Big Freedia Takes Us to Church

Big Freedia – Credit: Hunter Holder*

The Baptist preacher and blues musician, Rev. Robert Jones, Sr. once told an interviewer that “the sacred and the secular grew up right next to each other,” backing his claim with Psalms 30:5, “weeping endures for a night but joy comes in the morning.” Such is the sentiment behind Pressing Onward, the first gospel record from bounce artist Big Freedia.

The 14-track project opens with “Revival,” a bluesy piece in which a handpicked choir chants to its audience – whom they deem their “sisters and brothers” – to “love one another,” followed by a declaration to “get up.” The sentiment “get up,” has a double meaning for Big Freedia — who grew up attending the New Orleans’ Pressing Onward Baptist Church, which she named her album after. It’s a literal call to physically stand up in praise and worship but also to persevere through unexpected hard times. For Freedia — who lost her partner Devon Hurst this past May, as the project was being promoted — the lyrics and title of this album take on a deeper meaning.

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“Take My Hand,” starts off as a spiritual call and response, originally from the 1988 song “Take Hold Of My Hand,” by gospel artist Dr. C.J. Johnson, from his album My Father’s Work. On Pressing Forward, Big Freedia reintroduces the song in true Bounce fashion, blending contemporary sounds with older music by repurposing the original with a funkier danceable beat. Yet again, the anointing lies between its lyrics, as the queer artist tells her “divas” and “non-believers” to “come as you are.” In a time when transgender rights are under threat via a backlash spurred on by harmful theology within church spaces, the call for inclusion — despite one’s gender identity, expression, or sexuality — is both a rarity and necessity within the traditional gospel and Christian world.

Freedia clearly expresses her perspective on religion in the song “Church,” in which the chorus tell us, “we don’t need a preacher to go to church,” reinforcing the idea that one’s connection with God is first found within oneself and that the physical church — while historically important to Black communities enduring racism — is an extension of that internal relationship. “Let it Rain,” which puts one in mind of gospel legend Kirk Franklin’s “Melodies From Heaven,” has the potential to make its rounds in the dance scene, with techno elements that would be perfect for a Tik-Tok challenge.

Pressing Onward only has two features – “Holy Shuffle,” featuring Pose’s Billy Porter, and “Sunday Best,” featuring Tamar Braxton. And yet, the album is notable in the chances it takes, as Freedia tries on a variety of sounds like dance and techno, alongside the traditional elements of gospel and Bounce beats. “Never Forget,” makes one want to sing choral vibrato while simultaneously twerking to the beat. It’s in this intersection of bounce, blues, gospel, and spirituals where Freedia solidifies sonically that we all can live within the same realm. Pressing Onward serves as a metaphor for Big Freedia and by extension her fans, who might be moving through grief (be it personal or political). The album also cultivates spaces where divinity and humanity can coexist. As she told Rolling Stone shortly after performing a free concert in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn over the summer, “It’s all about catching the spirit,” whether you’re clapping your ass or your hands. And it’s all holy.

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