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After eight flop singles, the Supremes had earned the nickname “No-Hit Supremes.” The Marvelettes — the top girl group at Motown at that point — had already passed on this song, and the Supremes didn’t like how their own recording turned out. Until it hit Number One, that is. As for that great foot-stomping beat, it’s actually two boards banged together.

From Wikipedia:

Since the lead vocal was originally written to be sung by the Marvelettes’ lead singer Gladys Horton, it was arranged in a register lower than the Supremes’ lead singer Diana Ross‘ natural register. The resulting vocal track had a sensual appeal not present in Ross’ earlier songs…

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James wasn’t exactly modest about his ambitions. As he declared in 1981, “I wanna make Paul McCartney white-boy money!” He got it with the self-described “punk funk” of “Super Freak.” He enlisted Motown vets the Temptations on vocals.

From allmusic:

As Rick James recounted in the liner notes of his 1995 double-CD anthology Bustin’ Out, the classic “Super Freak” started off as a joke. While he was playing his bass, James was laughing at how some people danced. Who would think that James amusing himself would lead to a classic song? “Super Freak” works for a lot of reasons. The spacy synths, an all-encompassing raucous energy, the relaxed yet insistent guitar, steady bass, and, of course, there’s Rick James’ vocal. The conduit to debauchery, with each line James seemed to relish telling the story of a woman who was loose and a walking party. Not unlike a lot of gals, the “Super Freak” was shared with the boys in the band. Not surprisingly, James was the “all-time” favorite. The Temptations, who assisted him on his Street Songs and Throwin’ Down, do the backing vocals here. A listener can hear Richard Street and Melvin Franklin having the most fun singing about this trashy girl. Daniel LeMalle’s nasty sax solo is heard on the fade. [...] While later songs got more explicit in detailing “freaks,” “Super Freak” proves that a lot of humor and a wink might work even better.

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