About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (April 13, 2011)
i.-aaa*m H * I'm Nate Mitchell and I'm a big fan of 1 1 fun—so much so that I have gone on record declaring booty bass to be rap music in its purest essence. You can have your Jeezies, your J Dillas and your J-Hovas, you can spend hours debat ing the street cred and authenticated validity of Freddie Gibbs, but I grew up during the "Monster Booty" era of rap music, when 2 Live Crew songs became Top-40 hits. Miami originated booty bass, and its influ ence creeped up 1-95, infiltrated the South „ and served.as the catalyst for crunk. But it wasn't until a few months ago when the New York Times profiled a movement called "Sissy Bounce" that I ever paid attention to New Orleans as a bastion of booty-shaking delights. Big Freedia is one of the superstars of the New Orleans bounce scene—the "Queen Diva," in fact—and like all worthy.rappers, she exhibits a colorful, plus-sized personality on and off stage. Freedia's bounce beginning and subsequent ascension was an unlikely one—the result of restless youths stirring up a ruckus in the Third Ward*/’ "I started out (as backgiound vocalist] for my friend Katey Red about a decade ago. We would go around to all the different projects in different neighborhoods and have fun with the girls, and it was just for fun. I wasn't thinking about becoming a performer way back then. It was having fun in the hallways, bearin' on the walls, bearin' on the rails, beat- boxin' with our mouths." The party vibe continued snowballing, eventually to the point where Freedia decided to get serious. "More and more people wanted us to keep doing it. Record companies started to come lookin' for us, and people started to say that we could do something with this, make it into a career, cuz it's something we like to do and have fun with." A single YouTube video of Freedia perform ing to an undulating, capacity crowd at New Orleans venue One Eyed Jacks (with protege Sissy Nobby) was enough to convince me of Freedia's regional superstar status. Strange as it may be, the practitioners receiving the majority of the spotlight regard ing the New Orleans bounce export are also either openly gay or sexually ambiguous, which has caused friction with the hetero con tingent of bounce rappers back home. "It's something that's very exciting'for a . lot of people, and for me to be accepted, not just at home but a lot of different places, for who I am and for my music. Me being a gay artist from a small hometown and getting to travel around the world and teach people about bounce music is totally mindblowing," says Freedia. As for the resulting backlash from non sissy bounce artists following the high-pro^le media exposure, Freedia's inclusive attitude has helped smooth any ruffled feathers. "We don't separate things as 'sissy bounce.' You have gay rappers, you have straight rappers, but at the end of the day it's just bounce music for all of us here in New Orleans." Making the most of the recent media atten tion and capitalizing on the positive buzz has become a top priority for Freedia. That carpe diem attitude has fashioned Freedia as bounce music's first international ambassador. "We're all working really hard to keep mov ing, to keep it going. I guess the world is just getting more and more ready for what we're doing. Now is the time, and people are finally getting ready to hear it." Freedia is most certainly a queen, but the only drag you'll encounter will be The Showboys' 1986 classic "Drag Rap," the end lessly resampled nucleus to every NoLa bounce track.’ He also brings her own crew of dancers on the road with him. When asked for some parting words, here's Big Freedia's take on what bounce music is for the uninitiated: "It's about having fun, letting off some steam. If you're having a bad day, turn on some of that bounce music, shake your ass, let off some of that stress and have a good rime... Hip-hop today has a lot of neg ativity, so we're trying to keep positive things going cuz we have a big future ahead of us." Nate Mitchell WHO: Big Freedia. Quiet Hooves WHERE: Farm 255 WHEN: Friday, Apr. 15,11 p.m. HOW MUCH: FREE! Tipper EmmirNershi ¥ BackDrafest: A benefit for the Georgia Theatre Re-Build Dubconscious \jU and Ana Sia with Cas Haley and Bodega Raja New Mastersounds Beats i Antique with Eskmo El TeirEleven with Junk Culture Post STS? Party with PANTyRAID Jefferson'Starship featuring Paul Kantner & David Freiberg from Jefferson Airplane Mac Miller Zoogma m Grog us flagpole % APRIL 13,2011 FLAGPOLE.COM 23
