Katey Red grew up in the Melpomene Projects and got hooked on bounce music through artists like Cheeky Blakk, Partners-N-Crime and DJ Jubilee. Red and her friends would make up their own dance moves and lyrics, and after Jubilee saw Red perform at a block party, he helped sign her to Take Fo’ Records.
Her first album, “Melpomene Block Party,” followed in 1999.
Red was the first openly transgender and gay bounce artist, and her music is filled with out-and-proud lyrics, like the songs “Punk Under Pressure” and “Stupid.” In the early 2000s, Red along with Big Freedia, Sissy Nobby, Vockah Redu and other LGBTQ bounce artists, helped shape a scene that came to be known as “sissy bounce.” Journalist Alison Fensterstock wrote about sissy bounce in 2008 for Gambit, and features on Katey Red have appeared in publications like Vanity Fair and The New York Times. Red also has appeared on TV in "Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce" and "Treme."
Red next performs at 9 p.m. Saturday, June 29, at BJ’s Lounge in Bywater.
This interview is part of a series reflecting on New Orleans’ role in hip-hop. Read more here.
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Gambit: What was your introduction to bounce?
Katey Red: Oh my god, I used to always listen to Partners-N-Crime, DJ Jubilee, Ms. Tee and Cheeky Blakk. You could not get me to not buy their music. All four of them. I have an older sister, she’s 11 or 12 years older than me — Mia X came out with bounce with “Da Payback.” That was like a national anthem for women. When it came out, it was the shit. And she changed over to total hip-hop, so it may have been the only bounce song she made. But Ms. Tee and Cheeky Blakk, for sure.
Gambit: What was it about hearing Cheeky Blakk, hearing Ms. Tee, that stood out for you?
Red: Growing up in the Project, people used to have these speakers on the porch and stuff like that or they’d have block parties or something like a DJ, and we’d be outside making routines up to their songs. When “Twerk Something, Twerk Something” [came out], we were like “Oh my god, how did she come up with this?” You know, we were young, but we loved it. We fucking loved it.
DJ Jubilee plays a part because he kept us on our feet with all different types of dancing. He was giving us all kinds of dances to do versus just shaking our ass all the time. Growing up, that inspired me a lot. When Jubilee songs came on, we’re making up our own dances now because we’d heard the song so much — “And do the Katey Red all! The Katey Red!” It was just us growing up and having fun with it.
Celebrating New Orleans as hip-hop turns 50.
Gambit: Could you tell me about your first time on the mic?
Red: It was always Katey Red and Da Hoes. Those were the girls I grew up with, the girls I hung with. Some were older, some were younger, but we were all in the same age range. So as we got older, like 18-19, we weren’t old enough to be drinking and that kind of stuff, but we still used to go get our drinks and stuff, our daiquiris from the daiquiri shop. And we’d drink our daiquiri in the hallways. One of the girls, her name’s Trina, she’d holler “Katey Red is a! / Dick sucka!” And I was like, “Girl, why would you do that?” But we’d just use that and made a beat to it [by beating on the wall].
My first time on the mic was October 21, 1998, I’ll never forget it. The boy Loverboy — Leon, aka Loverboy — he had a birthday party at the sports bar behind the Project, it was like a little teen club. So we were over there, feeling good, and the DJ called me to the DJ booth. I went up there, and he was like, “Hey, get the mic.” I said, “What you mean? Get it for what?” and he said, “Get the mic and rap!” I was like, “Boy, I’m not no rapper, don’t play with me.” He said, “Do what y’all be doing over there in the hallway.”
I gave him the microphone back and was leaving the DJ booth, like “Boy, don’t play with me. I ain’t no rapper.” But I’m walking out of the DJ booth and Da Hoes are walking up, like “What did he want?” I told them he wanted me to get on the mic, and they’re like, “Yes, get on the mic. Let’s sing our song.” So by then, Loverboy walks up and says, “So you’re not gonna grab that mic for us?”
Of course, I’m drunk and I grab the microphone.
Red explains she initially started rapping lyrics that would become the opening lines of her song “Punk Under Pressure,” before giving the microphone back to the DJ. But the crowd pushed her back into the DJ booth, and she kept rapping.
So I got the microphone and I said, “Katey Red is a!” and the whole place shouted “Dick sucka!” I was like, “Oh my gosh, how do people know this?” They always heard us singing it, they always heard us in the Project singing.
Before you know it, my legs were shaking, my legs were moving to the beat. I’m bopping my head to the beat. When I woke up the next day, I thought it was all a dream.
I woke up and took my shower. There was a block party up the street and a girl came up to me to say, “Come get the microphone for me.” I said, “Look, I’m not no rapper.” She said, “I got $50.” I said, “Where the mic at?” And before you know I’ve been on the microphone ever since.
Gambit: What was your first concert like?
Red: It was Thanksgiving in New Orleans East. It was another teen club called The Dance Party. It was packed as hell. My first time performing live in concert. Me and my girls, we got dressed up, but I was scared as hell. Because around that time, they still had a lot of gay bashing and stuff like that and hate crime against gays. So I was thinking, what if I walk through this audience or what if I’m on stage and someone throws something at me? That was a big fear for me — I still [worry] like that because there’s still hate crimes against gays.
But for that first concert, I was nervous as hell. They got me something to drink, maybe a Heineken or something like that, and I loosened up a little bit. When I got on stage and my girls started shaking their ass, everything went down. It was like, “What a relief.” The crowd was enjoying it and screaming.
Gambit: Could you tell me more about the early years of your career, when you, Big Freedia, Sissy Nobby and more were building this community?
Red: A lot of people used to call it “sissy bounce.” It’s not “sissy bounce,” it’s just sissies that are making bounce music. People used to label it like that — and we were OK with that. But before we got integrated and crossed over, they even had events like, “Battle of the Sissies” or “Battle of the Punks” and stuff like that. It would be like me, Big Freedia, Vockah Redu, Sissy Nobby and a lot of the same people in the same concerts.
I was transgender, but they called it sissy back then. I was the first sissy to do it, and the first openly gay who did it. I guess people liked it so much, and people didn’t recognize [it was bounce] until they heard us doing it, so they thought it was our own genre of music. That’s why they were calling it sissy bounce — but it’s just bounce. It’s all bounce, and it’s just different types of people doing it.
Gambit: I’m glad you brought that up, because I wanted to ask about how you felt about the term “sissy bounce” today.
Red: It doesn't offend me. It doesn’t offend me at all. I’m OK with it as long as they know how far to go with it. I’m trans, but we didn’t use words like transsexual or trans woman, it was like “the punks,” “the sissies.” We were OK with that as long as you didn’t call us a man or something like that.
When we did drag shows, they’d call it the punk shows. That’s just the era I come from. My first song was “Punk Under Pressure.” I was [out as] a trans woman then, but just because the words in that era, I was OK with calling myself the punk under pressure. That’s my music and that made me who I am today.
Gambit: You mentioned earlier that you had the backing of the Melpomene. Did you always feel like you had support and a crowd?
Red: Yeah, and I still do to this day.
Celebrating New Orleans as hip-hop turns 50.
Gambit: You helped open the doors for trans and gay artists in bounce music. Do you feel like that acceptance has grown?
Red: That has been. It’s not only accepting LGBT people making bounce music — it’s LGBT people coming from everywhere. Every time you look up, it’s a new LGBT artist. There are other trans girls all over America just making more music. I’m like, wow, I’m glad I could help that.
I came out in ’98. That was some years ago. Now we have Lil Nas X. We have Big Freedia. We had Nicky da B. I’m just naming a few. And they don’t all do bounce, but there’s openly gay people who’s making all kinds of music. But we need more endorsements and sponsorships and stuff like that.
Gambit: What are your thoughts about bounce music today?
Red: It’s not the same anymore. It seems like it’s only staying in the New Orleans and Texas area now. We used to be in Chicago, New York, L.A., San Francisco. They wanted bounce music everywhere, but now, it feels like it’s dying down. Artists when they go on tour, they’re only in Louisiana or maybe Mississippi or maybe Texas.
When I was running in here and on tour, I was bringing other artists with me. I had an all-boy dance team and an all-girl dance team, and I would go on tour with them. I was doing that because I wanted bounce music to make it. I wanted bounce music to be mainstream. I brought different artists with different styles, and people were booking us.
I’m saying all that to say, if certain people would have taken their popularity and brought up other artists with them, it would be different. Right now, it’s staying in Louisiana, where it came from.
Gambit: Is there something about bounce that you feel LGBTQ artists work well in? Is there a relationship between the music and the community in a unique way?
Red: No, it's not. For me, it's like I'd tell any other bounce artist or wannabe bounce artist or new bounce artist, if you have originality, you’re gonna steal a crowd. Everybody’s doing everybody’s sound like everybody else, and you have to sound different. You have to come with your own sound, your own lyrics, your own way. And that’s for anybody.
I opened the doors for a lot of people. And it’s so many gays out here making bounce music, but some of them doing it just to be messy. Diss tracks and stuff like this. So I think if you have originality, you’ll be successful. You come with originality, you’re gonna catch the ears.
Q&As with artists about the past, present and future of New Orleans hip-hop and bounce.