Queer visibility in hip-hop has always lagged behind other genres, but right now it's making a big leap forward. Or rather, a bounce.

Bounce, an infectious strain of booty music out of New Orleans that incorporates raw production, raunchy lyrics, and the propulsive push of the city's historic second-line rhythms, is providing a national platform for artists who've tearing up the Big Easy since the late '80s -- including the openly gay performers who are an integral part of this phenomenon.

Stars Big Freedia, Katey Red, and Sissy Nobby all make prominent cameos on Ya-Ka-May, the latest album by NOLA funk outfit Galactic on Anti- Records (home to Tom Waits and Neko Case -- not to mention notorious homophobe Buju Banton). Katey Red breaks down the scene in a new Vanity Fair online write-up; music industry shindig SXSW is hosting its first-ever bounce showcase at the club Submerged on Saturday, March 20; a web documentary entitled Punks Under Pressure: A Sissy Bounce Story is currently in production; and in April the Ogden Museum of Southern Art is hosting an exhibit celebrating bounce entitled "Where They At?" Damn!