100% Excellence
I'll be your answerI'll be your wishI'll be your fantasyYour favorite dish
If you didn't know, Denali Foxx is one of the queens vying for the title of Drag Superstar in RuPaul's Drag Race 13th installment. She was sent to the PorkChop Dock twenty minutes after her entrance during the first episode this season. Then she was in the bottom again, when her acting chops did not allow for a higher place (there were others who did way worse, but this is reality TV so, yeah). And every time she's been on screen she's lip-synched for her LIFE. She's shown she can be quite the presence when lip-synching, hunty.
And she did it again last Friday. And because she did that, she sent home one of her Chicago sisters. And given that RPDR is a reality SHOW above all, it's possible there'll be a push for Denali to appear like she did not care she sent a sister home. Or for the sister to be painted as bitter and resentful. So when I watched this video, I literally screamed. Not only because I adore Crystal Waters, and because I love watching Drag performers kill it, but because THIS is sisterhood. This is what I imagine being member of the drag community is. THIS is DRAG.
Because for me, Drag is a mix of performance art, inventive choreography and subversive sexuality. Because for me Drag is a mix of the fishy queens and the club kid queens and the bio queens and the gender non-conforming queens, and the drag kings and the skinny queens and the thicc queens and the Black queens and the Asian queens and the Trans queens and the Brown queens and the White queens. It's the 'new' queens and the 'seasoned' queens and the bearded queens and the scary queens. All QUEENS.
It's a sisterhood that allows Drag performers to flourish all together and support each other and I'm here for it. It's the joy of performing. It's the joy of belonging to a community. It's the joy of being. And the Chicago Queens did all that in this video.
And I'm here for it. Didn't I say that already?
Shanté, they stay.
XOXO
P.S. here's a list of the queens appearing in the video. All of them fantastic. So give them a follow if you have IG and support their work:
Denali Foxx @denalifoxx
Kahmora Hall @kahmorahall
Voiceover by @sheacoulee
Detox @theonlydetox
Laila McQueen @misslailamcqueen
Lucy Stoole @tyislucystoole
KC Ortiz @kayceeortiz
Sasha Love @sashalovequeen
The Vixen @thevixensworld
Dida Ritz @didaswag
Chamilla Foxx @chamillafoxx
Valentine Addams @valentineaddams
Tenderoni @tenderoni88
Lila Star @lilastarescada
Bambi Banks-Couleé @bambibankscoulee
Kenzie Couleé @kenziecoulee
Khloe Couleé @khloecoulee
Miss Toto @themisstoto
Irregular Girl @imirregulargirl
Abhijeet @bon_abhijeet
JForPay @jforpay
Eva Young @evayoung_
Travis Fiero @travis.fiero
Pangea @pangaeas_planet
Alex Jenny @alexjenny_
Circuit Mom @circuitmom
Sheeza Woman @sheeza_woman
Ari Gato @the_ari_gato
Ramona Slick @ramonaslick
HinkyPunk @das_hinkypunk
Her? @her_the_queen
Siichele @siichele
LoTion @lotion.tn
Másha Potato @crinklecutqueen
Aurora Gozmic @auroragozmic
Luc Ami @luc.ami
Dusty Bahls @lucywakhasdustybahls
Sapphire Feliciano @sapphire.feliciano
Olaysia @olaysiaqueen
Alexis Bevels @alexisbevels
Darby Lynn Cartwright @darbylynncartwright
Aunty Chan @aunty_chan
P.P.S: and I could not let pass that jam! Oh, the memories!
The breakfasts at Denny's after the after-party with ten Househeads.
The kisses the boys wanted to steal.
The bass still fresh in your ears.
Take me away, Miss Waters!
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Denali will slay anyone who is unfortunate enough to lip sync against her. She is everything, BUT ... SYMONE!!!
ReplyDeleteI know! I was like, this bitch can SLAY. Chicago FTW.
DeleteAnd Simone is top three for me. Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve and Talent, honey.
XOXO
Kudos to you and Maddie both. Perfect timing on your posts today as Biden reversed the Dump's order on trans in the military yesterday. You are correct in that it's belonging to community. Simply stated, it's simply belonging. We all have a need to belong. XOXO
ReplyDeleteHaha. Great minds, am I right?
DeleteAnd I was really impressed by the sense of community and sisterhood. There's been issues with Drag Queens of color in Chicago (well, everywhere, but yes..) and these group of performers have shown that there CAN be unity. They even took to the streets to protest. Woke and beautiful, they are.
XOXO
Oh I loved Crystal Waters!! I need to watch RPDR...a couple years ago, my buddy did this pool (kinda like fantasy football) where we picked our faves and when they would be taken out and who would win. It was fun. I hope he does it again soon.
ReplyDeleteHahahahaha....every year my friend Pearly said I should do the same. The last four years I nailed the top four. It fun to do...in good fun of course. Who need football?
DeleteCrystal Waters is awesome! I have been trying to get 12 inches of her big hits but apparently DJs have not gotten rid of them. Greedy little bastards. Her music marked a whole generation of Househeads.
DeleteAnd RPDR is fun. Playing Fantasy Football with Drag Queens sounds like fun! A sport I can get behind!
And Maddie is right. She's got an eye for the winners. She said Kahmora would be the first to go and she was.
XOXO
All that excellence!!!! Buy where was Trannika Rex and Jaidia??? Well.....T. Rex was probably blowing a stage hand backstage, bwhahahahaha!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou brought a good memory though. I remember after doing drag on Saturdays night's and the midnight show....it seemed the whole town would go to eat and park. The crowds would always cheer and hoot when us queens sashayed in. Im sure they just loved that. My friend Destiny , Champagne Douglas and I would be the only queens left with every nail on still.
Ex-Ce-Llence!
DeleteTrannika I understand got in trouble because of the Drag shows she was organizing for Berlin. There was a huge stink because of the way she handled the selection of the performers and she slinked away after apologizing online. Jaida I think is more Milwaukee than Chicago, along with Trixie.
And the going to an all night breakfast place for the after party was a tradition! I would have loved to see you guys shashay in! What fun!
XOXO
Yes hunty....I do sort of remember that stink now. Now that you mention it, I seem to also recall her show there in town....where she didn't let to many queens of color in...or the winners of the show, and that too brought some hot water. In the height of the summer's BLM I seem to remember saying she was going to better herself and make better decisions.
DeleteThat's the T.
DeleteShe had too much power and was not using it wisely. I have not heard from her in a long while, not even for the online shows. Hope she learned her lesson...
XOXO
what an embarrassment for the choice, but I take the first one, who seems to have a wig and a tail like an eighteenth-century lady. Remember, though, that my dream is to dress up as the Sun King!
ReplyDeleteOh, there's no embarrassment when it comes to beauty. And it does have that eighteen century look to it!
DeleteAnd dressing up as the Sun King is a goal! We are gonna need pics, though...
XOXO
I feel myself Sun King from head to toe. Note that the Sun King's brother was homosexual!
DeleteSo, if genetics don't lie, I have inside the royalty of one and the homosexuality of the other.
And that's the perfect combination!!
DeleteXOXO
Loved the video . Like an overdose of sex and the city 2
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely!
DeleteThey're super stylish, these gurrls. Style and attitude are always a good mix.
XOXO
Adore Ms. Waters. Have been a fan since day one - yes... I am THAT old. And I tried to see her at a club appearance once... but she kind of stayed in her dressing room all night :) I still love her. And anytime her name popped up on the Dance Club Play Chart - I would buy. Sigh. And yes... I used to love going to Embers after... my bones still vibrating from the bass. The waitstaff hating everybody. Everybody eating and throwing up and dancing still. Oh, my. I had no money, but I had mascara for days! LOL.
ReplyDeleteHahaha music is atemporal, Upton!
DeleteAnd I would have loved to go see her perform. I love all of her songs. It's that mix of House and Dance music that characterized everything she did. And the lyrics!
There was nothing like going out to grab a bite after a good night of dancing. And No money but Mascara is gonna be the name of my rock band!
XOXO