Don’t Worry Gen-Zers, Babydoll Is Here to Explain What Freaknik in Atlanta Is
While Hulu has not released an official trailer for the upcoming “Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told” documentary, a lot of people are guessing Spring of 2024 because that will be the official 40-year anniversary of the 1994 Freaknik in Atlanta.
As with most millennials I heard the tales of Freaknik growing up, but it was shut down before I was old enough to attend. With the quiet rumblings of nervous Aunties across Beyonce’s internet many Gen Zers are posing the question: what in the world is Freaknik?
Really grasshoppers you should take a social media break to ask your moms and aunties if they attended, and if so what years? Then come on back and I’ll break it down for you.
Originally Freaknik started in Atlanta in the early 1980s as a picnic for HBCU students who didn’t leave Atlanta during Spring Break. By the 1990s the stories, pictures, and videos grew into an urban legend of sorts… the stuff dreams are made of. Tens of thousands of young people gathered in the streets with boomin’ systems in nice cars, and clothes to basically hang out and party. They even had concerts, DJs, vendors, and street food.
I’m sure all this sounds pretty innocent, but we have to remember that this was at the height of what VHI coined as Hip Hop Sexploitation. An era when Hip Hop music videos were all about scantily clad women shaking body parts while being lusted after. Let’s just say life often imitates art , plus the organizers of Freaknik made a similar decision to Facebook or Meta. They decided to open things up to everyone, not just college students. I think urban radio legend Ryan Cameron said it best “Freaknik was ratchet before ratchet was a word.”
So all those people who thought all their crazy behavior came before the social-media days are a little worried about what might be shown in this documentary.
You may have to wait until next year to see the 1994 Freaknik documentary but I did find a good one to explain it to many and bring back memories for some. Check it out below!