Freaknik: The Musical

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

This hourlong animated special aired in March 2010 on Adult Swim based on the real life spring break event that was once hosted in Atlanta, Georgia.

The special tells the story of the spirit of Freaknik coming back to host the seemingly long-forgotten event that hasn't been done since the 1990s; the whole world rushes to it to join in. Among the participants is a struggling rapper crew who call themselves the Sweet Tea Mob, hoping to make a name for themselves during the event's "Battle of the Trillest". However, an Illuminati group of respected black celebrities known as "The Boule" tries to put a stop to the festivities before they get out of hand.

Notable for featuring an All-Star Cast of rappers, musicians and comedians.

Tropes used in Freaknik: The Musical include:

Lady: "Freaknik! My baby needs a daddy!" (shot of a baby Freaknik crying)
Freaknik: "I'MMA GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE, CUZ!"

  • Catch Phrase: "It's in the book!"
  • The Cameo: Most of the bigger name legendary rappers that appear in the special are only given less than five minutes of screen time on average; Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne's scene is likely the best example of this.
    • Other examples are George Clinton and Boosty Collins voicing themselves (albeit as strange aliens representative of themselves in some way; George Clinton's alien is a mass of his colored dreadlocks; Bootsy's alien is Bootsy's star-covered top hat with matching glasses and platform shoes/boots).
    • Or maybe Lil' Jon as the Foreboding Old Dude.
  • Casting Gag: Kid N Play at the start of the special referencing their House Party movies. They promptly get killed off five seconds into it.
  • Cluster F-Bomb: It's hard for any character in this special to say a complete sentence without delving into this.
  • Combined Energy Attack: Of love!
  • Culture Police: The Boule, in the interest of remaining in the 10% of rich, influential African Americans.
  • Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Gangster!:

Trap Jesus: You think when I was nine, I wanted to trap?
Sweet Tea Mob: Uh, nope, no...
Trap Jesus: Hell yeah I did! I look around this city, see nothing but a gang of fiends on every corner of every block, and all I could think is, what a lucrative business opportunity. And now look at my swag. I'm the most biggest, notorious, dope man in the South. I'm a BOSS.

  • Dynamic Entry: The Perminator. "Craasshhhhh!"
    • "Bitch!"
  • The Face of the Sun: Let's just say that smile doesn't last long....
  • Gondor Calls for Aid: The climax of the special. Gondor gets a Combined Energy Attack out of the deal.
  • Hey, It's That Voice!: It's hard to find someone who isn't well-known in this special. You've got T-Pain, Li'l Wayne, Cee-Lo Green, Rick Ross, Snoop Dogg, Andy Samberg, Bill Hader, Big Boi (one half of rap group OutKast), Lil Jon, Charlie Murphy, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, DJ Pooh, DJ Drama, Mac Maine, Kelis, Affion Crocket, Kel Mitchell, Sophia Fresh, Kid 'N Play, and Young Cash.
  • Hypocritical Humor: A pastor bursts out with "HALT! This is still a House of GOD!" when a party breaks out in his church, but then adds, with alcohol in hand and a less than subtle smirk, "Please make your way to the All-Purpose Room for the REAL party!".
  • If I Were a Rich Man: The Sweet Tea Mob thinking how their lives will be when they win the Battle of the Trillest.
  • Improbable Aiming Skills: While S.T.M. is in New Orleans, Snoop Dogg's character randomly shoots Big Uzi in the toe of his shoe without actually hitting his foot. However, upon Uzi's complaining that his limited edition shoes are now ruined, the thug comes back with "You want me to hit'cho FOOT next time?"
  • Keep the Reward: Subverted. Virgil tears up the prize check at first. Then in The Stinger, you see him and the Sweet Tea Mob trying to tape it together again.
  • Kent Brockman News, News Travels Fast, and No Fourth Wall: The news report about Al Sharpton dying of an electric shock while staying at home to blow out his perm...minutes before it actually happened.
  • Logic Bomb: When the STM arrives in rather bright, sunny, and cheerful New Orleans, Big Uzi states "I thought the Sun never shined in the ghetto..." -- and a gun-totin' gangsta moon quickly solves that problem.
  • More Dakka: The Perminator's Macross Missile Massacre in the climax.
  • The Musical: It's in the title.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: The Boule consists of preposterous caricatures of Oprah, Bill Cosby, and others. Subverted with Al Sharpton when the news anchor actually uses his name.
  • N-Word Privileges: All over the place. Not surprising if you know that one of the creators and executive producers is Carl Jones, one of the co-executive producers of The Boondocks.
  • Our Ghosts Are Different: Apparently a sufficiently awesome party can turn into a ghost.
    • And can apparently also be blown up, stomped, lasered, and somehow, killed. (did anyone else question this?)
    • Also near the end, it's revealed that a white woman has a baby who looks like Freaknik.
      • It was a metaphor gone extremely literal. They "killed" (cancelled) Freaknik (the party), but couldn't kill the spirit of Freaknik... which manifested as a ghost.
    • The world this show is placed in is crazy. Say the least, everyone just goes with it.
  • The Power of Love: Twicefold in the final act. Freaknik is revived by, and proceeds to defeat the Perminator with the collective love of his fans.
  • The Power Of Rap
  • Properly Paranoid: Light Skin carries around a book full of conspiracy theories related to keeping the black man down and swears on it as if it were the Gospel. He turns out to be right about the Boule, not to mention the fact that the Love Bomb appears in the book as well.
  • Raymanian Limbs: Freaknik has white-gloved hands, but no arms.
  • Recut and Better on DVD: The DVD version not only has all the swearing intact, but also includes scenes that weren't on Cartoon Network.
  • Riding the Bomb: The old dude from beginning of the special does this to a torpedo that just smoked a joint in the climax. Then he kisses it, perhaps leading to riding the bomb in a different sense.
  • Saying Sound Effects Out Loud: Crassshhh.
  • Shout-Out: Too many to list!
  • Similar Squad: The Fruit Bowl Boys the Sweet Tea Mob run into at the frat house. Essentially posers (and very fruity) versions of the crew that can't rap to save their lives.
  • The Smart Guy: Light Skin.
  • The Stoner: Doela man.
  • Theme Music Power-Up: The finale, combined with The Power of Love.
  • This Is for Emphasis, Bitch: Used throughout, but notably used by the Perminator at the end and in Freaknik's opening song.
  • This Trope Is Bleep: Variant; the TV cut plays all the curse words backwards.
  • Voluntary Shapeshifting: Freaknik seems to be able to do this on near Impossible Man levels.
  • What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic: Trap Jesus just happens to actually be Jesus. He even has his own Ghetto Ten Commandments.
  • We Can Rebuild Him: The Rev. Al Sharpton or the Perminator, as he calls himself later after he gets electrocuted.
  • Where Da White Women At?: Light Skin ends up falling for the Caucasian girl in the female troupe STM meets at the gas station.

"Pink areolas..."

  • White Gang Banger: Light Skin.
  • Wild Teen Party: The Sweet Tea Mob stop off at Frat House during their journey. This is pretty much Freaknik in general.
  • You Are What You Hate: Light Skin is so... light skinned that he is very easily mistaken for white, but he hates the white people (well, white men) and blames all his problems on them.
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