Freak () is the ninth album by Chinese singer-songwriter Joker Xue. It was released digitally on December 31, 2018, by Huayu World Expo and later acquired by Xue's own label Chaoshi Music. Presale for the physical album began on March 7, 2019.
Background "What is a freak?" That is the question at the core of this album's concept. Through his music, Xue observes and analyzes the world from multiple angles then conveys his findings through strong visual symbols and different musical styles. Say hello to your inner freak and don't worry about the noise.
Composition Of the ten tracks on the album, Xue composed music for five tracks and wrote lyrics for nine tracks. The song "Skyscrapers" served as the theme of Xue's Skyscraper World Tour.
Four tracks were created while on the variety show Infinite Song Season where musicians were paired with non-musicians to create songs based on a decided topic. "Wake Up (Live)" was created with Yue Yunpeng. "Freak" was written and composed by Xue while Yang Di adapted Yuki Hsu's "Monster (怪兽)" as a prelude for their performance.
Xue improvised the chorus of "Talent" while on the show; after it received a lot of attention and requests from netizens for Xue to finish it, Xue completed the song. "The Mute", composed and written by Silence Wang, was originally sung by Liu Wei; Xue rewrote and rearranged the song when he covered it on the show then later included his version on the album. Xue insisted on paying and crediting Wang for the song, even though Wang initially had refused because Xue only kept one line from the original version but Xue insisted that "even if only one line is used, it is still used."
Reception On Tencent Music UNI Chart, "Forsaken Youth" peaked at #3 and "Talent" ranked #1 for two consecutive weeks.Tencent Music UNI Chart:
"Talent" was named the Most Popular Single on NetEase Cloud Music's 2018 annual music chart.
On TME Physical Album Annual Sales Chart, launched in 2021 and three years after the album's release, Freak ranked 91st in 2022 but then rose and continued to be in the top 50 in 2023 (ranked 45th), 2024 (ranked 47th), and 2025 (ranked 47th).
Track listing
Accolades + Awards and nominations Award Year Category Nominee Result Global Chinese Pop Chart华人歌曲音乐盛典 2018 Top Hit of the Year年度金曲 "Skyscrapers" Migu Music Awards音乐盛典咪咕汇 2018 Top 10 Hits of the Year年度十大金曲 "Skyscrapers" Canadian Chinese Pop Music Awards加拿大至 HIT 中文歌曲排行榜 2019 Top 10 Mandarin Singles of the Year至 HIT 推崇國語十大歌曲 "The Mute" CMIC Music Awards 唱工委音乐奖2019 Artist of the Year (Male)年度男歌手 Freak Album of the Year年度专辑 Freak Best Music Video最佳音乐录影带 "Freak" Global Chinese Golden Chart Awards全球流行音乐金榜颁奖典礼2019 Most Popular Album of the Year年度最受欢迎专辑 Freak Top 20 Hits of the Year年度二十大金曲 "The Mute" Global Chinese Music Awards全球华语歌曲排行榜颁奖典礼 2019 Top 20 Hits of the Year年度二十大金曲 "Talent" Global Chinese Pop Chart华人歌曲音乐盛典2019 Album of the Year (Mainland)年度最佳专辑(内地) Freak Top Hit of the Year年度金曲 "Freak" Lyricist of the Year年度最佳作词 "Talent" Migu Music Awards音乐盛典咪咕汇 2019 Album of the Year年度最佳专辑 Freak Q China Annual Music Ceremony Q China 年度音乐盛典 2019 Best Song of the Year 年度最佳单曲 "Skyscrapers"
References