The Baptist preacher and blues musician, Rev. Robert Jones, Sr. once told an interviewer that “the sacred and the secular grew up right next to each other,” backing his claim with Psalms 30:5, “weeping endures for a night but joy comes in the morning.” Such is the sentiment behind Pressing Onward, the first gospel record from bounce artist Big Freedia .

The 14-track project opens with “Revival,” a bluesy piece in which a handpicked choir chants to its audience – whom they deem their “sisters and brothers” – to “love one another,” followed by a declaration to “get up.” The sentiment “get up,” has a double meaning for Big Freedia — who grew up attending the New Orleans’ Pressing Onward Baptist Church, which she named her album after. It’s a literal call to physically stand up in praise

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