An interior decorator by day, Freddie Ross becomes Big Freedia by night. Either way, with her booming voice and magnetic presence, she utterly transforms any space she inhabits.
Big Freedia represents the vanguard of LGBT artists in New Orleans bounce, a style of party-ready rap music that features call-and-response vocals derived from early hip-hop and Mardi Gras chants, pulse-pounding tempos, and overtly sexualized lyrics and dancing. Its LGBT faction, sometimes externally defined as “sissy bounce,” lends a compelling gender fluidity to a rigidly heterosexual genre. Still, Big Freedia’s music is more about the medium than the message—the prime goal is to make posteriors pop and sweat drip. This fiercely regional music has infiltrated mainstream rap in numerous guises, especially Southern crunk. At the Casbah, with an opening set by Durham’s own Shirlette Ammons, Big Freedia offers a steamy slice of the real deal. DJ Chocolate Thunder will keep the party rolling until last call.