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Director P. Frank Williams Says People Misunderstand Freaknik, Talks Controversy & How Freaky It Got
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Apr 26, 2024
In an interview with @ChuckCreekmur , P. Frank Williams, the director of the new documentary "Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told," discusses the challenges he faced in telling the story of the infamous Atlanta party. Williams maintains he wanted to ensure the documentary was not just about the party, but also a nuanced, layered story that included the history and positive aspects of Freaknik. He also addressed the inappropriate behavior and assaults on women. Check out the full interview. Subscribe to AllHipHop on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/allhiphoptv?sub_confirmation=1 Check out more of AHH here on social media: https://allhiphop.com https://twitter.com/allhiphopcom https://facebook.com/allhiphopcom https://instagram.com/allhiphopcom Executive Producers: “Grouchy” Greg Watkins and Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur AllHipHop.com, a powerhouse in the Hip-Hop world, was established and brought to life in 1998 by the visionary CEOs "Grouchy" Greg Watkins and Chuck "Jigsaw" Creekmur. Over the years, AllHipHop has solidified its position as an invaluable hub for all things Hip-Hop on the web. With its daily dose of news, exclusive interviews, in-depth reviews, multimedia content, a newly-minted expanding community, and a treasure trove of other engaging material, it has garnered immense praise and a dedicated following. Renowned publications consistently turn to AllHipHop for their news and feature references, attesting to the site's unparalleled accuracy and trustworthiness. Additionally, AllHipHop has fostered strong partnerships with numerous offline print magazines, newspapers, television networks, and radio stations, further cementing its influence and reach in the world of #HipHop. #chuckcreekmur #allhiphoptv #grouchygreg
View Video Transcript
0:00
What's going on everybody? It's your man, Chuck Creakmer, aka Jigsaw. All hip hop is
0:08
in the building with a legend in the virtual building with a legend, P. Frank Williams
0:15
who is the director of the new and possibly controversial movie documentary, Freaknik
0:23
The Greatest Party Never Told. The Wildest Party Never Told. Wildest Party, my fault. I said greatest because, you know, I was, you know, I might have been
0:37
there. Perhaps. First things first, man, what was the what was one of the challenges you
0:45
faced telling this story? Well, no, I think that I wanted to make sure that it wasn't just for a party documentary
0:53
I think a lot of people thought it was about the turn up in the streets and the girls and all of that. I wanted to show a much more nuanced, layered story, which hopefully
1:01
everybody saw that it's, you know, it's a history lesson of sorts. And I think I wanted to unpack all of that
1:06
So I think one of the biggest hurdles is just the stereotypes and the negative stuff about
1:10
Freaknik, which a lot of people don't realize there was a lot more positive as well. Yeah, you had the founders of Freaknik, and I honestly didn't know there were founders
1:20
and people that started very innocently with this spring break event. How did you locate them
1:29
Did you even know about those people? How did you even know
1:32
I mean, I knew about them, obviously, through research and we have a researcher work in
1:36
it. I knew some people came from the AUC back in those days. And so I knew that there was a real origin story as I began to talk about people
1:43
It's like you got to talk about the D.C. Metro Club. So we knew that there was an origin story
1:46
It was important for me to educate people who thought it was just a street party. That was really sort of this oasis and this place of black joy for these students who
1:54
never weren't included in the Daytonas and stuff like that. So they created their own thing
1:58
Typical black people for us, by us. Right. Yeah, yeah, for sure
2:02
Now, I noticed one thing. The name spelling changes throughout the dot
2:08
Sometimes it has Freaknik with a C and sometimes with a K
2:14
I was just curious, why was that like that? Well, I mean, there's a lot of different lore about why that happened
2:22
Initially, it was because, as you saw in the film, Freak was a dance back in the day
2:26
and they merged it with Piknik, so there was a C. Later on, probably in the early 90s, mid 90s or so, it started being used with a K
2:36
I think some Tappas that I know think that they, with the K, brought the K
2:41
Other people thought just people started just spelling it wrong on their own. But it is initially, by the way, with a C is the way that it really started out
2:48
The K just sort of came around later on. Got it. So here's a two part question
2:53
It's it seems to me like this is also a love letter to Atlanta
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You know, it feels it's got a lot of history in there, even, you know, not just hip hop
3:04
and things of that nature. But, you know, you go back to the various mayors and government and the affluence
3:10
everything. At the same time, it seems like, you know, you just mentioned the the DC
3:17
Metro Club and things like, you know, there was also this hodgepodge of other cultures
3:22
as well that were a part of it. Even the rappers, Biggie is in there. Eric Sermons, prominently Luke as well
3:29
You know, Luke is from Miami. How do you know, what are your thoughts on that and how does this sort of all coalesce
3:36
into this one, you know, huge party, this wildcard? I think that, you know, Atlanta was the backdrop for a lot of us in the 90s
3:45
It was sort of a coming of age place where a lot of the rappers from that time, we call it the golden era from hip hop, came down to Atlanta, whether it be Puff, Lil' Kim, Big
3:53
whoever else, you know, Outkast, who are natives. Outkast got their start essentially because of the help of Freaknik
3:59
I think Freaknik was sort of the foundation where a lot of these people can go get music
4:04
I mean, you've been in hip hop for a long time. Imagine hundreds of thousands of people in the streets of New York City and you are a
4:10
promoter or you got a new album. You got a place literally to promote all of that music
4:15
So if you were an artist back then, you had to be at Freaknik if you were trying to get. I mean, Souls of Mission was telling me stories about how they were out there and they
4:22
were on a promo tour and that kind of thing. So again, I want to make sure people realize that Freaknik is a music documentary
4:29
It's about culture and all that, but at the heart of it, it's about the music and without the music, which fueled the whole movement, there is no Freaknik
4:36
Yeah, definitely. You know, you also talk about when it went south, you know, when it no metaphor, no pun
4:45
intended, but it started to go downhill. And I think that's sort of when I was part of it
4:51
I would bear witness to, you know, when it got a certain time of the night, it looked
4:57
really it was savage. You know, I hate to use those terms around black folks, but it was it was crazy
5:03
And I was a guy. So looking at the women. That was that was tough to witness and also tough to watch
5:13
You know, one young lady in particular really discussed her her ordeal
5:18
And I know she's one of probably many. How how how did you deal with that as a as a man, you know, as a human, actually
5:27
Well, I mean, I think I want to make sure that we didn't ignore that. You know, I always try to tell the truth in whatever I do since the beginning of getting
5:34
into the culture. And so I think sometimes hard discussions are things that you have to
5:38
have. And as African-American people, young people, we needed to have that discussion
5:43
that some of the brothers there were totally inappropriate. Some were assaulting women, some were raping women
5:48
And so the only way through is through. And so I didn't want to ignore that
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And it was important for us to make that point and not ignore it and talk about why it
5:55
ended. So hopefully we did that in a way that was truthful and respectful to the actual
6:01
content. You know? Yeah. Were there any people that you couldn't or didn't get in this documentary that you
6:07
wanted? You know, there are some celebrities or whoever, I think, who had some really
6:12
great stories that we really wanted to get in. But I think that we did a really good job of the people like Luke who were there
6:18
You know what I mean? Little John, Shanti Doss, different people, Killer Mike
6:23
I did try to get Bill Campbell, who was the mayor of Atlanta, who I think was a voice
6:27
that was missing. We ended up getting Kaseem Reid. But I did try to get Bill Campbell and unfortunately didn't work out
6:34
The mayor was mayor at that time. Yeah. Did you have any legal challenges
6:39
There was a lot of you know, it went viral quite a bit. You know, older heads and aunties now talking about, you know, I don't want to be in
6:50
this. And also some who were like, yo, I'm letting you know I'm in this
6:55
How did you face those challenges? You know, how did you deal with that
7:02
Well, first of all, let me say this just so people know legally, if you go outside right
7:06
now and dance in the street in your underwear, you are not protected by law
7:10
Anything that you do in the public space is, you know, all bets are off
7:15
So you could say, hey, you can't you try to stop a documentary or you're going to stop
7:19
the producers. You can't do that. You know, if you do something in your house, that's a private place
7:23
So there was no legal battles to hurdle or nothing like that. That's just like sensational media
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B.S. So, no, there was I mean, obviously we don't want to, you know, making sure people
7:32
weren't portrayed in a negative light, you know, people having sex or anything that was
7:36
really egregious. We wouldn't do. But no, there were no legal hurdles. Did you take care
7:41
I mean, I mean, you just kind of answered that. But did you leave some stuff on the cutting room floor that, you know, it's like
7:49
inappropriate content that we didn't put out there, some stuff that didn't fit? You know, and we we try to be respectful of the culture and the content, but also we only
7:59
have so much time in the documentary. So, I mean, I guess everybody's asking me for the director's cut to see some of the
8:04
raw stuff, but I'm not sure that's appropriate for a Disney audience or a Hulu audience
8:09
Yeah, that's true indeed. True indeed. You recently, you know, you and I have dealt with, you know, you know
8:17
we've been in the game for a minute. You know, you have a new production company you're starting, and I love the name and I
8:27
love how it's also spelled, you know, stylistically. Tell us a bit about it and why you started at this
8:35
Well, no, I think obviously, as you mentioned, you know, I've been in the culture for twenty five plus years from our magazine days to now
8:43
And, you know, I've been blessed and fortunate to still be working through the culture as
8:48
you are too and making money and eating and living, feeding my family, doing what I
8:52
love. But I have noticed that often, you know, as a black male dealing with a situation
8:55
today that's egregious. It's tough to be sort of a gentleman to feel for the culture and to deal with a lot of
9:04
times the people who are producing content about people of color, but there's no people of color involved in producing
9:10
It results in a lot of sometimes negative stuff being put out and just battles of what
9:16
is actually true and real. And so I think that for me, I want to make sure I do that
9:20
And oftentimes, unfortunately, there aren't enough people of color working on stories
9:24
about them. And so it's important for me to make sure I give those opportunities to those
9:29
folks and just make more room for these great stories to be told from young people and
9:34
people like myself who actually lived it. So when I say for the culture, by the culture, you can just say for the culture, right
9:40
It's something that's down for the culture. But when you say by the culture means that it's an inside out, I mean, it's coming from
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the culture itself. So it's important for me to continue to tell those stories where the sports, music, pop
9:51
culture, things that I specialize in, true crime. So, yeah, I mean, that was the impetus
9:55
Myself, Jesse Collins, Ricky, whoever else you may see, Will Packer, Keepin' Ya Bearish
10:03
I think that's the area that we want to continue to have these independent voices to
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make sure that we tell these stories. Yeah. What, if any, challenges have you, I mean, you kind of answered that, but have
10:16
you ever decided not to work on a project because you said, you know, this is not
10:22
doing, this is not representative of what we should be doing? Like, for example, I've turned down a lot of speaking gigs or TV gigs because a
10:33
certain network might want you to come on there and say certain things
10:36
Have you done that with any projects? Well, no, I think it's a two way street
10:40
I think that, yes, there's been some challenges where people want to get me to say
10:45
stereotypical things or it may be a network or situation that may not be as knowledgeable
10:50
or comforting to black culture. But I'm the kind of person that, you know, and I saw there was an argument on your
10:56
Facebook or something like that a while back. We need we got to go in the room to have the discussion and argue outside of the room
11:02
because nothing will change. And so you could call it integration, you could call it whatever you like
11:07
But I do think that you need people in the room to move the culture forward, you know
11:12
to see how, you know, doing the Super Bowl with the NFL, that makes sense because they
11:17
want to do cool black things. They need a cool black guy to help them do it. And I'm sure he's in there telling them what the real is and not the BS
11:23
So, yeah, man, I just try not to just run away from it. I try to embrace these situations and be a change creator, you know
11:32
Yeah. So what's next for you? Yeah, I'm obviously promoting the Freaknik
11:37
I got a big show on TV, one music show with Dougie Fresh, another project on Tubi
11:43
And hopefully we'll get Busta Rhymes out to you guys by the end of the year
11:46
Three hour Busta Rhymes documentary. With my brother Shaheen Reed. OK, OK, I knew Shaheen was cooking
11:58
Shaheen is not slick, brother. We'll have to have to pull pull some of these archives of all hip hop out the out the
12:07
boxes and all that and see what we got. But yeah, that's good stuff
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Busta is you know, he's a legend. How how was it working with him
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Well, so going through the process, but it has been green lit. And Busta's obviously Busta Rhymes
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He's an iconic legend. He's one of the most important figures in the history of hip hop and pop culture
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period. And so I'm blessed, you know, and technically he is what the culture is about
12:34
If you look in the dictionary about great hip hop artists, it got to be a picture of
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Busta Rhymes. So I'm excited to work with my brother, who I've known for 20 plus years
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and excited to bring it to everybody. Nice, nice. All right, man
12:47
Any final words about Freaknik? I'm glad everybody is enjoying the Freaknik ride
12:54
It is a documentary about Black joy. It's a Black celebration of young Black people who the world didn't make a place, so
13:02
they made their own place and hope that more young people of today are inspired by what
13:06
they did. And also, I think, you know, one thing I'd say is that
13:12
I urge people to be in the moment, you never know what's going to happen next or whatever
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And one of the things that these young people that Freaknik, they wasn't let me take a
13:20
selfie, let me take a video, they were actually in the moment enjoying it
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And so I hope that that's one of the things that people take away. Black joy, Black freedom, Black liberation and just being in the moment and enjoying it
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because, you know, imagine Freaknik today. I don't think we could have it, but it was a good time
13:38
It wouldn't. Yeah, I don't I don't think so either. And I see in the doc, you know, it does have the current rights holder, you know, kind of
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turning it into something different, but not certainly the Freaknik of old
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Yeah. Appreciate you, my brother. All right, brother. Peace. Thank you
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