Big Freedia is looking FIERCE on the cover of PAPER magazine! GET T, GURL. Inside, she opens up to pal Lizzo about her new EP, 3rd Ward Bounce, released this month, as well as working with Drake and Beyoncé, and her Bounce legacy.
A snippet below.
LIZZO: You’re simultaneously representing bounce and the LGBTQ+ community. Both of those things haven’t had the opportunity to be mainstream, especially the black side of all of those things. Not to make this a black or white issue, but you know, I’m calling it like it is. Do you feel like that sometimes makes it a little more difficult? Do you face more obstacles?
BIG FREEDIA: Well, in the beginning, I felt like, “Oh my God I’m a black artist trying to get out there, and I’m gay. I may be limited.” and then, once I kept on pushing through and knocking down doors and breaking barriers, there was no turning back and no looking back. People started seeing that my work speaks for itself and my dedication to my music speaks for itself. I continued to work hard, and people started booking me more, and my name started getting bigger, and my agents and my managers and my staff started working even harder. Things have been rising. I’m very blessed and humbled to continue my journey of setting the foundation for other artists that are coming under me.
I did see that people in the LGBTQ+ community were a little upset with their representation [in media]. They say, “Our voices are used but not our bodies. You don’t put us in videos.” And they use you as an example for that, especially in the “Nice For What” video. Do you know how that went down?
Well, not really. But I told people I don’t have to be in everything digitally as long as you recognize who the voice is and the check cleared. Over time, things will continue to grow. In this community, things don’t just happen overnight. I have had my own TV show. Other people are on all different kinds of TV shows now. They had the gay Queer Eye For The Straight Guy. We are out there visually. We got Laverne Cox, we got RuPaul, and we got Drag Race. Baby, we have come from nothing to way more something than we’ve ever been, so we have to take what we get and use it to the best of our ability. And keep continuing to grow. Patience is the key.
Amen. And also, seeing you on stage with Beyoncé at the Formation tour? Visibility!
Baby, I died and came back to life, honey. I was getting ready to go up and she came and kissed me on my cheek and baby, I died right there before I could even go on stage. Next thing I knew, I was walking out and she was rising from the middle.
