BIG FREEDIA

K-Ruth
Taylor Moon
at Crowbar
GA: $25/$28 – VIP: $50

In March 2020, Big Freedia was ready to roll. The Queen of Bounce had a sparkling new EP,Louder, setfor release. It came on the heels of acclaimed appearances on Beyonce’s “Formation,” Drake’s “Nice forWhat.” Freedia was beyond excited to unleashLouder,a five-song effort that was her first proper releasesince 2018, and one that featured Icona Pop and Kesha.

However, there was one issue: its release date. When the collection dropped on March 13, the world wasseveral days into a lockdown that would last for most of the year, and Freedia actually contracted thevirus in its early days. While that demoralized many others, Freedia did what Freedia does best:persevere.Instead of heading into a year-long tailspin thatLouderdidn’t get the play it deserved, the belovedartistknown as “Queen Diva” immediately got back to creating. Freedia hopped into a studio, but not the oneyou’d think. In addition to being a music star, Freedia is an experienced cook; she formally launched anonline cooking show, where she’d hunker down in her kitchen and would make fun cocktails, food anddesserts, that has led to even more burgeoning culinary and lifestyle opportunities, to be announced in thecoming year.Throughout 2021, Freedia unleashed a series of sizzling bounce anthems serving as appetizers to her newsix-song EP titledBigDivaEnergy.

On the project,Freedia emits the recurring positivity she’s known for,however there’s a noticeable strength, passion, and will that’s been emboldened and set ablaze evenstronger than before throughout. The EP acts as a statement, imploring people to work hard, play harderand to pause, in order to LOVE and to enjoy life through their own Big Diva Energy.Now it wouldn’t be a Big Freedia record without the inclusion of special guests. On the spunky “NotToday,” Freedia enlisted the Scissor Sisters’ own Jake Shears alongside Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph of Tankand the Bangas and Galactic fame to add some pizzazz to this instant classic.

The song exemplifies thehigh-energy voltage and vibes that Freedia is going for, with its message about setting boundaries andstanding up for yourself.Also, on the EP is the Omega and Teal Douville – produced banger, ‘BDE’ (which stands for exactly whatyou’re thinking!) – and oh boy does it bring all the head-spinning ENERGY! It’s Freedia at her finest.With an assist from Jax and viral instrumentalist Marc Rebillet to spice things up sonically, the song’sempowering message is all about swagger, style, confidence and ‘boss’ people who bring infectiousconfidence to not only a room, but the world.

Freedia isn’t just excited to unleashBDE,she’s lookingforward to what’s become an increasinglybrighter future overall. A lot of people are going through hard times, and what better cure than an upbeatnew Freedia EP? On top of a nationwide tour celebrating the release of the EP, and more TV appearanceslined up, New Orleans’ own royalty Freedia has a lot more activity in the not-so-distant future, the truemark of a great well-rounded multi-hyphenate.