Being known as “The Hoochie Historian” is much more than internet virality for Zorine Truly.
The North Memphis native — known for her bite-sized lessons on “Hoochie History” — has gained a dedicated following of more than 150,000 people on TikTok. And while educating viewers about a unique subculture has allowed her to give Black women their well-deserved flowers, it’s also been an opportunity for her to reclaim the narrative for the community.
“I talk a lot about the influence of Black women across generations and how hoochie culture plays a role in storytelling, legacy, and beauty practices,” Truly explains.
Truly refers to a community of Black women known for owning their sexuality and identity unapologetically, making beauty and style practices synonymous with their personas. Notable figures include Chrystale Wilson, rap artist Trina, and, of course, Memphis legend Gangsta Boo.
“They are pioneers in whatever genre they touch,” Truly says. “Whether that’s music or style, it’s their influence.”
As the creative began to educate her audiences, solidarity formed, and there was a groundswell of support for hoochie culture to be recognized. This turned into the first HoochieCon celebration in 2023 in Glendale, California.
Now, Truly will bring her cultural touchstone back home with Hoochie Homecoming on June 20th through 21st. The event will be held at the Artifacts Gallery on 980 East Brooks Road and will be the ultimate celebration of Black culture featuring a Hoochie art gallery, a Black-owned vendor market, and “Thee Hoochiecon Biggest Hoochie Contest.”
“The festival came about from the community,” Truly says. “There was a need and a want for hoochie culture to be celebrated, but not in the typical way that most people think of.”
She goes on to explain that many people associate hoochies solely with ’90s Freaknik culture, stemming from an annual spring break festival centered on historically Black colleges and universities, which has recently re-entered the zeitgeist. Rather than minimize the contributions of these women, Truly and her community wanted to emphasize what it really meant to be a part of the movement, which she says means blending history and the present.
“What being a hoochie means is being a founder,” Truly says. “It’s like being the foundation of memory. Somebody who preserves culture. The earrings, the nails, the clothing — all of this is a cultural reference to our aunties, our cousins, and our moms. Somebody who is a hoochie is an ‘it girl’ but also somebody who preserves all the influence from our direct ancestors.”
Growing up, Truly saw the women in her family and community in North Memphis positively impact her identity. She found this refreshing, as she says she never strove towards a Eurocentric beauty standard.
“I always wanted to look like the girl who lived up the street from me,” she says. “I was always influenced by the clothes, the music, and the style of the people I went to school with or my big cousins. My neighborhood has always been a direct reflection of what I find beautiful.”
Truly says that Hoochies are the ultimate arbiters of style and notes that many modern-day trends stem from their innovations. While blinged-out acrylics and grills may be the latest on the rotating trend cycle, these are everyday aesthetics for the women who pioneered them.
With the reemergence of these fashions, it can also be easy for those outside of the community to appropriate the culture. As a result, these women go uncredited for their contributions.
“It’s an opportunity to reclaim a lot of what has trickled down into popular culture without being named and credited [to Black women],” Truly says. “When we don’t point out and credit these types of cultures and subgroups, once they become mainstream, they’re credited to people who didn’t have anything to do with it.”
Celebrating hoochie culture also shows that Black women are not monolithic, Truly says, and the celebration serves as an opportunity to applaud “all walks of Black womanhood.”
“Just like other cultures have subcultures and subgroups from their primary culture, so do Black women,” Truly says. “A lot of times we don’t get to discuss or celebrate the different branches of what it takes to be a Black woman.”
Truly says she’s excited to show respect to where she’s from and who she’s been inspired by, and invites the community to do the same.