Five Finger Discountdown: RuPaul’s Top 5 Songs
November 14, 2012
In just a few years drag queen/author/singer/model/television personality RuPaul has transformed from an underground sensation into an unstoppable force. Due mostly to her popular show “RuPaul’s Drag Race” on Logo (which AU still doesn’t get- SG should get on this), RuPaul has slowly been moving into the spotlight she deserves.
Though now known mostly for TV, RuPaul is still an active recording artist whose 2011 album “Glamazon” was one of the year’s best and most underrated albums. For this season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” the competition is between the All Stars – fan-favorite runner-ups of last season. In honor of the new All Star season, here are RuPaul’s personal All Stars, the top 5 songs of her career.
5. Starrbooty – 2007
Apparently unsatisfied with being the world’s most famous drag queen, RuPaul added superhero to her list of accomplishments with her alter-alter-ego “Starrbooty.” Starrbooty is a character that has been with Ru since early in her career, when she made her own Starrbooty movies and sold them outside of gay clubs in Atlanta. After three such releases, Starrbooty finally got her day in the sun in 2007 with the release of the higher-but-still-low-budget fourth film titled simply “Starrbooty.” With this movie came a club-banging new theme song for the world’s fiercest superheroine called “Call Me Starrbooty.” In the song, Starrbooty makes sure we all know her name over a fast-paced, dancefloor ready house beat.
4. Supermodel (You Better Work) – 1992
With her first major-label single, RuPaul proved that you can make a timeless hit with just a dancfloor-ready house beat, some made up supermodel jargon, and the right style. “Supermodel” was RuPaul’s breakout success, and she has reigned as queen of the gay bar dance floor ever since. The song is deliciously campy and is the origin of some of her most beloved catchphrases (“You Better Work,” “Sashay, ShantayÛ). Shamelessly poppy and campy, this song flew in the face of the all-encompassing grunge rock movement of the time, and earned respect from Nirvana for doing so. This respect grew into a friendship that not only bridged a huge gap in music, but also created some of the coolest pictures ever.
3. Cover Girl – 2009
Before “Glamazon” became RuPaul’s go-to runway song, that role was filled by 2009’s “Cover Girl.” Riding a minimalist beat and an infectiously catchy rap-singing delivery, “Cover Girl” is the most likely song to get stuck in your head of her entire catalogue. The song, unsurprisingly, is another self-referential camp-fest in which Ru demands perfection from those who walk her runway. The song is delivered with the confidence of someone who has owned every runway she’s stepped foot on yet still remains endearingly tongue-in-cheek and undeniably catchy.
2. Responsitrannity – 2011
Only RuPaul could take a concept as ridiculous as “Responsitrannity” and turn it into one of the best empowerment anthems in a year that had no shortage of them. With “Responsitranity,” Ru combines the LGBT liberation of “Born This Way,” the self-empowerment of “Firework,” and the club-kid freak-flag revolution of “We R Who We R” and lets everybody know “we are all stars.” Backed by a runway beat and multiple layers of funky synths, Ru delivers a soaring sing-along anthem that has more energy than those three songs combined. The recently-released music video, featuring all star cast members and judges from “Drag Race,” is a showcase of some of the fiercest queens in the game in some of their best outfits.
1. Peanut Butter feat. Big Freedia – 2012
“Click Clack (Make Dat Money)” was already a standout track on Ru’s 2011 masterpiece album “Glamazon,” but then she took it even further, bringing on another queen to make 2012’s “Peanut Butter.” The other queen was Big Freedia, the queen diva of New Orleans bounce music. With this collaboration, Ru proved that her growing fame doesn’t mean she’s going mainstream any time soon, choosing instead to highlight another queer underground dance music movement. Bounce music, a style of music with heavy bass and a lot of repetition, is custom-built to maximize ass-shaking potential and is the reason that the dance floors are a little hotter in New Orleans than anywhere else. RuPaul and Big Freedia combine their styles into a song that has all of the bounce chops of Big Freedia and the campy fun of RuPaul. And if this weird interview is any indication, a music video for the song is in the works.
By Sean Meehan
