The city of music is well known for its rhythm & blues, brass horn second lines, and the Jazz and accordion tunes of Zydeco. Like those genres, bounce music has also played a huge role in our music culture. After decades of performing in the local and outlying areas, hip-hop bounce phenomenon Big Freedia grabbed the genre by its gyrating hips and pulled it into the lime-light. The Queen Diva who coined the phrase, "You already know" (much emphasis on the word "Know") has been deemed everything from the Queen of Twerking to the Queen of Bounce music.
Coinciding with the 2nd season of his Fuse TV reality show "Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce;" Freedia recently released Just Be Free.
While Freedia has several mix tape appearances on the market, this is the first official album for the humble celebrity. The electro-bounce album is fantastically eclectic, with everything one could expect from a Big Freedia album. The disc was released on Freedia's label, Queen Diva Music and distributed by The Orchard.
Just Be Free was mixed by New Orleans producer BlaqNMilD, along with Oakland producer Thomas McElroy, who has also produced albums for En Vogue, Raphael Saadiq and Madonna.
The first single released off Just Be Free, properly titled "Explode," exudes everything about bounce music that New Orleanians are used to hearing. That same heavy hitting harsh yet fun sound that gets people to the dance floor, of course to shake, will bring you back to the "Gin in my System" days when Freedia was hustling hard to become the star she is today. Other tracks like "Jump on it" and the intro tune "Turn Da Beat Up," give a more electronic, techno-bounce fill.
Just be free was released on June 17th and is a transcending piece of work. Freedia who has received honors from The Big Easy Awards and GLAAD, has created an album of ten tracks that in his words, represents freedom. "Unlike some places in the world," notes Freedia, "we live in a society where we have a lot of liberties. I wanted to make a record that would make people dance and liberate their souls."
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