Fresh off the Grammy’s where she came to support Queen Bey for lending her vocals on the political masterpiece “Formation,” Big Freedia has a lot to celebrate in her life. She spoke with Creative Lofting on how she feels making it big and the journey it took to get there.

Check it out:

On her growing success:

“You know a girl never tells her age,” she joked when queried on a birth year (it’s 1978) as well wishers clamored in the background. “But yes, I’m from here, so I like to move myself around. I know all the shortcuts and everything. As you can tell, people holler at me all day.”

“You know there are things you have control over and certain things that you don’t,” Freedia said about the gaffe, showing she hasn’t hung on to heartache. “All you can do is keep doing what you do, keep working hard and wishing for best the next time around.” It’s a refreshing sentiment to hear from the totally turnt, 6-foot-2 bounce ambassador poised to bring a much-needed slice of an exciting Crescent City culture to the masses.

On Music:

“It’s a happy music. It’s a party music. It’s a music coming out of New Orleans, and it represents the culture. There is also no such as sissy bounce or non sissy bounce,” Freedia said as she acknowledged that bounce — like every facet of life — has artists who are gay. “We don’t separate it. We don’t divide it. It’s bounce music to all of us.”

On Authenticity:

“You can’t be fake. You can’t be phony, and you have to be willing to take the consequence that come with it,” Freedia said. “The most important thing is to be yourself, love yourself and believe in what you’re doing.”

Read the rest of the exhilarating interview here.