Grammy nominated artist Big Freedia debuted a new song at Loyola’s music industry and theater forum.
The New Orleans native performed pieces from her newest project, a Gospel album titled Pressing Onward, alongside students from the music program.
Big Freedia named Pressing Onward after the church in the Central City neighborhood she grew up singing in.
“I keep God first in everything I do,” she told the students. “Church was my safe haven growing up. I grew up singing in the choir and this project is about paying tribute to the roots where I started and giving God the glory for having my longevity to be in this game for such a long time, staying relevant, and being able to provide for me and the people around me. So I just had to make sure I gave God my praise.”
Big Freedia, who has been named “The Queen of New Orleans Bounce music” and is known affectionately by her fans as the “Queen Diva”, has gained international fame for her original work and collaborations with artists like Drake, Beyonce, and Lil Wayne.
“I’m very fortunate to be able to work with artists like Freedia and be able to share her with the world and Loyola and our students here,” said music industry professor Tim Kappel, who also serves as Big Freedia’s lawyer.
Kappel said he hopes his students will take away valuable lessons from the career of an artist like Freedia.
“Freedia is like the living embodiment of what can happen when you stay in the game long enough to have success,” he said. “So I hope that they can look at her and see that it’s going to take some resilience to succeed. It’s a long journey, it’s not just about, you know, going viral on Tiktok and being an overnight sensation. That can happen, but it’s much more likely that you have to grind it out for years and eventually be able to achieve something.”
Big Freedia’s manager Reid Martin a Loyola music alum. Martin hosted the event with the College of Music and Media to commemorate the 25 year anniversary of the music and theater forum. The forum brings students from all of the various musical and theatre disciplines offered on campus a chance to come together and exchange ideas with one another.
“I very much valued my time here at Loyola and it was really meaningful to my journey to both becoming an adult and working in the music industry, so I try to give back as much as I possibly can,” said Martin. “I think it’s good for the students to hear real world stories about what life is like when you get out of here and be able to help apply those lessons to your life as a Loyola graduate, so I’m really happy to be here.”
Freedia debuted the song with the help of some Loyola students as her background singers and band, who relished the chance at being able to play with such a successful artist.
“It was really special,” said senior jazz studies major Arnold Little III. “Especially being from New Orleans, you grow up hearing Big Freedia’s name all the time and she’s this bigger than life figure in New Orleans culture and it was just great, really.”
Senior jazz studies major Jordan Bush was also thrilled to be able to work with an artist of Big Freedia’s caliber.
“It’s always a blessing to be able to play with somebody who is standing in the place you want to be,” said Bush. “It’s a little humbling, but also extremely fun and exciting because it gets rid of all my anxiety about performing when you’re working with someone who’s so detail-oriented and competent, so it makes my job as a musician so much easier.”
