Freaks by Timmy Trumpet and Savage

Every New Zealand #1 single…

2

Freaks by Timmy Trumpet and Savage

Topped the NZ chart: from 17 November 2014 for five weeks

After years of bickering over the racehorse Phar Lap, pavlova, and Crowded House, ‘Freaks’ is a lovely example of trans-Tasman cooperation. Rapper Savage was part of the South Auckland hip-hop crew Deceptikonz. In 2014, he collaborated with Australian DJ and producer Timmy Trumpet, known for adding jazz elements to his house beats.

I can almost understand why ‘Freaks’ was a hit. Savage’s vocal timbre matches with the trumpet nicely. But it feels like the song goes nowhere after the first thirty seconds, just mixing up mundane verses with the same repetitive riff.

The bass and the tweeters make the speakers go to war!
Ah, the mighty trumpet brings the freaks out to the floor!

Savage

Released when Savage’s career was stalling, ‘Freaks’ was wildly successful. As well as topping the charts in New Zealand, it also made the top 5 in Australia and Finland. It was followed by the song ‘Push’, featured in the trailer of ‘The Fate of the Furious’, which played during halftime in the Super Bowl.

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3 Comments

  1. Not sure I ever heard trumpet and rap combined. Then again, rap isn’t so much my cup of tea, so I generally don’t listen to it. But if if learned one thing since I started blogging in 2016, the beauty of music is there’s no good and bad, only music that speaks to you personally or not. It took me while to get to this conclusion. I’m glad I finally got there. Obviously, many folks liked this song, propelling it to the top of the charts in New Zealand. Who am I to say they were wrong.

  2. I’ve tried through the years…I just can’t get into it BUT…at least this is a little inventive in the rhythm. I will have to say I like some parts of it….the trumpet was a good idea.

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