RuPaul’s Drag Race is De-Dragging Its Lip Sync Songs
All images courtesy of MTV
Imagine this – you’re competing in the biggest drag competition in the world, RuPaul’s Drag Race, and you’ve just landed in the bottom 2 for the week. You have one final chance to save yourself and secure your spot on one of the largest platforms available to drag artists. Your brand, your future bookings and your overall longevity as an artist depend on your ability to win a lip sync against your fellow competitor. You also have the potential to create an iconic moment in drag history, depending on the quality of your performance. You stand on stage, shaking with nerves, as RuPaul herself tells you to lip sync for your life. You brace yourself. The song begins to play from the speakers. The song that will determine your future. The song that will determine your success as an artist. The song, which is… a sped-up TikTok version of Lady Gaga’s “Bloody Mary.”
It’s no secret that the RuPaul’s Drag Race fan base has grown immensely since its first season. The show has broken into the American mainstream, amassing millions of viewers per episode, a Las Vegas residency, multiple tours and 16 main seasons. Starting as a niche program for a very specific audience, the popularity of RuPaul’s Drag Race has naturally changed the content of the show. No longer is it a small, underground safe haven for queer fans, but rather a commercial juggernaut that has evolved to appeal to a more general audience. Part of this evolution is apparent in the lip sync songs chosen by producers, which have shifted to include an array of top 40 hits rather than drag show staples. The season 16 episode, “See You Next Wednesday,” recently caused an online uproar when a sped-up TikTok version of Lady Gaga’s “Bloody Mary” was used as the battle song. One fan called the decision “the end” of drag race, with another saying that they were “scared for what’s next.”
Early seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race possessed a unique obligation to represent queer culture accurately. More references to the ballroom scene were made, which is where the majority of drag performers began their careers in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and when the queens were less afraid to be shady. The “lip sync for your life” format served as a way to spotlight iconic queer songs, such as “It’s Raining Men” by The Weather Girls, “Believe” by Cher and even some of RuPaul’s own music. There were a few new pop songs mixed in, but each season primarily featured queer anthems as lip-sync songs. Whenever the show did choose to use current pop songs, they always worked in the context of drag race because they were made by artists that had large queer fanbases, such as Britney Spears and The Pussycat Dolls. Season 16, which just wrapped up, has been chock full of trendy mainstream music, including “Made You Look” by Meghan Trainor, “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus, “Shower” by Becky G and “Body” by Megan Thee Stallion. A few classic queer staples were included, such as “Control” by Janet Jackson and “Dark Lady” by Cher, but it’s clear that drag race producers are attempting to appeal to a broader audience with many of their song choices.
So, why does this matter? Who really cares that drag race is choosing to broaden its appeal? Suryaansh Dongre of the Daily Nexus puts it best in his article about RuPaul’s Drag Race’s shift to the mainstream– “The fact that queer culture is considered mainstream is an accomplishment in and of itself and should not be denied. At the same time, we must critically evaluate the steps we took to get here and how the media landscape as a whole can reconcile the concepts of making something mainstream and marketable while keeping it authentic.” Drag race, simply put, is not as authentically queer as it used to be. Gone are the days when ballroom lingo was thrown around, shade was expected and the lip sync format prioritized queer music. Now, big brands like Bubbly, CashApp and Lush are all investors in the show – with that comes a shift in the content, transforming it from an authentic beacon of representation to a significantly muted display of commodified art. The watered-down music taste of drag race represents a bigger issue in the franchise, which is that marketability is robbing fans of authenticity. Suddenly, your conservative aunt from Kansas is singing along to “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus, thinking she understands queer culture and may even have a place in queer spaces. Drag race has been a safe haven for queer people for over a decade, but many feel that it’s being watered down to cater to new audiences and outsiders of the culture.
The shift marks a change for drag race that is likely here to stay. As RuPaul’s Drag Race grows and grows, it appeals to its ever-expanding audience, as such will likely continue to be a staple move for producers. Obviously, RuPaul’s Drag Race is still a decidedly queer piece of media and will continue to be, but small choices like lip sync songs can signify a lot about where the show is both commercially and culturally. RuPaul’s Drag Race may never again be as unabashedly queer as it once was. In the meantime, we’ll all simply have to prepare ourselves for next season’s inevitable lip-sync choice – “Karma” by JoJo Siwa.