There’s a wide range of queens on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16, which promises to be an unforgettable season.
In an interview with Genera Karr, Mhi’ya Iman LePaige, Plasma, and Xunami Muse, the new Drag Race stars told Out what their goals are for competing on the show and representing the very best versions of themselves.
Geneva Karr
Despite the global success of Drag Race México – cohosted by Valentina and Lolita Banana – Geneva Karr is the first-ever Mexican-born queen to compete in the flagship RuPaul’s Drag Race series.
“I’m definitely feeling the pressure to represent all my Mexican people, also my Latinos,” Geneva said. “The pressure’s definitely on, but I hope that everybody loves everything that I’m doing and bringing to the competition. Hopefully, I represent to the best of my ability.”
Mhi’ya Iman LePaige
Mhi’ya Iman LePaige is called the Queen of Flips for a very valid reason. She constantly goes viral on social media with her out-of-this-world performances in Miami and is expected to be the next great lip sync assassin on Drag Race. “You can most definitely expect electrifying and intense [performances],” Mhi’ya noted. “Just me being a powerhouse. I’m going to always give that 100%, 1000% in every performance that I do. So if you know Queen of Flips, you know she’s not going to play no games.”
Plasma
It's no secret that Plasma loves old Hollywood glamour, which is something that a few queens have brought up in past seasons. But what about that period of time is so attractive to Plasma?
“Well, I don’t know if you can tell by looking at me, but money,” Plasma joked. “No. I grew up in a Texas family that was very tight-knit. I grew up around my grandparents. My grandmother was actually a senator’s wife, and then the lieutenant governor of Texas’ wife. I always grew up around that very polished, mid-century sensibility of Southern gentility. And awareness of your surroundings, and respect, and polish. Not leaving the house without your face or your hair done.”
She added, “I just always grew up with an appreciation for showing up right. And I really, really love the polished, coiffed, entirely painstakingly specific components of old Hollywood and old Broadway. I just think that it was a time when people cared a lot about specificity and glamour above anything else. And I just love it. It’s a sparkly toy. I just love it.”
Xunami Muse
There’s been a long lineage of queens on Drag Race that started with Aja (season 9), continued with Dahlia Sin (season 12), reached a new height with Kandy Muse (season 13), and is now continuing with Xunami Muse in season 16. So, we had to ask: did Xunami’s drag mother give her any advice?
“No!” Xunami flat-out said, jokingly. “No, I’m kidding. I mean, me and Kandy, she always shared everything about her experience. Once it was my turn, she was like, ‘Just do you. Have fun. Make it your experience. Take it all in.’ There’s so much that’s out of your control, the best thing you can do is just remain yourself and share that with the world. So that’s what I went in and did.”
Watch Out’s interview with Genera Karr, Mhi’ya Iman LePaige, Plasma, and Xunami Muse.
RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16 airs every Friday on MTV.