Big Freedia
Updated: Wikipedia source
Freddie Ross Jr. (born January 28, 1978), better known by her stage name Big Freedia ( FREE-də), is an American rapper, singer and performer known for her work in the New Orleans genre of hip hop called bounce music. Freedia has been credited with helping popularize the genre, which had been largely underground since developing in the early 1990s. In 2011, she was named Best Emerging Artist and Best Hip-Hop/Rap Artist in January's "Best of the Beat Awards", and she was nominated for the 2011 22nd GLAAD Media Awards. In 2013, she got her own reality show on the Fuse Channel, which chronicles her life on tour and at home. On July 7, 2015, she released her autobiography God Save the Queen Diva!. At the end of 2016, Freedia was featured in a local New Orleans television ad for Juan LaFonta Law Office, in which she is shown rapping with bounce music and dancers. In 2018, she released the EP Third Ward Bounce. Freedia was scheduled to go on tour with Kesha in 2020, but it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, she returned to release her second studio album Central City on June 23. She has collaborated with artists including Beyoncé (who sampled her voice for her song "Formation" and on her 2022 number-one hit "Break My Soul"), Kesha, Lizzo, RuPaul, Slayyyter, New Kids on the Block, Jordin Sparks, Naughty by Nature, Boyz II Men, Jake Shears, and with Drake on his 2018 number-one hit "Nice for What".