Aquaria on winning Drag Race and what her future holds
"RuPaul's latest Drag Race" winner is on a mission to turn looks and be an LGBTQ leader
Anointed by Rupaul as “the future of drag,” Drag Race season 10 winner Aquaria might well usher in a new age. At just 22, she has the confidence, the talent, and the canny ability to recognize a good branding opportunity that marks the strongest winners of drag’s toughest competition — her newly launched website Age of Aquaria, for instance. And she doesn’t take for granted the platform that she’s earned.
“I’ve always been inspired by the people who have made success and a career out of their drag,” she says. “I just want to continue to uphold the prestige that comes with the crown, and just be a shining example of what it means to be a superstar, and what it means to be a leader for the queer community.”
For a self-proclaimed “bitch from New York City,” Aquaria genuinely wants to uplift others through the art of drag. “You can learn things about life and society and all the facets of that from drag. And I just think it is truly a unique means of getting a point across.” And she’s ready to greet every challenge with a sickening look and a cheerful “Bonjour!” In fact, even her use of “Bonjour” to open her verse of Rupaul’s “American” played a subtle part in her mission.
“There’s no national language here in America,” she says. “It was very much a statement, that some people take for granted and don’t realize, that English is not the national language of America. There are many, many, many, many, many people in America who don’t speak English, or who are bilingual. And it was just more of a statement that in America, you are welcome. Whether you speak the majority language or not.”
Aquaria made both a political and artistic statement on Drag Race with a deft impression of one multi-lingual American: Melania Trump. The First Lady has been part of Aquaria’s act since “before 45 was elected into office.”
“I stopped performing it after things became a lot less funny, and a lot too serious,” she says. “But since having my breakthrough moment as Melania Trump on the show, I have resurrected [it].
“Her character is something so easy to screw around with,” she continues, “because I think the whole Trump family is composed of dirtbag humans. And that makes them easier to make fun of, and give personality to and joke about. If we can laugh with me saying, ‘Any hole is a goal,’ as the First Lady of the United States, I think it’s not necessarily making the most political change. But it is a way to at least persevere with the terrible circumstance and political time we are living in right now.”
Aquaria’s new song “Burn Rubber” is available on Amazon, iTunes, and on various streaming services. For information on her upcoming tour dates, visit ageofaquaria.com.
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