FreakNik is stirring controversy in Memphis after city officials denied organizers a permit for the anticipated spring bash at Riverside Park.
Initially planned for Downtown Riverside Park, also known as MLK Riverside Park, the Memphis FreakNik revival received a speedy denial from city authorities.
Officials refunded the organizer’s payment and refused to issue the necessary permits, forcing a quick pivot to private property, where city permits aren’t required.
Organizers, meanwhile, are taking no chances.
They claim to have hired several private armed security teams and informed both MPD and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office about the new venue.
Local radio personality Stan Bell, host on Memphis’ V-103, voiced cautious optimism about the event’s potential.
“My hope and my wishes—if it does happen, if it does come to fruition, Memphis FreakNik—that everybody would be in [the] proper decorum, enjoy themselves, be responsible,” Bell told WREG.
The original FreakNik began modestly in Atlanta in 1983 as a casual picnic for Black college students at the Atlanta University Center.
The name cleverly combined “picnic” with a nod to Chic’s disco hit “Le Freak.” By the late ’80s and early ’90s, FreakNik had ballooned into a nationwide phenomenon, attracting thousands of partygoers and becoming a cultural milestone in Hip-Hop circles.
However, the event’s popularity eventually became its downfall. Safety issues, crime concerns and public backlash led to FreakNik’s demise in 1999.
“Considering where we are now, how violence is more prevalent, how sex trafficking is more prevalent than it was possibly back then…it’s not something that this city needs,” Christ United Baptist Church pastor Percy Hunter told Action News 5.
Despite its controversial end, FreakNik’s cultural imprint remains strong, influencing music videos, films and Hip-Hop culture. FreakNik’s storied past was also chronicled in a new documentary titled FreakNik: The Wildest Party Never Told.
The Memphis Police Department confirmed awareness of the event and pledged to keep a close eye on public parks during the weekend of April 19.