At what point did you “discover” RuPaul—or as you have referenced “the Monster?” Professionally, I started in the ‘80s. Everything
we were doing back then was a reaction to what was happening in the Reagan years. We were the bohemian kids, we were punk rock and we worked in clubs—everything like that. We were all disciples of Andy Warhol in that we became shape-shifters and would create identities. We didn’t want to be married to one particular idea. Drag became one of those things early on that sort of stuck. People had such strong reactions to me in a way that I had never expe- rienced before. Eventually I realized that the universe was telling me “do that, do that” and it worked! It’s one of the things that stands out about you, the concept of it being “meant to be,” it’s that natural. You have done so much to change our perceptions on sexuality and what it means to be “male” and “female.” That is something to be proud of. Thank you, I am proud of that. What I am the most
proud of though, is actually having heard what the universe’s stage direction was for me. I believe there is something like that for everyone. We all have an idea of what it is, but preconceived notions of who we “should be” blind us to those choices. You have talked about drag as not really being about impersonating a woman, but trying to be the most beautiful possible, tell us a little more about that. We chatted a little about it earlier with the Warhol
mentality about being born naked and creating an identity, creating your superstar. Then actually not having to stick to it, being a shape-shifter and evolv- ing—squeezing as many lives into this one lifetime as possible. Drag is so freeing in a particular kind of way and that’s sort of the bohemian philosophy. Also not to take yourself too seriously, which is not a new idea, but as a sort of post-modern concept it is. You are not just what it says on your driver’s license, we are so much more than that.
30 RAGE monthly | FEBRUARY 2014 RAGE monthly | FEBRUARY 2014
In some ways, our generation had fewer restrictions on what or who we could be because of the “free love” vibe. It allowed us to explore things. It’s very different now; we are so much more fear-based. Yes, that’s an interesting point. I don’t know if I
could actually do what I did in the same way today. Before MTV and now social media, things had more time to ruminate and grow. Time to organically morph into something bigger and better and de- velop into a different language. When MTV came around a new idea would get snatched up by a stylist, put on a music video and that trend would be over in a year, the turnover is so fast that you’re done really before you have the chance to get started! That’s one of the challenges of social media and our instantaneous culture: we don’t always have the chance to mature things—actually to even be able to think about them—which can be a little unnerving. You’re absolutely right, that is the challenge for
young ones today. Being able to sustain interest, especially with their f*cking A.D.D. asses (laughs)! The ability to stick with something as long as it takes to make it work is a challenge. The mind’s ability to grow is something that really
hasn’t changed much though, even with the Internet and all our other media sources. It just takes that much time for the human brain to assimilate and refine what it is that you are doing. The up-and-coming generations completely fascinate me, because of that access to information. It’s changing the way that they think. They have access yes, but it’s done without a cura-
tor, which by the way, is what’s important about what things like your magazine does. Kids need a curator to help show them direction; sort of a cruise director who can guide them because there is so much infor- mation that it literally can flood their engines. I think that’s one of the interesting things about having some time behind us… perspective. We integrated the changes
wrought by the ‘60s generation and I think it gave us some freedoms to create ourselves in a particular kind of way. Everything is cyclical and with all the information
the young have I think that the only place it can go is to a more organic sensibility. I think they have to slow down and create a sense of stillness. This manic energy that prevails right now is crazy, I think the only other way it can go is that their heads will explode (laughs)! Let’s chat a bit about the upcoming RuPaul’s Drag Race and that part of your world! The girls in season six are amazing! They are beautiful creatures aren’t they? These are
hungry, courageous kids who are so very talented. This year we have a group that is much more skilled, they are theDrag Race generation. They have grown up watching the show, have been a part of the busi- ness and really know what they’re doing. Any teasers you can share with us? Obviously I can’t talk about too much, but we do
have a line-up of amazing judges coming: Khloe Kardashian, Adam Lambert, Paula Abdul,Exorcist star Linda Blair, Leah Remini, Jaime Pressly, Community’s Gillian Jacobs, Chaz Bono, Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka. It’s just as great as it has been before, but even better if you can believe it. Your new album is coming out soon, isn’t it? On February 24, the premiere night of our show.
It’s calledBorn Naked and my third album with Lucian Pianni, we did Champion and Glamazon together. It continues the melodic pop dance aesthetic; I love it so much and am so proud of it! Plus, all of the season six girls have recorded some songs from my catalog; it’s available now and called RuPaul Presents: The Covergirls. And, I have a candy bar coming out (laughs). It’s
called RuPaul! It’s coming out on the premiere night too, which is fun. The RuPaul candy bar, I love it. With nougat, I‘m sure! Yes, with nuts or with no nuts (Laughs)!
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