After ‘Break My Soul,’ Big Freedia Is Ready to Bust Out With New Album ‘Central City’: ‘Don’t Take the Nails and Hair Lightly’
variety.comTodd Gilchrist editor While it’s been around for decades, the New Orleans-spawned genre of bounce music is bigger than ever, thanks to Big Freedia: the self-appointed Queen Diva’s appearances on Beyonce’s singles “Formation” and “Break My Soul” have given her, her music and her community a visibility previously unimaginable outside their shared New Orleans hometown.
But A-list collaborations — which also include Drake, Lizzo and Kesha — are simply a reflection of her increasing profile, not the reason for it; since releasing her first album in 2003, she’s not only worked steadily as a recording and touring musician, but starred in two TV shows (“Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce” and “Big Freedia Means Business,” both on Fuse), produced a documentary about gun violence (“Freedia Got a Gun”) and made dozens of appearances as a spokesperson and advocate for LGBTQ+ issues. “Central City” — out today — is Freedia’s first full-length album in nine years, and it evidences the breadth of her success.
In addition to assembling a murderer’s row of guest stars including Lil Wayne, Ciara, Faith Evans and Kamaiyah, the tracks incorporate a variety of sounds and subgenres from outside that bounce music foundation.
Ahead of the record’s June 23 release, Big Freedia spoke to Variety about its eclectic inspirations, the opportunities those high-profile partnerships have generated for her, and the ongoing responsibilities she maintains in her career to make “a bigger bounce” both musically and culturally. When Beyonce did “Break My Soul” and sampled your record, it gave you a new degree of visibility, even after appearing on “Formation.” How if at all have you tried to capitalize on that? I try to capitalize on anything that’s happening
Read more on variety.com
