Big Freedia

▼

The 2012 Line-up

Playing

Saturday Feb 25 10:00 PM on Public Works

Custom Schedule (Create One)

27 Noise Pop fans added this band.

+ Add Band

Big Freedia is all about telling it like it is: “Big Freedia! Queen Diva!” she announces, often as her opening song and always as part of her set. Accompanied by an entourage of booty-shaking, floor-grinding danc- ers, DJs, and the occasional side emcee, Freedia is the cultural ambassador for bounce (or sissy bounce, depending on who you ask), a lo-fi, instantly addic- tive, call-and-response style of hip hop that origi- nated in the dive bars and underground clubs of New Orleans and has been spreading across the country ever since.

Big Freedia might also be the hardest-working per- former in the New Orleans music scene, often book- ing multiple gigs in a single night; all the better to bring her signature hits like “Gin in my System” and “Azz Everywhere” to the masses. Freedia’s habit of cakewalking straight through her writhing, adoring fans makes every show a hot, sweaty celebration regardless of the venue, from makeshift dive bars to tricked-out dance club. Surrounded by her dancers, she encourages (and abets) crowd participation: ev- eryone from waifish boys in gold lamé hot pants to bootylicious scenesters in apple-bottom jeans even- tually wind up on stage, one-upping each other with their renditions of Freedia’s signature raunchy dance moves.

Born Freddie Ross and raised in New Orleans, Big Freedia is a 6-foot-plus phenom powered by brash sexual energy and raw, self-made talent. Hip hop is a notoriously homophobic (and misogynist) scene, and Freedia’s rise from post-Katrina club culture and into the greater indie club scene–in 2011 alone, she played packed showcases at SXSW, released a mixtape for Scion A/V, and was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award–speaks to her dedication as a performer and a power as a outsized persona. With a smattering of EPs (beginning with 2009’s An Ha, Oh Yeah) and a collaboration with Spank Rock under her belt, Freedia is ready to conquer hearts and dance floors around the world. Some advice to Big Freedia concert new- bies: wear great underwear, and get ready to sweat.

CONNIE HWONG

Video

Comments

You must login to comment.

Use Facebook

Noise Pop Radio

Tweets