Get Ur Freak On

"Get Ur Freak On"
Single by Missy Elliott
from the album Miss E… So Addictive
Released	March 6, 2001 (2001-03-06)
Format	Digital download CD single 12" single
Recorded	November 2000 or January 2001 Westlake Recording Studios (Los Angeles, California)
Genre	Hip hop, dance, world
Length	3:56
Label	Goldmind/Elektra
Writer(s)	Missy Elliott Timbaland
Producer	Timbaland Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott (co-producer)
Missy Elliott singles chronology
"Hot Boyz" (1999) "Get Ur Freak On" (2001) "One Minute Man" (2001) Alternative cover US Promo CD cover

"Get Ur Freak On" is a hip hop song written by American rapper/singer Missy Elliott and her producer Tim "Timbaland" Mosley for Elliott's third studio album Miss E... So Addictive. Released as the album's first single in 2001, the track reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming Missy Elliott's fifth most successful single to date. The song was her first solo top ten hit in the United Kingdom, peaking at #4 there, spending six weeks inside the top 20. A remix of the song featuring Nelly Furtado was a dance club hit during this period.

The song's beat is based on bhangra, a popular music and dance form from the Punjab state of India. The six-note base of the song is a Punjabi melody played on a tumbi, a stringed Indian instrument. This tune was also utilized in Bubba Sparxx's debut single "Ugly", in which Elliott makes a cameo in the video.

In December, the song was listed as number 14 in Rolling Stone's "Best Songs of the Decade", and later at 466 in their The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time updated list of 2010. The song also lists at #7 on Pitchfork Media's "Top 500 Songs of the 2000's" and #16 on VH1's "Greatest Songs of Hip-Hop". In 2011, NME placed it at number 17 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years". It was also used in The Simpsons episode "Ice Cream of Margie (with the Light Blue Hair)".

At the beginning of the song, a man says in Japanese: "Kore kara minna de mechakucha odotte. Sawagou, sawagou". Translated into English, it means: "Everyone start dancing together wildly now. Let's make some noise, let's make some noise." Before the second chorus (after Missy says "Let me show you some") another man is heard saying in Hindi: "Aaj mujh ko," which translates as, "Today, to me," or, "Hurry to me". The outro of the song features the Japanese man saying "Ichi ni san shi", translating to "One, two, three, four."

Track listings

UK Single

12" Special Edition

1. "Get Ur Freak On" (Superchumbo's Superfreakon Remix) - 8:53

CD Maxi-Single

1. "Get Ur Freak On" (Edit) - 3:31
2. "Get Ur Freak On" (Amended Version) - 3:57
3. "Get Ur Freak On" (Instrumental) - 3:53

US Single

12" Single

Side A

1. "Get Ur Freak On" (Album Version) - 3:57
2. "Get Ur Freak On" (Amended Version) - 3:57

Side B

1. "Get Ur Freak On" (Instrumental) - 3:53
2. "Get Ur Freak On" (Acapella) - 3:10
3. "Get Ur Freak On" (TV track) - 3:58

CD Promo

1. "Get Ur Freak On" (Amended Version)
2. "Get Ur Freak On" (Edit)
3. "Get Ur Freak On" (Album Version)
4. "Get Ur Freak On" (Instrumental)
5. "Get Ur Freak On" (TV Track)
6. "Get Ur Freak On" (Amended Acapella)

Europe Single

CD Promo

1. "Get Ur Freak On" Swagger (Edit) - 3:31

German Single

12" Single

Side A

1. "Get Ur Freak On" (Edit) - 3:31
2. "Get Ur Freak On" (Album Version) - 3:57

Side B

1. "Get Ur Freak On" (Instrumental) - 3:53
2. "Get Ur Freak On" (Acapella) - 3:11
3. "Get Ur Freak On" (TV Track) - 3:50

Charts

Chart	Peak Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	7
U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs	3
U.S. Hot Rap Singles	7
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	44
Dutch Singles Chart	9
UK Singles Chart	4
New Zealand Singles Chart	7
Canadian Singles Chart	12
UK Dance Chart	1

Other versions

The official remix of this song features Nelly Furtado was used both in the soundtrack and in the background of the movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.

Covers

In 2005, Scottish acoustic rocker KT Tunstall released her version of "Get Ur Freak On" performed for BBC Radio Live Lounge on certain versions of the single for Suddenly I See.

American rock band Eels also released a version of "Get Ur Freak On" on Meet the Eels: Essential Eels Vol. I having frequently performed it live during the Shootenanny! tour several years previously.

By Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra in the album Hit the Hits.