For nearly an entire month, social media has been up in arms over Hulu’s upcoming Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told documentary.
As soon as news of the project dropped, people flocked to social media to atone for their freaking ahead of prospects of never-before-seen footage threatening to put them on blast decades after their turn up came to an end. As previously reported by REVOLT, “Freaknik aunties” was among the trending topics surrounding the wild, street-filled event that reigned in Atlanta throughout the ’90s.
Despite the documentary already being a viral hit well before its release, executive producer Jermaine Dupri recently cleared up the misconception that its story is solely focused on the wild, party atmosphere. “My vision of Freaknik is really a story about the South in Atlanta. It’s not really about what everybody keeps talking about,” he explained to Tamron Hall on her eponymous talk show on Friday (April 28).
“I think I don’t like that part because I feel like it’s a little disrespectful because I’m just telling a story. I’m telling a story of Atlanta, right, and how Atlanta was built into the place it is today. People came to Atlanta through Freaknik, and they stayed, right?” explained Dupri. “People would move. Like, I say that in ‘Welcome to Atlanta,’ people came to Atlanta for Freaknik, and they stayed, and that’s how Atlanta has become this multicultural, multi-city place. Freaknik plays one of the biggest roles in that period.”
But that does not mean everyone is off the hook. “I can’t say that you won’t see freaking in this video. It is called Freaknik; it is what it is ‘cause it’s the 40th anniversary of Freaknik, it’s the 50th anniversary of hip hop, and it’s the 30th anniversary of So So Def,” he added. A release date for the documentary has not been publicized, but given Dupri’s remarks, it’s a safe bet to assume it will be sometime next spring.
Peep Jermaine Dupri’s full interview below.