Freak (Joker Xue album)

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. In a noisy world hidden under complicated masks, Xue's hope is that, here, with this album, you don't have to wear a mask and you don't have to rely on the night to look forward to the day. Say hello to your inner freak and don't worry about the noise.

Of the ten tracks on the album, Xue composed music for five tracks and wrote lyrics for nine tracks. 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. Xue created "Wake Up (Live)" with Yue Yunpeng with Yue contributing to the lyrics. "Freak" was written and composed by Xue while Yang Di adapted Yuki Hsu's "Monster" 怪兽 as a prelude for their performance of "Freak". Xue improvised the chorus of "Talent" while trying to find inspiration and did not end up using it on the show; however, the chorus received a lot of attention and requests from netizens for him to finish it so he eventually did. "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 had refused because Xue only kept one line from the original version but Xue argued that "even if only one line is used, it is still used."

Tencent Music UNI Chart launched in September 2018, two singles released after its launch with "Forsaken Youth" debuting then peaking at #3 on the chart and "Talent" debuting at #2 then peaking at #1 for two consecutive weeks. Freak received multiple awards, notably Album of the Year from Migu Music Awards, and Xue was named Artist of the Year by CMIC Music Awards. The song "Skyscraper" served as the theme of Xue's Skyscraper World Tour.