Uncle Luke and Jermaine Dupri explain the incredible impact of Freaknik on the South and Hip Hop

The time has come to see if your uncles and aunties appeared in Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told, as the highly anticipated documentary is out.

Back in the ‘90s, the go-to party for Spring Break was Freaknik, which started out as a picnic for HBCU students who weren't able to make it home for the week but soon morphed into a global phenomenon. Once a small, intimate gathering, it turned into the wildest party never told – until now.

The exciting documentary was released in March and executive produced by 21 Savage, Uncle Luke, and Jermaine Dupri, who famously name-dropped the event in his smash record “Welcome To Atlanta.”

In a conversation with REVOLT, Dupri and Uncle Luke discussed the documentary, whether or not Freaknik should make a comeback, and their thoughts on today’s artists. Check out the exclusive chat below.

What was a Freaknik moment you experienced and enjoyed?

Uncle Luke: I enjoyed going to Atlanta and seeing what the party turned into – seeing the major gridlock, the police chasing down club promoters and trying to stop us from performing. Those were a few gangsta moments for me, but the most beautiful part was seeing so many African Americans come to one city and enjoy themselves before it got out of hand on the highway.

Jermaine Dupri: When I name-dropped the event in my song “Welcome To Atlanta,” I was referring to the excitement of the traffic – going to Lenox Square where it was crowded. I remember getting kicked out of the mall with Kriss Kross during Freaknik because it was an energy and it was cameras, people taking pictures, etc.

If you were in this space, it was an exciting time to be alive and a time to say you were from Atlanta, so it felt like our city was getting the notoriety I always wanted Atlanta to get. I feel like it was never treated like New York or Miami, so Atlanta was a city that nobody discovered. Freaknik was the discovery and we could party all night… strip clubs with full nudity – a lot of my friends who came from the West Coast had never seen anything like this.

Did you see the chatter about people being nervous to see their relatives in the documentary? If so, what was your reaction?

Dupri: My reaction is... I never saw this many Black people snitch on each other (laughs). I want people to be scared because if you were out in the streets of Freaknik, I don’t know how bad that is. It’s not something where people were getting arrested or rioting, but if you were on top of a car gyrating, you were dancing. I don’t recall seeing full nudity outside in the streets on Peachtree – it’s a lot of things people were acting like were happening, but I had a different experience, and everyone has a different Freaknik experience. A lot of that stuff people were saying and telling on themselves. I want to see it and what they were doing (laughs).

Luke: A hit dog is going to holler every time. These [are the] same people who are so fixated on what Ice Spice and Sexyy Red are doing, Spring Break parties, cancel culture, and how kids are dancing, yet these are the same people who were dancing in the streets. I always have these arguments with some of my peers because you can’t pass judgment on these kids because you were a kid before, and you did the same thing whether you went to Freaknik, Black College Weekend, or any party in the same vein. As adults, we did the same thing our kids are doing and we came out alright.

Let kids have fun. When you see the documentary, kids are having fun despite the ups and downs, and people come together. Today, we don’t come together to create nothing unless we go at each other. The event went on, and it turned into a historic moment for the city of Atlanta and the entire South. If it wasn’t for Freaknik, we wouldn’t be sitting here – as entrepreneurs before artists, it took our businesses to the next level. This story is important because you don’t hear many stories from the South, but this is one of the many stories you will get from our culture and point of view.

Uncle Luke, your unique lyrics and style echo the essence of Freaknik. What inspired you and 2 Live Crew to pursue this musical path? Who today resonates with your distinctive style?

Luke: When I listen to 21 Savage, which is why we asked him to be a part of this, it’s because he has Freaknik parties for his birthday and when you hear his lyrics, it’s similar. The women are driving it from Sexyy Red to Ice Spice – the things they are saying I was saying on records back then... even when I was getting criticized for it. I’m glad they have the right to say the things they want on records and say those lyrics at concerts, which is because of Freaknik.

Which artist today excites you the most?

Dupri: Not a lot, man (laughs). It’s hard because I grew up and battled through the hardest period in music. You had Biggie Smalls and Tupac at that time, and you had DMX – to not have a lot of that in this life now, my life as a Hip-Hopper feels empty. A lot of substance and music is missing. 21 Savage is one of these guys who offers a little bit of that, but he’s only one man – I would also say Drake, of course. It’s not a lot of music that gives me the same feeling that I had growing up while listening to Hip Hop.

Reflecting on the legacies of Atlanta, Miami, and Freaknik, what key aspects do you hope people remember? Should Freaknik make a return?

Dupri: I think we do need another Freaknik at some point, but it definitely needs to be a controlled situation. Somebody has to take control of it but not let the government or the police control it. They turned it into what it became, which is nothing. Somebody needs to take control of it, direct us all in the direction we need to go in as well as do what I did and make the music along with it, so you can have all of these elements. Without the elements, Freaknik won’t exist.

The importance of this documentary is so much more that goes along with Freaknik, like this whole Luke Skyywalker and Uncle Luke thing that became popular. A journalist from Detroit, who we spoke to before you, said that when she was coming to Atlanta, she would listen to Uncle Luke on the way there because she knew she would see him while she’s in Atlanta. That’s the excitement that I don’t hear in Black music or Black culture anymore.

You’ll see this in Vegas with the residencies for Usher or New Edition. [Freaknik] could come back – but the residencies are controlled environments, and you’re not going for no nonsense but to feel [how you did] when you were in that space. It’s going to take a lot.

Luke: When I see festivals like Rolling Loud and the impact Freaknik had on the music in the South, it’s easy to create a festival like that to highlight a particular artist from that area and understand why HBCU culture is important instead of having one concert. A whole part of the United States of America doesn’t have HBCUs in it, as it stops in Texas. We can bring it back, program it to the point where the events are worth it to that community, similar to what Freaknik was worth to the city of Atlanta.

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