Ciara Says Tiwa Savage Inspired Her Tekno-Assisted Single, ‘Freak Me’
A few days ago, Ciara released her Tekno-assisted afropop banger, “Freak Me” — the follow-up to her first single in over three years, “Level Up” — and some fans couldn’t help but notice the similarities between the track and Tiwa Savage’s “Before Nko”.
Well, the Grammy winner immediately took to Twitter to clarify any mix-up, saying the Tiwa Savage deep cut is not only sampled on her track — Tiwa is listed as one of the song’s co-writers — but it also inspired her foray into afropop.
One of the few good songs off Tiwa’s 2015 sophomore album, Romance, Expression and Dance(R.E.D), Ciara says she fell in love with the melody of the D’Prince-assisted “Before Nko” when she first heard it three years ago.
While both songs have similar themes of sexual liberation at their cores, it’s hard to deny that Ciara and Tenno’s sleeker version isn’t a vast improvement — both sonically and lyrically — on what Tiwa Savage and D’Prince did on the underheard original.
Listen to Ciara’s “Freak Me” below:
