Rick James had hits in the 1980s with funk songs such as `` Give It To Me Baby '' and `` Super Freak . '' Rick James was the first funk musician of the 1980s to assume the funk mantle dominated by P-Funk in the 1970s . His 1981 album Street Songs with the singles `` Give It To Me Baby '' and `` Super Freak '' resulted in James becoming a star , and paved the way for the future direction of explicitness in funk .