Freaknik took HBCU spring breaks in Atlanta throughout the ’80s and ’90s by storm. The cultural street party has been turned into a documentary as Hulu’s Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told is set to arrive on the streamer on March 21.
Ahead of the P. Frank Williams-directed documentary’s debut at SXSW next month, Hulu unleashed a trailer detailing the Black excellence to give those that attended a nostalgic blast from the past and inform those who didn’t have the chance to learn about the history they missed out on.
21 Savage, Jermaine Dupri and Uncle Luke are on board as producers for the film, which also boasts appearances from Lil Jon, Killer Mike, Too Short and more.
“At its heart, Freaknik is a music documentary. Luke is the soundtrack of Freaknik, [Dupri’s] So So Def label is directly correlated to Freaknik and 21 Savage is the new school. They’re fascinated with the wild stuff we did, the clothes and the music of that era,” Williams told Variety. “The legacy of Freaknik really started in ‘83, I don’t know if people realized that. It was about kids trying to find a place for Black joy. Freaknik wasn’t just about the party. Our goal was to show how it affected politics, culture, race, there was a lot with sexuality, gender.”
Freaknik provided a place for the youth to indulge in debauchery but also celebrate themselves as well as their sexual expression. Lil Jon called the block party the “greatest Black gathering in America.” Killer Mike joked to close out the teaser: “Trust me, your momma and daddy got down.”
However, amid all the partying, there was a dark side of Freaknik that the documentary made sure to not shy away from with scenes of violence breaking out among the overwhelming amount of partygoers and police brutality.
“The turn up, the cars, sexuality, joy, the daisy dukes — that’s the candy of it. But there’s also some vegetables in it – which is the Black empowerment, police brutality was part of it, Black cultural realization, young women realizing their sexuality, young men too,” Williams continued.
“Freaknik is really a coming of age story about a generation who was trying to find a voice in a world that didn’t accept them — but this is a place they created for themselves. Freaknik is the ultimate personification of that.”
Watch the trailer below. Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told arrives on March 21.
