The journey after Katrina, it opened a lot of doors for a lot of people. Coming from a rooftop to going to Hollywood and around the world, internationally teaching people about bounce music, definitely God is good and amazing about what he can do with your life.

I create music for myself first of all because if I'm not happy with the music I create, I can't make anybody else happy.

I come from a community plagued with so much poverty and violence and homophobia.

I would love to do something with many artists, you know: Fantasia, Cardi B, Lil Wayne, J.Lo, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson. There's so many of them! All of them are iconic in their own way and to collaborate with any of those artists of that magnitude would be such an honor for me because I grew up listening to them and I love their music.

I've been dying to do something with Ms. Patti LaBelle because she is so iconic. I grew up listening to her with my mom in the house. She is such a big inspiration to me.

Like a lot of artists, I started out as a singer in my church choir when I was a child.

I draw my strength from my mom, who passed away a few years ago. She taught me from the day I was just a little boy to never give up and be proud of who I am.

Of course, Bounce is all about the dance moves.

Everything has a feeling to it, even if it's not your type of music - it has a feeling for somebody in the world.

I was a choir director for my high school. Of my friends, I was the more rational one, because I was the choir girl!

For a long time a lot of people thought New Orleans wasn't a safe place and that it was very ratchet.

I'm steady trying to make this bounce stuff mainstream and do some wonderful and great things for the culture of New Orleans.

I was young so when I had that job at Burger King, I was still in high school and I just needed to help out my mom. And help myself because I needed to buy some of my clothes. I did that for about three years and I had became a shift manager working at Burger King, doing my thing. I was young and excited to make my own money.

It has to do a lot more than just twerking. It's feel good music; it makes people have a good time. It doesn't matter what type of situation they're in, we bounce all around New Orleans. Weddings, birthday parties, funerals. The whole nine yards, and it's a happy music, it turns people from a frown to a happy smile.

I'm always working and coming up with new and fresh ideas to keep my fans engaged and keep myself relevant.

I mean you have to work hard to earn respect and make people respect you. When I come to the presence of any room or any place, people give me the most high respects and I'm gracious and appreciative of that.

The bigger artists are definitely looking and paying attention to the culture and the style of bounce music.

The first 10 years of my journey, I was still figuring out who I was, and then I had to redo it all over again when I became bigger. So instead of saying, 'I'm gay and this is me,' I started telling the story through my music.

I can't pull back. I'm 6 foot 3, I'm tall, and I'm gay. I light up the room.

I get DMs all the time: kids who don't know how to come out to their parents, parents who don't know how to deal with their kids who are gay. I try to give the best advice I can.

I came out at a very early age. I sat my mom down at my 12th birthday party and told her in front of my friends. She said, 'Baby, mama already knows, and I'm going to love you regardless.' Once I got my mom's support, there was nothing else I needed.

Freedom to me can be so many things; freedom to be myself, to express myself and do the things I want to do, freedom to go in any direction I want to go in order to accomplish my goals.

I've grown in tremendous ways with enhancing my music, my ability to perform on stage and travel all around to spread bounce music. I've come so far from being that little black boy growing up in New Orleans to now.

I like to make everything and I can really cook.

That was one thing my mama instilled in me: to be well trained in the kitchen. Growing up, I was always in the kitchen with her. You name it, I make it: red beans and rice, lasagna, chicken, pork. I am the queen of cooking.

I've always loved to cook. It helps me to relax and gives me peace. It's my nourishment.

Generally, I cook from the soul and measure by eye, throwing in this and that along the way. But I want to be a certified chef. That's one of my goals.

Everybody knows that at a Freedia show, you're definitely going to have some crowd participation, and they're anticipating and waiting for that moment.

There's so much fashion out there, and I'm so busy, sometimes it's even hard to look at TV to see who's wearing what.

I was so big, so I had to always come up with my own creations. Like, when I would do junior prom and stuff, I would have stuff specially made or added to my outfit. I definitely was always into trying to do something a little over and beyond.

Some of my friends really rock out: Matt and Kim, Diplo, when RuPaul was performing. Beyonce... there's tons of people I saw perform and was like, 'I just want my crowd to be awesome like this!'

I met Icona Pop by chance because we were both recording at the same studio. I was a fan so when I heard they were in the next room, I went to say hi. Next thing I knew, they were on two songs.

The first club that reopened in New Orleans was Caesar's, and they called me immediately and said let's do a regular night with you here. So we started FEMA Fridays. It was the only club open in the city, and a lot of people had a lot of money from Katrina, the checks and stuff, so the joy inside that club - I don't think that'll ever come back.

Everybody in the world now wants to twerk. We don't twerk here in New Orleans, we bounce, we wiggle, we wobble, we shake, we bust it open, bend it over, we do it all.

Twerking is just limited to a certain, specific dance where it's hand on the knees and you're busting open. With bounce music, we do a whole lot more and everyone is so unique in the way that they move and their personality.

I got my style from my mom, she was a classy lady.

Before I was rapping, I was an interior designer and decorator.

A lot of people think that I am trans but I'm not trans. I am a gay male with hair and nails. So if you say 'he' or 'she' it doesn't matter. I know who I am.

I'm over twerking.

When something get hot, everybody want to jump on the bandwagon and act like they created it.

You can see yourself in the mirror. You can see how you want your body to move. Everybody wants to look sexy when they're dancing, so that mirror will be, you know, that reflection of yourself of how you will look in the club, so definitely use the mirror at home.

First and foremost, I'm human. I'm a person.

I feel very accepted, like I never have any slander. I never have any issues. You know, like, when people see me, they respect me. It's all about how you carry yourself.

Definitely practice in the mirror before you attempt it. You have to use your body in the upright position, you can use your knees for support and that's the only way you can twerk.

I always try to have my hair and my nails did no matter what. As long as that's done, putting an outfit and some shoes together, and a little makeup, that's nothing.

When I go shopping, I try to specify certain things for certain events, but most of the time, I have so much stuff to pull from at home in the closet.

The best times I've had backstage are when you have people around you who genuinely love you, respect your privacy, and have your back - that's what it's all about.

Performing has always been a natural part of me.

We have a dance in bounce music called 'exercising' where you just open your legs and shake your butt a little bit from side to side.

Bounce is taking flight all over the globe. New York especially, and L.A., Canada, Portland, Washington. It keeps getting bigger and bigger.