Queen diva Big Freedia's fierce and fabulous energy is contagious. Born and raised in New Orleans, this musical risk-taker and lightning-speed booty shaker was first introduced to bounce music (a call-and-response style subgenre of hip-hop) in the early '90s. She was immediately hooked and, as she tells Ophira Eisenberg, spent the following decades working nonstop to establish herself as an icon of the New Orleans music scene. Today she's on the cutting edge of the bounce movement, performing most nights of the week in clubs from New Orleans to L.A. At these performances audiences from all walks of life are invited to join Big Freedia on her mission to change the world through "the power of azzzz."
"Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce," a reality show chronicling the queen diva's life, is now in its fifth season on Fuse TV. "When season one started, I never would have thought we would have been at season five," says Freedia, who admits that having a reality TV crew follow her around every day is sometimes taxing. Then again, having her life recorded around the clock also has its perks. This season, for example, fans will get to watch one of the most fabulous moments of Big Freedia's life unfold before their eyes: the day she got a phone call from Beyoncé. "I died and came back to life!" Freedia gushes to Ophira. "She called and she was just like, 'I have this project I'm working on called Formation, I'm shooting everything in New Orleans, and I want you to be a part of it.'"
For this week's VIP game we bring you the musical collaboration the world has been waiting for: Big Freedia plus Jonathan Coulton. We've taken Big Freedia's song, "I Heard..." and changed the lyrics to be about things that bounce or can be bounced on.
HIGHLIGHTS
On defying stereotypes
People always want to put us in a box. They always want to put us in a category separate from everybody else. First and foremost I'm human, I'm a person, I am an artist. And I'm an artist that just so happens to be gay.
On twerking
You should definitely start at home in the mirror. The mirror is your path to getting it right.
Heard on Big Freedia: Queen Diva Of Quizzes
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