Central City is Big Freedia’s first full-length LP in nine years. Clearly, the best-known name in New Orleans bounce – a stripped-back, party-forward variant of hip-hop – has not been idle, releasing a fistful of EPs, starring in multiple TV series and being extensively featured, most recently by Beyoncé, who showcased Freedia on Formation (2016) and on last year’s ubiquitous Break My Soul.
Central City bears the hallmarks of all this success, in its own vintage guest list (Ciara, Faith Evans, Lil Wayne), high production values and songcraft. One of the chief appeals of bounce was always its raucous minimalism, where sampled and looped phrases did battle with choppy old-school productions. If there is an eyebrow to raise at this 16-track workout, it’s the proliferation of actual songs with actual vocals. Motivate Ya features the soulful Kelly Price on the hook and scans like pop music, rather than a pile-driver designed to level a club. Already released, $100 Bill features not only Ciara, but heightened levels of musicality (as well as air horns). Mercifully, there are tracks such as Bigfoot, a low-slung, bass-laden beast of a track, plus bodily humour on Pepto Interlude (“I got cramps!”) and Booty Like a Drummer, a mighty endorphin rush made of beats and shouting.
