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After watching Barbie fever sweep the nation last summer, RuPaul wanted to help the queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16 live their own life in plastic with the show’s latest challenge.
On Friday’s episode (Feb. 9), the judges tasked the remaining batch of queens with creating their very own limited edition dolls, making a miniature outfit for their made over mannequins as well as a life-sized version that they could model down the runway. Putting the contestants’ business savvy to the test, Ru then asked the girls to brand and pitch the dolls via voiceover.
Crafting two identical high-fashion looks for both herself and her “Fantasy Edition” figurine, Q finally got the A she’s been waiting for all season, scoring her first challenge win. Meanwhile, the self-proclaimed Queen of Flips Mhi’ya Iman LePaige didn’t impress with her clashing bodysuits, while La Diva Más Latina Geneva Karr failed to live up to the judges’ expectations with what guest judge Law Roach called a “horror queen” look.
Lip synching to Janet Jackson’s 1986 hit “Control,” Mhi’ya earned her regal sobriquet; with a series of death-defying handsprings, walkovers and jump splits, the Queen of Flips handily won the battle, sending Geneva Karr driving back to Texas.
Billboard chatted with Geneva about her time on the show, her struggle with sewing challenges, her Untucked reading session with Law Roach, and what it felt like to lip sync in every single episode.
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You had quite the run on Drag Race — what has it been like to watch yourself on the show these past few weeks?
Listen, getting to actually be there and film it and everything felt like a dream. And then I get to re-experience it and watch myself every single week for the past six weeks on television, and I’m just like, “Oh my god, I actually did it. I’m on Drag Race!” It’s just all good emotions and happy thoughts. I feel fulfilled — I feel like I graduated from the school of drag!
Does it ever feel weird watching yourself back on TV?
Oh, yes. It’s definitely weird, and it forced me to realize that I do certain facial expressions that I was simply not aware of. Now, my drag family is saying, “Yeah, you do that literally all the time.” [laughs]
Girl, you have been giving us the best reaction shots all season long.
Honestly, when you’re seeing my face like that, it is 100% natural. That is me being me in a way that I cannot control.
I have to commend you on your stamina, because you lip synched every single episode you appeared in — whether it was for a win, for your life or in a challenge. How the hell were you still standing by the time you finished these five episodes?
Yeah, there was a lot of lip synching. I like to think that Mama Ru and the judges were just taking care of my health — they wanted me to get my steps in! That’s what we’re going to run with.
Of course nobody wants to be in the bottom lip sync, but this is what I do back home. If you come to a show, I’m going to be lip synching. Let’s face it, I’m not going to bust out a sewing machine and sew out and eight count [laughs]. I will be performing, dancing, giving it to you! So, it’s kind of natural for me — if I had the opportunity to not be lip synching every episode that I was in, then I would have obviously chosen not to do so.
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You certainly showed just how good of a lip sync artist you are on the show. For you, what makes a great lip sync performance?
I grew up in the old-school traditional drag style. So to me, what makes a great lip sync is learning to connect with the song and express all your feelings and emotions through the words. You don’t need tricks, stunts, splits, kicks. It’s a lip sync. You have to be able to transport people, and tell the story of the song through your face. That’s what makes a great lip sync.
You had a heartbreaking moment halfway through the sewing challenge, where you decided to fully start over and make an entirely different outfit when you ran out of fabric. What was going through your head when you made that choice?
Yeah, I felt like I had to make an executive decision to either alter the outfit that I was working on and settling for something I didn’t want, or starting over. For some reason, in that moment, with the pressure of looking around and seeing everyone doing the most, it got to my head. I figured, “Maybe I should do the most, and try to find other fabric to come up with something bigger.” I didn’t really understand that a branding challenge doesn’t necessarily mean going big and over-the-top, as long as you actually make a brand. But with the nerves and the lack of sleep, I was just not thinking correctly.
I hear that, but I also appreciated that the queens in Untucked talked about how graceful you are under pressure. You really are a pro at accepting the circumstances for what they are and not allowing yourself to crumble under the pressure!
Thank you! As a former pageant queen, I understood in my early years of doing drag that sometimes, you have to just keep that composed mentality. Even when you see everything around you crumbling, you always have to remind yourself that you are fierce, and you might just be having a bad week. You just have to keep pushing forward and fighting.
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Speaking of Untucked, I must say I was beside myself when you clapped back at Law Roach’s critiques to his face! You are a brave queen, because Law will gather the girls if he needs to.
[laughs] Listen! Ms. Law Roach had her moment already on the judges panel! I got the critiques, and I thought, “I already took it over there, and now you’re in my territory, where I’m supposed to be calm — let’s put a stop to this real quick before you get too comfortable, Miss Thing!”
Let me be clear, I love Law Roach. I genuinely loved getting read by him. He said what needed to be said, and I was honored to get that feedback, truly. I really appreciate the honesty. This was just me having fun and seeing how he would react. Not going to lie, he was a little cracked!
As you head off the show, we’d love to know — what music have you been listening to lately?
As everyone saw on the premiere, I am a big Becky G fan. I have been listening to her new songs with Ángela Aguilar (“Por El Contrario”) and Peso Pluma (“Chanel”), and of course “Guapa.” I mean, and also “Shower,” it was my first lip sync after all! I’m just really gravitating towards her music and taking in the fact that she gave me so much advice when she was on, and I got to give her a hug! Yeah, I’m definitely in my Becky G era.
As we head into Super Bowl LVIII, why not amp up your party playlists with some new tunes from some of your favorite queer artists? Billboard Pride is proud to present the latest edition of Queer Jams of the Week, our roundup of some of the best new music releases from LGBTQ artists.
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From Girl in Red’s infectious new anthem to Shygirls’ exhilarating new dance EP, check out just a few of our favorite releases from this week below:
Girl in Red, “Too Much”
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For everyone who has ever tried to dim her shine, Girl in Red would like to raise a defiant middle finger. “Too Much,” the singer-songwriter’s debut track off her forthcoming new album I’m Doing It Again Baby!, is a stunning pop-rock kiss-off to a lover who just cannot understand her idiosyncrasies. Girl in Red delights in her own dramatics, letting her partner know how much she hates being told that she’s overdramatic in the most theatrical and thrilling way possible.
Shygirl, Club Shy
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Don’t let her name fool you — Shygirl is ready for a night out with her latest project. Club Shy sees the English upstart diving headfirst into the world of electronic music, delivering a phenomenal tribute to East London’s club scene. Whether she’s waving off a former flame (“Mr. Useless” feat. SG Lewis) or on the prowl for someone new (“4eva” featuring Empress Of), Shygirl basks in the glory of her new sound for every second of Club Shy, inviting you to come and dance along.
Zolita, “Bloodstream”
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Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Zolita is here to give you a song that can help express just how much you want to be with your partner. Brandishing her unique brand of alt-pop artistry, Zolita spends much of “Bloodstream” penning her very own declaration of love. Declaring that wants to be as physically close to her partner as possible, the star’s hazy vocal and rollicking production sound like they could soundtrack the climactic moment of any late-2000s rom-com. And that’s just part of what makes “Bloodstream” so irresistibly good.
Brittany Howard, “Power to Undo”
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With a toxic former lover knocking down her door, Brittany Howard is ready to stand firm and take her power back. Her rollicking new single “Power to Undo” — off her new album What Now — follows the former Alabama Shakes frontperson as she refuses to let herself fall back into the arms of an ex, reminding them that “you have the power because I gave it to you” time and time again. Add in the chaotic production, from chest-pounding drums to haywire guitar riffs, and you’ve got a song that will put you right in the moment with her.
MICHELLE, Glow
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NYC-based alternative group MICHELLE isn’t interested in a bright burst of light; they’d rather just Glow. Their awaited 5-song EP fulfills on the promise of its title, highlighting the smaller — but still emotionally important — moments that make up day-to-day life. It could be a recognition that they’re stuck in a series of patterns (“Glow”), or just another phone call with a lover (“On the Line”) — MICHELLE makes use of the little things that can still have massive effects, and they’ve never sounded better.
Check out all of our picks on Billboard’s Queer Jams of the Week playlist below:
There’s no need to “convince yourself” of any “delusion” — drag superstar Jinkx Monsoon is really performing at Carnegie Hall! On Wednesday (Feb. 7), Carnegie Hall officially announced their 2024-25 concert season. Among the many new shows coming to the legendary New York City venue, one in particular stood out to Drag Race; on Valentine’s […]
It may feel like it’s been Years & Years since Olly Alexander released new music, but the 33-year-old singer says you won’t have to wait much longer. On Wednesday (Feb. 7), Alexander announced his new song “Dizzy” will release on March 1. Not only does “Dizzy” mark the star’s first release under his own name, […]
She may have released two full length albums in 2023, but Kim Petras says she still has plenty more new music to share. In a teaser posted to her social media accounts on Wednesday (Feb. 7), the “Unholy” singer revealed the title of her newest project, Slut Pop Miami. A sequel to her 2022 seven-track […]
Over the course of one weekend, the internet was set aflame with a fiery rap beef taking place in real time — and no, it wasn’t the one between Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion. Starting Saturday (Feb. 3), fans of RuPaul’s Drag Race were treated to a deeply entertaining, tongue-in-cheek “feud” between two former […]
If you can’t love (a wax figure of) yourself, then how in the hell can you love somebody else? On Tuesday (Feb. 6), Madame Tussauds London unveiled their new wax figure of drag icon RuPaul. Dressed in a custom-made gown by Ru’s reputable designer Zaldy, the new figure officially debuts as part of the museum’s […]
Queens on RuPaul’s Drag Race “Wannabe” in the top every week — and with the latest episode’s girl group challenge, the contestants had to prove they were “Worth It,” begging the host not to “Say My Name.”
Friday’s episode (Feb. 2) saw the 12 remaining drag stars tasked with writing, recording, choreographing and performing in their own versions of songs off RuPaul’s Black Butta as a series of girl groups. Testing their teamwork and their ability to stand out amongst a crowd, the challenge forced the girls to flex multiple performance muscles at once in order to earn another week in the competition.
With a show-stopping rendition of “A.S.M.R. Lover,” the queens of Thicc and Stick — Mhi’ya Iman LePaige, Geneva Karr, Megami and Nymphia Wind — dominated the challenge and earned themselves a four-way win for the week. As for the bottom two, Ru selected Q, whose dancing left something to be desired, and Amanda Tori Meating, whose pussycat wig runway look fell short in the judges’ estimations.
Lip synching to guest judges Icona Pop’s “Emergency,” Q and Amanda pulled out all of the stops — dancing, emoting and selling every beat of the song to convince Ru that they deserved a second chance. Ultimately, Ru wanted to hear some more A’s from Q, granting her another week in the competition, and determined that Amanda Tori Meating could’ve just been an email, sending her home.
Below, Billboard chats with Amanda about her time on the show, coming out as trans, becoming a meme and why she’s ready for her feud with fellow contestant Plane Jane to end.
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How are you doing after watching your run on Drag Race?
You know, to quote my sister Dawn, I feel so p—y right now!
Love to hear it. Before we get into the episode, I wanted to say I’m so happy for you after talking about your transition this week! How are you feeling after putting that out into the world?
Thank you! Yeah, it’s been a mix — it’s a very personal part of my identity that I have been not necessarily sure of, until coming back from filming Drag Race. That was when I really said, “Oh, I’m trans.” To be on the show and not have a full understanding and acceptance of that, and then gaining that after filming was crazy; I felt like the Amanda that people were seeing on TV was … they were making assumptions about who that is, and what my pronouns are out of drag, so it just felt very nice to just kind of clear it up. The interactions I’ve been having with fans since then, whether it’s online or IRL, it’s just felt a lot more genuine and complete. People can just sort of see me a bit more fully.
I also wanted to talk a bit about the look heard around the world from the premiere episode — I love that you have leaned as hard as you have into meme-ing yourself.
Well, you know what, baby? I was like, “If people are going to clown me for this purple face, then I’d better make some money off of it so I can pay for FFS!”
Period! What’s it been like to watch your face become a meme in real time?
You know, it was something I was kind of expecting after the day on set, and I think I was really dreading to see how it actually looked on camera. All I had were my memories on set, which can get very foggy over the months. But I ended up beating myself up about the whole purple alien situation, and I was expecting it to be so much worse. By the time I actually saw the runway, I was like, “Oh … it’s not good, but it’s not that bad!” At that point, I was like, “People can have their fun and make their jokes — I’m gonna make my coin with this.”
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Throughout this episode, things get pretty heated between you and your “affiliate,” as you called her, Plane Jane. I appreciate that you have kept it 100% real with how you’ve been feeling about it online, because sometimes the on-screen fights spill over into real life. Where are you at with the Plane drama today?
I went into this, before we left for filming, by saying that all I could do was be honest. All I know how to really do is say exactly how I feel. So I said, “If I can do that, I’ll probably be fine.” Plane and I did not really communicate much after filming, to be honest. Through the rest of the summer and the fall, the extent of our relationship was pretty much what you saw on camera. Then, in more recent weeks, we’ve been in talks, we’ve been in negotiations, we’ve been in custody battles offline.
We had a rocky moment with each other in our texts, about two weeks ago. But I do think, after that, we were able to have a dialogue where we were discussing our feelings in an open, honest, genuine way, and not trying to play anything up for cameras that weren’t there.
I also think that the fan base needs to normalize queens on the show being co-workers, not necessarily friends. You don’t have to be friends with everyone!
Yes! It’s interesting because there has been so much discourse around our relationship. There are a lot of fans who think they can just jump online and send a bunch of random hate to people, which is not OK. The response from the girls to a lot of that is usually, “We’re all friends! We all love each other!” And I was sitting in my trailer, reading those tweets going, “Well … I don’t know that we’re all friends!” But, just because we’re not necessarily “friends” doesn’t mean we can’t be co-workers who respect each other.
So, in terms of the relationship with Plane, that’s where she and I have arrived — we might not be “friends” at the moment, though I don’t think either of us has written that off. But, we can be cordial and respectful and mature adults in the workplace, and I’m grateful for that.
I’ll be honest, I have a bone to pick with the judges in this episode, because I loved your robin’s nest look. It was conceptual, the message came across, and it fit the theme — what were you thinking when you were receiving those critiques on the runway?
Can I be honest?
Please be honest.
I was standing there on that stage thinking, “Are they blind? Are they looking at what I’m looking at? This is camp, this is concept, this is cool!” I didn’t necessarily feel very pretty in it, but I thought it was cool! Yeah, I did not agree with them on the critiques. But here we are!
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Before I have to let you go, we’re asking all the girls this season — what music, other than “My Kitty,” have you been listening to in recent weeks?
Well, “My Kitty” is available on Spotify and Apple Music [Laughs]. To be honest, I’m still hooked on Renaissance, I cannot and will not let it go. Because of Drag Race I had to miss the concert this summer, which was one of the devastating losses of my life. I’d give it all back! Take me off the season and put me on season 17 just so I can go see the Renaissance Tour! Every single time I get in drag, I have the album on repeat, and it’s gotten to the point where instead of checking what time it is, I can tell how long it’s been by hearing what song we’re at on the album.
Okay, but importantly, is there any particular song on the album that you find yourself gravitating toward?
“Church Girl.” Now, I love Beyoncé because she’s an album artist, and you know she’s going to give you a body of work that should be listened to in full. Every song on that album is a banger. But there is something about “Church Girl” that just moves my spirit — when I listen to it, I’m crying, and then I am throwing my a–.
The 2024 Grammy Awards held on Sunday night (Feb. 4) boasted a wealth of history-making moments: female artists took home trophies in each of the Big Four categories for the third time in just five years; Taylor Swift became the first artist to win album of the year four times; Miley Cyrus won her first-ever Grammy for best pop solo performance with “Flowers.”
But one such historic moment went quietly overlooked on Sunday night — three of the winners in the Big Four categories were queer women. Cyrus’s record of the year win with “Flowers,” Billie Eilish’s song of the year win for “What Was I Made For?” and Victoria Monét’s best new artist win mark the first time in recent memory that three different LGBTQ artists took home trophies in the evening’s main categories.
“It’s huge,” says Anthony Allen Ramos, vice president of communications and talent at LGBTQ advocacy organization GLAAD. “Seeing LGBTQ women dominate three of the biggest categories is something to be really excited about and proud of, especially today.”
Wins for queer artists weren’t relegated to the evening’s big categories, either — LGBTQ artists earned wins across a multitude of genres. Boygenius, the supergroup made up of queer superstars Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus, took home three trophies for best rock performance, best rock song and best alternative music album; Bridgers, meanwhile, walked away as the most awarded artist of the night with her four wins. Monét nabbed a win for best R&B album with Jaguar II. Americana categories awarded trophies to LGBTQ stars like Allison Russell (best american roots performance for “Eve Was Black”), Brandy Clark and Brandi Carlile (both in best Americana performance for “Dear Insecurity”).
Ramos points out that even in oft-undiscussed categories, LGBTQ artists saw huge wins. “We had Carla Patullo winning for best new age, ambient or chant album,” he tells Billboard. “It felt like we finally had wonderful representation in all genres, and I think that’s really important, because it’s not just about [queer artists] being in pop or dance. I never even thought about having LGBTQ inclusion in the best new age category!”
Representation for LGBTQ talent at the Grammys has steadily risen over the last few years, with the Recording Academy even debuting their new Academy Proud initiative this year to help “support and amplify LGBTQIA+ voices and drive queer representation at the Recording Academy and the music industry at-large.”
These major successes for queer folks at the 2024 Grammys come at a time of upheaval for the LGBTQ+ community at large — nearly 400 bills targeting the community have already been proposed this year in state legislatures around the United States, with more no doubt still to come. While LGBTQ+ artists earning record-high honors at an awards show might seem trivial in the face of direct attacks against queer and trans people around the world, the facts actually show otherwise.
According to data collected by The Trevor Project, 79% of LGBTQ+ youth reported that seeing musicians come out as members of the LGBTQ+ community made them feel better about their own identity. Meanwhile, 71% of respondents said that seeing straight, cisgender celebrities advocate for the LGBTQ+ community improved their own feelings on gender and sexuality.
Kevin Wong, the Trevor Project’s senior vice president of marketing, communications and content, tells Billboard in an emailed statement that representation at awards shows like the Grammys isn’t just about winning more trophies for queer-identifying artists — it’s about providing an example to kids in desperate need of hope in dark times.
“Seeing queer artists celebrated for their contributions to the music industry can make a positive impact on LGBTQ+ young people’s mental health,” he explains, adding that the onslaught of anti-LGBTQ legislation makes that representation “especially meaningful for LGBTQ+ young people.”
Even in the realm of music, Ramos says that queer success only begets more queer success. “The more success and art that they put out into the universe, the more that will resonate and connect with other artists and [help them] feel empowered to be themselves and to tell their authentic stories,” he says. “I was speaking with TJ Osborne, and he said it’s incredible how many times people have come up to him and said, ‘I am part of the community, I never felt like I could be a fan of country music, but you are changing that.’”
While Ramos points to a continued lack of representation for transgender and non-binary artists at the annual ceremony as an “area for improvement,” he makes it clear that the road ahead for LGBTQ+ artists only gets brighter. “This is a moment for everyone to realize that accepting yourself affects the art that you put out in the best way.”
As the groundbreaking series celebrates its 15th anniversary, Billboard highlights the greatest lip syncs from each season of the celebrated reality show.
