T-Pain. Lil Wayne. Snoop Dogg. Rick Ross. CeeLo Green. Andy Samberg. Charlie Murphy. Bill Hader. Kel Mitchell. (Kel Mitchell!!!) No, that’s not a guest list from the 2009 Kids’ Choice Awards. That’s, like, half of the cast for the absolutely absurd exercise in hip hop shenanigans that is Freaknik: The Musical.
Freaknik: The Musical – Specials – Adult Swim
For those of you unfamiliar with this little pop culture nonsense-fest, let’s break it down. Freaknik: The Musical is a 2010 Adult Swim animated musical special telling the heavily fictionalized (to put it mildly) story of a now-defunct spring break gathering in Atlanta — which Tom Wolfe once wrote about! — starring T-Pain as the, uh, Ghost of Freaknik Past. By the middle of the special, said Ghost is named president of the United States by then–sitting president Barack Obama. (The decision infuriates Oprah Winfrey, who plans to remove Freaknik from office via giant Al Sharpton–shaped robot.)
That’s only the half of it. This special boasts rival posses named, respectively, the Sweet Tea Mobsters and the Fruit Bowl Boys. There are caricatures of Winfrey, Sharpton, Bill Cosby (oof), Russell Simmons, O.J. Simpson, Jesse Jackson, and George Clinton and Bootsy Collins, who are, in this world, aliens. There is a character named “Trap Jesus,” voiced by Lil Wayne, who owns a literal fleet of Lamborghinis. It is impossible to adequately explain how insane this all is, or how anyone greenlit the damn thing.
Except here’s the thing: the soundtrack is…kinda amazing? It’s pure 2010 T-Pain, and total parody, but at the same time, it actually stands fairly well on its own, even at its most ridiculous. The first track, “Freaknik is Back,” is the standout, a pure turn-up thumper that is refreshingly honest about just how gross and grimy the club can get. It involves T-Pain rapping such lines as “The weed good and the liquor free dog. / Meatloaf, shrimp, and rice pilaf— / don’t come up in this corner, there a bitch jackin’ me off!” Noted, Freaknik. Noted.
Freaknik really is back, too. T-Pain will be performing tracks from the special at this year’s inaugural Adult Swim Festival in Los Angeles in October, which will also feature a 37-piece orchestra playing songs from Rick & Morty. Don’t forget your rice pilaf!
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