Suga Mama
| "Suga Mama" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Beyoncé from the album B'Day | |
| Recorded | 2006 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 3:25 |
| Label | Columbia |
| Writer(s) |
|
| Producer(s) | Harrison |
"Suga Mama" is a song recorded by American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles for her second studio album, B'Day (2006). It was written by Knowles, Rich Harrison, and Makeba Riddick, and produced by Harrison and Knowles. "Suga Mama" is influenced by 1970s funk and rock music. An R&B and soul song, "Suga Mama" is built on a hip hop and jazzy beat, and samples Jake Wade and the Soul Searchers' song "Searching for Soul", written by Chuck Middleton. Lyrically, it features the female protagonist willing to pay large sums of money to keep her love interest contented.
"Suga Mama" was generally well received by music critics, who noted it as one of the highlights from B'Day and complimented Harrison's production. However, there was some limited criticism about Knowles' vocal delivery on the song. Though not released as a single, "Suga Mama" had a music video filmed in black-and-white, and directed by Melina Matsoukas and Knowles, for the B'Day Anthology Video Album. It received a limited release to British music TV channels. "Suga Mama" was added on the set list of Knowles' world tour, The Beyoncé Experience (2007).
Knowles enlisted Harrison as one of the five co-producers of B'Day, and she arranged for him, Sean Garrett and Rodney Jerkins to be given individual rooms at Sony Music Studios in New York City. Knowles said she fostered "healthy competition" between the producers by going into each of their rooms and commenting on the "great beats" the others were creating. She and Harrison had previously collaborated on her 2003 single "Crazy in Love", which uses a prominent soul music sample in a similar manner to "Suga Mama".Fox News said that "Suga Mama" and "Freakum Dress", Harrison's other contribution to B'Day "fall short of originality but mimic the Chi Lites [sic] percussion section [of "Crazy in Love"] yet again", adding, "Harrison is like the Indiana Jones of soul, constantly pulling out forgotten gems of the past for sampling [...] You can't help but think: Thank God someone wrote music in the past that can be repurposed now."
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