Big Freedia opens the Power Plant Stage at the Buku Music and Arts Project in New Orleans.
Tom Hausman sat down with Big Freedia after her performance at the BUKU Music and Art Project to talk about her place within the music industry and within the LGBT movement.
TH: What do you think your place is within the LGBT movement?
BF: Well, a lot of people look up to me, and they say that I give them motivation and that I inspire them, and I just want to keep on motivating and inspiring people and to let them know that anything is possible. I’m a little black boy who came from Josephine right here in New Orleans. I stayed consistent to what I believed in; I worked hard, you know, and I followed my dreams, and things happened. Keep working on staying positive, you know, being right by people, and live life correctly, and things happened for me in magical ways.
TH: You describe yourself as a gay man and not transgender, but that you are just a man who likes to wear women’s hair and a purse. So do you feel there’s this big need to label things in the community that you don’t like?
BF: Not at all, everybody want to throw labels on stuff, I be like, throw the labels out the door. We are just all human, we’re all equal, we all share the same blood, and we all eat food. Let’s just throw the labels out the door and say “forget them all.”
TH: Your album came out in June, and you are shooting the Dangerous video this weekend, and it’s been almost a year since you released it, and you are still working on this album. Any plans for more, or are you still trying to complete this album?
BF: I don’t know; the new album is coming this summer. I’m working on a new album; the book [titled “God Save the Queen Diva”] is coming out also in the summer. So I have a lot of things going on, you know, also working on the TV show, working on season four, so things are progressing. We’re working, baby.
TH: With shows like this, like BUKU, it’s nice to stay home, isn’t it?
BF: Oh yeah, most definitely.
TH: Have you done BUKU before?
BF: Yes, this is my third year.
TH: How is the festival progressing?
BF: It’s definitely elevating; they’re getting more organized. They’re changing up the lineup a little bit; it’s really just a fun festival to come to in New Orleans and to represent my hometown. The people love it, the music is good, the food is good, the artists that come to represent their art is phenomenal, and it’s an amazing fest.
TH: Anyone that you are excited to see today?
BF: Well, I was thinking that I was going to see A$AP Rocky and a few others, but I’m actually working still. I have a dance class at 6 and a few more press interviews, so I’m still busy working. Hopefully I’ll get to catch somebody, though.
TH: All right, and just a final question, what was the first album you ever owned that had significant impact on you?
BF: Michael Jackson.
TH: Which one?
BF: Bad. Still got it, yes.
