While she makes some big strides here as an artist, she’s also made sure to keep one foot planted firmly in the style that some of us consider nearly perfect.

Just the idea of hearing it in a DJ set is enough to make you sweat.Īs much as Just Be Free is intended to facilitate Freedia’s big break, it doesn’t neglect the fans who’ve followed her up to this point. Most notably, the album’s lead single “Explode” is a riot of overclocked drum machines and Freedia’s joyously hollered commands to lose yourself in her music. “Lift Dat Leg Up” has the epically scaled melody suited for the apex of a big-room DJ set. “Dangerous” is festooned with filter sweeps, dubsteppy synth bubbles, and sub bass tuned for a large-scale sound systems. “Turn Da Beat Up” expands Freedia’s sonic vocabulary to include Prodigy-style breakbeats, precipitous bass drops, blatting low brass, and a four-on-the-floor breakdown that invokes both house music and arena-rock.

Much of Just Be Free is aimed squarely at an EDM audience that so far has somehow eluded Freedia, despite the fact that bounce has steadily grown in that world's presence-largely thanks to Diplo and Nicky Da B's “Express Yourself”. With help from producer Thomas McElroy (Madonna, En Vogue), they’ve reworked Freedia’s trademark sound to make it cleaner, fuller, more nuanced, and more befitting a pop diva. Its raw, frenetic charge was a good match for her outsider status, but as they’ve charted a course for crossover success, she and longtime producer BlaqNmilD have changed their approach appropriately. The proclaimed Queen of Bounce has partnered with Netflix ’s Strong Black Lead to create a Hey Queen bounce remix tied to the. Freedia’s earlier material possessed a redlined sonic aesthetic that matched its manic energy, resembling a drum machine on the verge of a speed-driven breakdown through a maxed-out PA. Big Freedia is redefining royalty with some New Orleans bounce.

Big Freedia by Big Freedia