originally released in 1983 by the musical act Sexual Harassment. It has been recorded and sampled many times, most notably by the multi-platinum group Black Eyed Peas for their 2005 hit song My Humps.

In 2011 the song's composer Lynn Tolliver won a $1.2 million lawsuit against for unauthorized use of the song. Tolliver, a popular, long-time DJ from WZAK in Cleveland, Ohio told the Cleveland Plain Dealer, "I don't get all that money, and I don't have any of it yet, but this couldn't have happened at a better time... I've been unemployed the last few years and was near bankruptcy, so this is a blessing." Tolliver was well-known in Cleveland for his on-air stunts and was once attacked by a gunman at the station in 1985. Tolliver is listed under his pseudonym David Payton on the album credits. The song was also released on the 1996 compilation album Old School: Volume 6.

A dispute over royalties for the song were heard in an Ohio court in 2014.

Other artists who have covered the song include:

  • Egyptian Lover - I Need a Freak, Back from the Tomb (1994)
  • Too $hort - I Need a Freak, In tha Beginning...There Was Rap (1997)
  • Insane Clown Posse - Cherry Pie (I Need A Freak), Bizzar (2000)
  • Electocute - I Need a Freak, A Tribute To Your Taste (2003)
  • References

    I Need a Freak Wikipedia


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