Big Freedia is known as the Queen of Bounce, but her latest album provided an opportunity to try something completely different: gospel.

"If you didn't know, the Queen of Bounce started in gospel. I come from the church, and it has been on my heart to do a gospel album for a while now," the rapper, 47, exclusively told Us Weekly while discussing Pressing Onward , which drops Friday, August 8. "And I think right now it's just very important because it's something that the world needs. We need a little bit of joy with all this crazy stuff that's happening around the world."

Freedia, whose live performances are known for their copious twerking sessions, first got the idea to get "back to [her] roots" during a songwriting camp she attended about two years ago. One song in particular,

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