Big Freedia On ‘Big Freedia Bounces Back’ Season 6, Getting Sober, Twerking Advice For Miley Cyrus [VIDEO EXCLUSIVE]

Big Freedia on “Big Freedia Bounces Back” Season 6 by Uinterview

Big Freedia recently stopped by the uInterview New York City offices for an exclusive interview and spoke about season six of her Fusion network show Big Freedia Bounces Back

BIG FREEDIA EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW

Freedia has high hopes for the next season. “Im truly excited about this season, I think this is gonna be my best season yet, being that first of all we changed the title of the show,” she said. The show had been called Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce, which is her moniker, but decided on a change to reflect a whole new Freedia, who has become sober since season five.

“Im totally sober, it changed my life,” she said. “I have a clear mind now. I’m more focused, I have a lot more energy, I can wake up and just do so many things throughout my day.” Speaking more broadly about what fans can expect, she said, “I went through some adversities on the last season, and I am triumphing over this throughout this season, and you’ll be able to see that live in season six,” she told uInterview excitedly. “You may also get a chance to see me land a major label deal, you will see some of the old dancers as well as some of the new dancers. You will see a lot of good changes, even a little drama. I gave you a little drama this season for sure,” she laughed.

Freedia was sentenced to three years probation last year for lying about her income in order to gain federally subsidized housing, and she just barely avoided jail time. “I had some legal issues on last year, and I owned up to my mistake,” she explained. “I made a mistake in my career and in my life, and I’m just happy that I’m able to deal with all of it and bounce back and move forward, and that’s what it’s about.”

Freedia got her start in her hometown of New Orleans in the early 2000s by performing bounce music. “It’s bounce music, based out of New Orleans, it was an underground genre of music for a very long time, it’s connected to hip hop. I represent it in so many different ways because I am the ambassador of bounce music. I took this music from New Orleans and I started performing it all around the world and making people aware of the culture and the music… It’s been around for over two decades, and when i describe it to people, I describe it as up-tempo, heavy-bass, call-and-respond type music. And it’s definitely a party music, it will get the party started, and lots of twerking,” Freedia said, adding that, “I’m also the queen of Twerk, I hold the world Guinness Record for the most people simultaneously twerking.”

On twerking, Freedia shared her advice for how someone could improve their twerking technique. “Practice at home in the mirror,” she said seriously. “That way you can see that the way that your body moves, you will put your hands on your knees, you will arch your back, and you will make that butt go up and down. In New Orleans we’re born with it, it just comes naturally, like babies in Pampers can twerk in New Orleans,” she laughed.

“Child please,” she said when asked if Miley Cyrus could twerk as well as she can. “I’m still waiting on her to come take my lesson, just know that… she gotta come get a lesson from the Queen.”

Freedia also recently released a new single with DJ Mannie Fresh called “Dive.” “We’re also working on a full album so I’m super excited that two New Orleans artists got a chance to connect together and represent our hometown ad to give the world something new and something different,” she said. As for other collaborations, Freedia says she has some names of her bucket list that she’d like to work with, but didn’t give specifics, as nothing is set in stone.

As for being an openly gay performer in the hip-hop world. “For me, I haven’t had any problems,” she said. “I stay in my own lane, I don’t bother anybody, and that’s what protects me for being myself, and I do it being unapologetic about anything… I continue to go forward and do what’s best for Freedia.”

Freedia got her start in music by singing in gospel choirs at a young age, and then becoming a choir director in high school. “My mom, she wasn’t into music so far as being an artist or a singer, but she would have music bumping throughout the house every time we had to clean up on Saturday mornings, every Sunday morning when we would get up before church she would have music playing,” she said. “I transitioned from gospel music to bounce music in about 1998 when I started helping to background my friend Katie Red, who was the first transexual to come out with bounce music in New Orleans. And in about 2000, I did my own solo project that just took New Orleans by storm, and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

Watch Big Freedia Bounces Back at 10 p.m. ET on Tuesdays on Fuse.