# Big Freedia
**Big Freedia** (born Freddie Ross Jr., 1978) is an American hip-hop artist, television personality, and cultural influencer from New Orleans, Louisiana, known as the "Queen of [Bounce](https://www.edgepedia.org/bounce-music-genre)" for taking the city's bounce music, a dance-driven subgenre of hip-hop built on call-and-response hooks and heavy bass, to national audiences.[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/big-freedia/) • [2](https://www.iheart.com/artist/big-freedia-30304032/) • [3](https://www.bigfreedia.com/bio/) Freedia identifies as both gay and nonbinary, and has been instrumental in making New Orleans bounce and Southern queer culture globally recognized.[4](https://online.ucpress.edu/jpms/article/35/3/61/196983/Sissy-Style-Gender-Race-and-Sexuality-in-New) • [5](https://www.grammy.com/news/big-freedia-interview-gospel-album-pressing-onward/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1978, New Orleans, Louisiana, as Freddie Ross Jr.[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/big-freedia/) |
| Known as | "Queen of Bounce" / "Queen Diva", the mainstream face of New Orleans bounce music[2](https://www.iheart.com/artist/big-freedia-30304032/) • [3](https://www.bigfreedia.com/bio/) |
| Breakthrough album | *Just Be Free* (2014), featuring "Booty-Whop" and "Explode"[2](https://www.iheart.com/artist/big-freedia-30304032/) |
| Major features | Beyoncé's "Formation" and Grammy-winning "Break My Soul"; Drake's "Nice For What"[3](https://www.bigfreedia.com/bio/) |
| Television | *Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce* on Fuse (debuted 2013, six seasons); *Big Freedia Means Business* (2023)[6](https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/06/05/big-freedia-means-business-fuse-tv-show) |
| Gospel album | *Pressing Onward* (2025), named for her childhood church[7](https://shorefire.com/roster/releases/20001) |
| SOPHIE EP | *Released At Last* (2026), recorded with producer SOPHIE in a 2016 session[8](https://shorefire.com/releases/entry/big-freedia-sophie-collab-ep-released-at-last-out-now) |
| Memoir | *God Save the Queen Diva* (Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster, 2015; paperback 2020)[3](https://www.bigfreedia.com/bio/) |
## Bounce music and New Orleans roots
Bounce is a hip-hop style built on call-and-response, set to the extremely quick Triggerman beat, a rhythm that traces back to The Showboys' 1986 song "Drag Rap". "It can sound like rap; it can sound like EDM. But as long as it has the Triggerman beat, it's Bounce!" Freedia wrote in an Oxford American essay.[9](https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/09/11/lgbtq-helped-new-orleans-bounce-big-freedia) In her own description, bounce is "uptempo, heavy bass, call and response" music tied closely to dancing and body movement.[10](https://time.com/2890212/big-freedia-just-be-free-bounce-music-slang/)
The genre began in New Orleans in the early 1990s, and its rise to the mainstream was helped substantially by gay and queer artists. Freedia came up in this circle: she first emerged in the late 1990s as a backup dancer and singer for the bounce pioneer Katey Red, and released her first single in 1999.[5](https://www.grammy.com/news/big-freedia-interview-gospel-album-pressing-onward/) • [11](https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/06/21/big-freedias-album-central-city) The genre's national profile grew markedly after [Hurricane Katrina](https://www.edgepedia.org/hurricane-katrina) struck New Orleans in 2005, after which the New Orleans sound became a hip-hop mainstay nationally.[9](https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/09/11/lgbtq-helped-new-orleans-bounce-big-freedia)
**Church beginnings.** Freedia's musical life started earlier than bounce. At age ten she stepped into the Pressing Onward Baptist Church, a brick building on Danneel Street in New Orleans, which she has called a safe haven from a rough, impoverished neighborhood; her godmother Georgia was the choir director. She sang with the New Orleans Gospel Soul Children and the Gospel Music Workshop of America, was a choir director at her high school, and initially envisioned a career as a choir director.[12](https://www.spinmagazine.com/2025/10/big-freedia-pressing-onward/) • [5](https://www.grammy.com/news/big-freedia-interview-gospel-album-pressing-onward/)
## Recording career
Freedia's first official album, *Just Be Free*, was released in 2014 on the Queen Diva Music label. With producer Thomas McElroy (Madonna, [En Vogue](https://www.edgepedia.org/en-vogue)) and longtime producer BlaqNMilD, she reworked her raw, frenetic trademark sound into something "cleaner, fuller, more nuanced, and more befitting a pop diva", in an attempt to reach a mainstream audience.[13](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19461-big-freedia-just-be-free/)
A run of EPs followed: *A Very Big Freedia Christmazz* (2016), *3rd Ward Bounce* (2018), *Louder* (2020), *Big Freedia's Smokin Santa Christmas* (2020), and *Big Diva Energy* (2021), plus the live album *Live at the Orpheum Theater* (2024).[3](https://www.bigfreedia.com/bio/) • [12](https://www.spinmagazine.com/2025/10/big-freedia-pressing-onward/) Her first full-length album in nine years, *Central City*, arrived on June 23, 2023; Freedia called its sound "Bigga Bounce", rooted in classic New Orleans bounce with a new twist.[11](https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/06/21/big-freedias-album-central-city)
**Gospel turn.** A 2024 studio session that produced the spiritually ebullient dance track "Celebration" led Freedia toward her first gospel project.[14](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jul/24/bounce-legend-big-freedia-gospel-album-beyonce-god-gay) *Pressing Onward*, named after the Baptist church she grew up in, was released on August 8, 2025 with 14 tracks, featuring guests including [Tamar Braxton](https://www.edgepedia.org/tamar-braxton) ("Sunday Best") and [Billy Porter](https://www.edgepedia.org/billy-porter) ("Holy Shuffle").[15](https://recentmusicsite.b-cdn.net/artist/2gyv1akuIB9fQvXoGSPaJr/) • [7](https://shorefire.com/roster/releases/20001) Recording took place partly at Esplanade Studios in New Orleans, a converted church.[16](https://www.gpb.org/news/2025/08/05/big-freedia-takes-bounce-music-church-on-new-album-pressing-onward) Freedia framed the album as inclusive of her core audience, saying "It is for people who are LGBTQ and who love God."[14](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jul/24/bounce-legend-big-freedia-gospel-album-beyonce-god-gay) The album followed the death of her longtime partner, Devon Hurst, who died in May 2025 at age 38 from complications related to diabetes.[17](https://news.pollstar.com/2025/10/21/big-freedia-presses-onward-spreading-the-gospel-booty-bounce-touring-pay-as-you-can/)
**SOPHIE collaboration.** In 2016 Freedia spent one session at SOPHIE's Los Angeles home studio, laying down three tracks with the late [PC Music](https://www.edgepedia.org/pc-music) producer. The music circulated among fans for years; in June 2026 Freedia, in conjunction with SOPHIE's family and estate, officially released the three-song EP *Released At Last*, including "Blaze That Ass", "Go Down", and "Let Me See Ya" featuring MUNA.[18](https://www.thefader.com/2026/06/16/big-freedia-sophie-ep-released-at-last-interview-) • [8](https://shorefire.com/releases/entry/big-freedia-sophie-collab-ep-released-at-last-out-now)
## Features and mainstream reach
Freedia's voice has carried bounce into major pop hits. Beyoncé's Grammy-winning "Formation" featured Freedia, and her 2022 single "Break My Soul", the lead single from *[Renaissance](https://www.edgepedia.org/renaissance-beyonce-album)*, samples Freedia's 2014 song "Explode" and won a Grammy; Freedia appears on it demanding listeners "release the wiggle".[3](https://www.bigfreedia.com/bio/) • [19](https://time.com/6201965/beyonce-renaissance-analysis/) Drake's "Nice For What" (2018) also used her vocals.[3](https://www.bigfreedia.com/bio/) Other collaborations include Kesha's "Raising Hell" (2019), [Lizzo](https://www.edgepedia.org/lizzo)'s "Karaoke" (2018), [Charli XCX](https://www.edgepedia.org/charli-xcx)'s "Shake It" (2019), and Ciara's "Winning" (2025).[17](https://news.pollstar.com/2025/10/21/big-freedia-presses-onward-spreading-the-gospel-booty-bounce-touring-pay-as-you-can/) • [20](https://music.apple.com/us/artist/big-freedia/351297032)
**Live performance** is central to her reputation. In 2013 she helped set the Guinness World Record for the most people twerking simultaneously, at one of her performances.[21](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-big-freedia-photography-exhibit-20150304-story.html) • [10](https://time.com/2890212/big-freedia-just-be-free-bounce-music-slang/) She has become a festival fixture, appearing at events such as [Outside Lands](https://www.edgepedia.org/outside-lands) and [Hardly Strictly Bluegrass](https://www.edgepedia.org/hardly-strictly-bluegrass).[22](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/music/article/pop-quiz-big-freedia-on-her-mission-to-make-the-21185557.php)
## Television and writing
Freedia's rise was chronicled on the Fuse reality show *Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce* (also aired as *Big Freedia Bounces Back*), which debuted in 2013 and ran for six seasons; it was Fuse's highest-rated series.[6](https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/06/05/big-freedia-means-business-fuse-tv-show) • [21](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-big-freedia-photography-exhibit-20150304-story.html) A second series, *Big Freedia Means Business*, focusing on her entrepreneurial and music ventures, premiered on Fuse on June 7, 2023.[6](https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/06/05/big-freedia-means-business-fuse-tv-show) Her memoir, *God Save the Queen Diva*, was published in 2015.[3](https://www.bigfreedia.com/bio/) She was named one of Ebony's Power 100 in 2021 and has hosted high-profile events including the Met Gala Instagram Live red-carpet stream (2019) and [Dick Clark](https://www.edgepedia.org/dick-clark)'s Rockin' New Year's Eve (2021).[3](https://www.bigfreedia.com/bio/)
## Identity and advocacy
Freedia is a loud and proud advocate for racial and gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights, and scholars credit her with popularizing bounce beyond New Orleans while disrupting gender binaries in hip-hop, a genre often intertwined with misogyny where bounce stands apart for its close ties to LGBTQ+ culture.[3](https://www.bigfreedia.com/bio/) • [4](https://online.ucpress.edu/jpms/article/35/3/61/196983/Sissy-Style-Gender-Race-and-Sexuality-in-New) • [9](https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/09/11/lgbtq-helped-new-orleans-bounce-big-freedia) She rejects the term "sissy bounce", which was coined by a music writer rather than New Orleans artists: "We don't separate it here in New Orleans at all. It's just bounce music. Just because I'm a gay artist, they don't have to put it in a category or label it."[10](https://time.com/2890212/big-freedia-just-be-free-bounce-music-slang/)
## References
1. [Big Freedia - Rapper, Personality, Designer, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/big-freedia/)
2. [Big Freedia, iHeart](https://www.iheart.com/artist/big-freedia-30304032/)
3. [Bio - Big Freedia, official site](https://www.bigfreedia.com/bio/)
4. ["Sissy Style": Gender, Race, and Sexuality in New Orleans Bounce Dance, Journal of Popular Music Studies](https://online.ucpress.edu/jpms/article/35/3/61/196983/Sissy-Style-Gender-Race-and-Sexuality-in-New)
5. [Big Freedia's 'Pressing Onward' Is A Gospel-Fueled Journey Through Grief, Faith & The Power Of Bounce, Grammy.com](https://www.grammy.com/news/big-freedia-interview-gospel-album-pressing-onward/)
6. [Big Freedia's new show debuts on Fuse TV this week, Axios New Orleans](https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/06/05/big-freedia-means-business-fuse-tv-show)
7. [Big Freedia Press Releases, Shore Fire Media](https://shorefire.com/roster/releases/20001)
8. [Big Freedia & SOPHIE Collab EP 'Released At Last' Out Now, Shore Fire Media](https://shorefire.com/releases/entry/big-freedia-sophie-collab-ep-released-at-last-out-now)
9. [How LGBTQ+ communities helped bring New Orleans bounce to center stage, Axios New Orleans](https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/09/11/lgbtq-helped-new-orleans-bounce-big-freedia)
10. [Twerk? Yaka? Duffy? Buku? Big Freedia's Guide to Bounce Music Slang, TIME](https://time.com/2890212/big-freedia-just-be-free-bounce-music-slang/)
11. [Big Freedia's first album since Beyonce collab drops this week, Axios New Orleans](https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/06/21/big-freedias-album-central-city)
12. [Praise the Lord!, SPIN](https://www.spinmagazine.com/2025/10/big-freedia-pressing-onward/)
13. [Big Freedia: Just Be Free Album Review, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19461-big-freedia-just-be-free/)
14. [Bounce legend Big Freedia on going gospel, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jul/24/bounce-legend-big-freedia-gospel-album-beyonce-god-gay)
15. [RecentMusic - Big Freedia New Releases](https://recentmusicsite.b-cdn.net/artist/2gyv1akuIB9fQvXoGSPaJr/)
16. [Big Freedia takes bounce music to church on new album, 'Pressing Onward', Georgia Public Broadcasting](https://www.gpb.org/news/2025/08/05/big-freedia-takes-bounce-music-church-on-new-album-pressing-onward)
17. [Big Freedia 'Presses Onward' Spreading The Gospel, Booty Bounce, Touring Pay As You Can, Pollstar](https://news.pollstar.com/2025/10/21/big-freedia-presses-onward-spreading-the-gospel-booty-bounce-touring-pay-as-you-can/)
18. [Big Freedia is keeping SOPHIE's legacy alive with new EP 'Released At Last', The FADER](https://www.thefader.com/2026/06/16/big-freedia-sophie-ep-released-at-last-interview-)
19. [6 Revelations From Beyoncé's New Album Renaissance, TIME](https://time.com/6201965/beyonce-renaissance-analysis/)
20. [Big Freedia - Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/artist/big-freedia/351297032)
21. [Rapper Big Freedia's career bounces in various directions, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-big-freedia-photography-exhibit-20150304-story.html)
22. [Pop Quiz: Big Freedia on her mission to make the whole world bounce, San Francisco Chronicle](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/music/article/pop-quiz-big-freedia-on-her-mission-to-make-the-21185557.php)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Music scenes › Transnational genre scenes › Hip hop scenes worldwide › Artists, groups, and people: Hip hop scenes worldwide › Southern US rap (Atlanta, Memphis, Houston, New Orleans, Florida) › Gulf Coast and Florida rap*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license