Rapper Big Freedia Brings Bounce to TV Audience
New Orleans hip-hop artist Big Freedia is twerking his way to TV screens.
The openly gay rapper, a representative of the city's vibrant underground music scene, debuted his weekly Fuse show, "Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce," earlier this month. He's helped bring bounce music - the energetic brand of hip-hop born in New Orleans that's conducive to the mid-section, hip-shaking dance move known as twerking - to the masses.
"It's been around for two decades. It's the culture there, it's history there," he said of the dance.
Last month, Big Freedia earned a Guinness World Records title for most people twerking simultaneously with more than 250 people in New York's Herald Square.
The performer said his new series, which airs Wednesdays, will reveal more layers of his personality.
"They get to see me on a more personal level. They get to see some of the struggles that I go through day-to-day," he said.
Big Freedia, who has opened for the Postal Service's tour this year, discussed his music, Miley Cyrus' twerking and homophobia in hip-hop in an interview with The Associated Press.