Getting a few minutes to talk with Big Freedia is an opportunity to hear hustle through the filter of a phone receiver. When CL caught up with the New Orleans native born Freddie Ross Jr., she was running errands downtown. Considering the bounce superstar’s rising mainstream profile, it’s kind of a wonder Freedia (pronounced “Free-da”), who recently celebrated a birthday, is driving herself.
“You know a girl never tells her age,” she joked when queried on a birth year (it’s 1978) as well wishers clamored in the background. “But yes, I’m from here, so I like to move myself around. I know all the shortcuts and everything. As you can tell, people holler at me all day.”
Freedia’s popularity is understandable; she recently had to postpone two shows because of the Grammys, where Freedia and other Beyoncé collaborators got royally fucked when “Formation” — a controversial bounce-leaning track from Bey’s acclaimed 2016 LP Lemonade — lost Record of the Year to Adele’s “Hello.” The UK singer herself seemed confused by the Recording Academy’s flub as she called Beyonce her idol.
“You know there are things you have control over and certain things that you don’t,” Freedia said about the gaffe, showing she hasn’t hung on to heartache. “All you can do is keep doing what you do, keep working hard and wishing for best the next time around.” It’s a refreshing sentiment to hear from the totally turnt, 6-foot-2 bounce ambassador poised to bring a much-needed slice of an exciting Crescent City culture to the masses.
Read: Here are 10 essential Tampa Bay concerts to add to your calendar
Over the summer, a 20-year career that found Freedia triumphing over the perils of the Third Ward (a tough New Orleans neighborhood that’s given the world Dr. John, Birdman and Louis Armstrong) seemed in jeopardy after she pleaded guilty to taking almost $35,000 in Section 8 low-incoming housing payments (Freedia wasn’t mentioning her newfound celebrity income). By July, a Fuse TV series Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce was averaging almost a quarter-million viewers per episode, and her candid 2015 autobiography (published by Simon & Schuster, who recently dropped alt-right troll Milo Yiannopoulos) was moving well. Freedia’s fate, however, was in the hands of U.S. District Judge Lance Africk, who could have doled out a decade in prison and a $250,000 fine thanks to a breach of probation that further complicated the matter. Freedia was given something of a break — and the broken nature of New Orleans' housing system was brought back to light — as Africk decided on three years probation plus a $35,000 fine.
“It’s been a learning and growing experience. I’ve learned a lot about handling my financial situation and the stress that comes with my business,” Freedia said of the sentence as she refused make excuses or politicize a deeply flawed system serving an endangered community. “There have been a lot of people who were there for me in my time of need and helped me through this. Those people are still in my corner.”
Freedia — who empowers young dancers by scooping them out of New Orleans and bringing them on the road — is still standing in theirs, too. On Saturday, she comes to a little corner of Ybor City with a wild stage show in tow. For the uninitiated, bounce is uptempo, bass-heavy call-and-response-type music born after hip-hop took a dip the swampy waters of the Creole bayou and emerged as the soundtrack to Southeast Louisiana block parties. It’s been around for about three decades now. It’s as New Orleans as Mardi Gras, turtle soup and second line brass bands, but Freedia insists it is more than the raunchy elements that were inevitably colonized when well-intentioned tastemakers like Diplo put an undoubtedly deserved spotlight on the scene.
“It's a happy music. It's a party music. It's a music coming out of New Orleans, and it represents the culture. There is also no such as sissy bounce or non sissy bounce,” Freedia said as she acknowledged that bounce — like every facet of life — has artists who are gay. “We don’t separate it. We don’t divide it. It’s bounce music to all of us.”
Freedia — who started singing with her grandma as part of the Pressing Onward choir on Josephine Street — always knew she was gay and came out to her mom around the age of 13.
“She said ‘I already know baby, and Momma loves you for who you are,’” Freedia explained, adding that Mom, who died from cancer two years ago, approached her the next day to see if Freedia had been harmed or touched in the wrong way. “I told her ‘no this is my decision,’ and it was something that I always felt; I didn't like girls, you know, It was an easy process.”
That ease about the person you are will be what fans should walk away with when they leave, presumably sweaty, after Freedia’s Ybor set. The bounce queen is continuing to evolve her sound, and by default, the history of hip-hop and dance. She’s also empowering others to unabashedly embrace their inner selves no matter how the world outside reacts.
“You can’t be fake. You can’t be phony, and you have to be willing to take the consequence that come with it,” Freedia said. “The most important thing is to be yourself, love yourself and believe in what you’re doing.”
Read our full Q&A with the Queen of Bounce below.
Big Freedia w/Queen of Ex/Samurai Shotgun
Crowbar, 1812 N. 17th St., Ybor City. March 3, 10 p.m. 813-241-8600. crowbarlive.com
Hi Freedia, you're thirty nine right? Just had a birthday?
You know a girl never tells her age.
Haha. Did you do anything cool for your birthday?
Yes, we went to a club in New Orleans. It’s on Frenchmen with select family, so yeah we had multiple things and I had several parties in New Orleans.
Let’s dive into New Orleans. Talk about the kids you have dancing on this tour. Obviously viewers of the TV show are voting on who is going, but I wanted to ask you what it means to take these kids out of New Orleans and onto the road.
It's a wonderful experience. Being able to do this means everything. They get to go out on the road and represent New Orleans, and it’s a way to get out of New Orleans that isn’t related to Katrina. They’re out here doing something different, doing something they have a passion for, which is dance, and they get to experience the stage with me. It’s just something amazing.
Could you expand on the band and lineup you’ll be bringing to Tampa?
It depends. Not every show is the same. It depends on a lot of things like distance and the money. Different guarantees, what I’m trying to present, it all affects how many dancers I can bring. Sometimes there’s a keyboardist, drummer, but there is always a DJ no matter what. It all depends on the situation.
So the Grammys…were you able to talk to Beyonce after that ceremony? You were on Lemonade. It should’ve been album of the year.
Yes. You know there are things you have control over and certain things that you don’t. All you can do is keep doing what you do, keep working hard and wishing for best the next time around.
Regarding people who have control over things, can we talk about the indictment and whether or not anyone in the Louisiana or federal housing system has reached out to see if you can help improve a system that seems to be a bit broken? It seems like its definitely a system that doesn’t serve the people who need it very efficiently.
No. You know, there have been a lot of people who were there for me in my time of need and helped me through this. Those people are still in my corner. I just keep things moving, take the strikes and keep on moving. I’ve learned a lot through this experience. I’ve learned a lot about handling my financial situation and the stress that comes with my business. I’ve learned how to handle my business and make sure everything is in order. It’s been a learning and growing experience.
I don't want to get too political, but you’re kind of a spokesperson and advocate for the gay community. Is there anything you’ve been telling members of the community regarding this administration? Have you talked to anyone particularly scared?
Well I definitely have some experience in having those conversations and talking to a lot of different people about that, but I tell them to live and to be free and to be themselves. Because at the end of the day you have to be yourself. You can’t be fake. You can’t be phony, and you have to be willing to take the consequence that come with it — there are some consequences that comes with being yourself. The most important thing…hold on (driving noises)…the most important thing is to be yourself, love yourself and believe in what you’re doing. Keep God first, of course, and everything else will work out.
I think you might have the same response to the question I was wondering what about the black community feels marginalized by the government. I also wanted to ask you about your role in bounce music. It’s New Orleans music. It’s predominantly black music, but people from all walks of life come to a Freedia show. Does it bother you that some of the audience consumes black culture but doesn't really want to see the less appealing side of the culture that birthed bounce music? I mean, it comes out of poor neighborhoods in New Orleans, right?
Oh yeah, most definitely. For the most part, I don't worry about those things any longer. I’m on the forefront of bounce music, and all I do is keep on pushing through and knocking down barriers to bring people together across all walks of life. When you come to a Freedia show you are definitely in tune with bounce music, and you definitely walk away with something. It’s not just something that’s so raunchy, or so hood. I learned how to translate into a different message where people can still get the authenticity of New Orleans bounce culture and still love it. You understand what I’m saying?
What specific part of New Orleans are you from?
The whole New Orleans, I call it home, but I grew up uptown. The third ward on Josephine Street, but I consider the whole of New Orleans home.
Who got you to sing in the choir at Pressing Onward?
My godmother Georgia. I was about eight years old.
Do you still sing? Obviously you rap in your songs…
Yeah, we do. We pulled the choir back together. I'm actually about to do a reunion with the choir because it’s been so long since we did it. We’re about to all come back together and do what we used to do growing up as kids.
Did you always know that you are gay?
I did.
When did you tell your loved ones were gay, or did they always know you were gay, too?
They kind of already knew, but I told my momma when I was, like 13.
Was she surprised, or was she like, “uh, I already know that”?
I already know baby.
I'm assuming her reaction was one of love…
I already know baby, and mama loves you for who you are. And the next morning she woke me up and\ we had a conversation to make sure that nobody harmed me. Or was I touched in the wrong way, all of those questions. And I told her no this is my decision, and it was something that I always felt, and I didn't like girls, you know, It was an easy process.
I wanted to confirm something with you so I didn’t get it wrong when I wrote about how to explain bounce.
My definition of bounce music is uptempo, bass heavy call-and-response type music. So when I say “I got that gin in my system,” you would say “somebody's going to be my victim.” It's a happy music. It's a party music. It's a music coming out of New Orleans, and it represents the culture of New Orleans.
And there is no difference between “sissy bounce” and regular bounce.
There is no such thing. It’s all bounce music — we don’t separate it. We don’t divide it. We have some gay artists, but its bounce music to all of us.
Is all bounce music in a specific time signature? I know you work with DJ Jimi…
No, it’s all different. It has been going for generations now. The music has changed over the years. I’ve changed and grown with it. I’ve evolved and changed to bring it across the world.
So it has evolved from Cheeky Black and Brown Beat.
Definitely, especially with me because all those things are not clearable and Big Freedia needs to keep getting paid baby, so i have to make sure I keep doing things to make sure I can keep getting my music cleared, you understand?
Can you talk about the new album, the new music?
Yes, my new album is on the way, it’s called Pressing Onward, and I am definitely pressing onward in a new direction and towards a new sound. So I am working on a new album that will come out this spring, there’s gonna be some hot tracks on there, and I’m about to do something even bigger. This was my first time at the Grammys, so I want to get on the charts, get nominated and hopefully perform at the Grammys and win a Grammy. So I have some things to do and some goals to achieve.
Have you always been a voting member?
Yes, I’ve always been a member, but I am usually working. I actually had to postpone two shows to go this year, but I’ve always been a voting member.
I want to clear this up. It was Katey Red that got you into bounce music, correct?
Yea I started back with Katy in ‘98 and then was that stuff for about two years and then went into my solo project, and I’ve been evolving ever since.
You are a big success story out of New Orleans. How hard is it to break out of New Orleans who are some of the artists you wish could break out of New Orleans?
Hold on one second (talking to people, how you doing). It is definitely is hard to get out of New Orleans. I would like to see all of them get out. I never wanna see anybody struggle, but if they work really hard at their craft and believe in themselves and then take a chance on experiencing stepping outside of New Orleans then it’s possible for everybody.
And you’re just running around town right now? You drive yourself?
Yeah, I do drive myself when I am at home. I’m from here, so I like to move around myself. I know all the shortcuts and everything. As you can tell, people holler at me all day. I’m actually downtown , and I am, headed to, um, headed to take a drug test.
Anything else you’d like to add before getting to Tampa?
Get ready to turn up Tampa because the queen diva is coming your way.
This article appears in Mar 2-9, 2017.