Just Be Free

Editors’ Notes 2014’s Just Be Free showed that even after being discovered by a national audience, Big Freedia could still turn out ultra-raw distillations of the New Orleans style in the form of “N.O. Bounce,” “Where My Queens At,” and “Explode.” Bounce music has always been manic, but it’s never been so muscular. The rest of the album envisions an outrageous melding of bounce, techno, and Dirty South hip-hop. “Turn Da Beat Up” puts the force of a parade band behind its break beats. You’d be hard-pressed to find another album with as much unbridled physicality.