A new challenge must always been tackled with a great attitude, confidence and poise. When the challenge requires impressive make-up and sewing skills, runway fierceness and on-the-spot comedic chops, the pressure may become too much for some. Luckily one girl showcased all those talents and then some when she walked away with the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar on the third season of the best reality show on television, RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Sutan Amrull, better known by his stage name Raja, took home the crown on the drag reality competition show in 2011. For those who watched the show, it is easy to say Raja had the title in the bag as soon as she stepped foot on the runway. Her avant-garde fashion sense and flawless transformations showed the other girls age is not a disadvantage.
At the young age of 38, Raja has traveled around the world performing for her devoted fan base, has two dance singles under her sparkly belt so far, was a professor on the spin-off show RuPaul's Drag U and is a respected make-up artist to the stars. Winning RuPaul’s Drag Race was only the beginning. “I think I learned a lot more than I expected [on the show]. I thought I was going to be kicked off halfway, my ways were too progressive,” Raja says. “I learned my own resourcefulness. I was a lot stronger, smarter and more beautiful than I thought I was.”
At the young age of 38, Raja has traveled around the world performing for her devoted fan base, has two dance singles under her sparkly belt so far, was a professor on the spin-off show RuPaul's Drag U and is a respected make-up artist to the stars. Winning RuPaul’s Drag Race was only the beginning. “I think I learned a lot more than I expected [on the show]. I thought I was going to be kicked off halfway, my ways were too progressive,” Raja says. “I learned my own resourcefulness. I was a lot stronger, smarter and more beautiful than I thought I was.”
Raja’s prize for winning, along with $75,000, was a spot on the Absolut Vodka Tour which toured ten cities around the country. With the obligations of the tour and her own gigs, the performer would sometimes be in five cities in five days, an experience she calls “rough, but one I would never forget.”
With the All-Stars edition of RuPaul’s Drag Race premiering on Oct. 22, Raja will have to settle for watching from the sidelines as the winners of the previous seasons were not asked back to compete this time around. “It kind of sucks that it is going to be a short season,” she says. “I am definitely rooting for Manila [Luzon], Raven, and Chad [Michaels].”
Many may have recognized Raja, known then as Sutan, from her time as one of the head make-up stylists on America’s Next Top Model for seven seasons. On one episode she impersonated Tyra Banks herself and introduced the world to Raja, queen of everything.
The word “coincidence” does not exist in Raja’s vocabulary. If she would not have left the model competition show, she would not have gotten the opportunity to appear on Drag Race. “Season 12 was my last season, after being on the show since season six,” Raja says. “They wanted to switch it up. It’s as simple as that. There are no bitter feelings. I’m glad they made that change.”
Even though Raja has been performing in drag longer than she has been a make-up artist, she does not want to want to let go of her first passion just yet. Her job now is to marry the two ideas.
It was her make-up skills after all that allowed her to become a stylist to the stars, including American Idol season eight runner-up, Adam Lambert. Raja was the mastermind behind Lambert’s make-up for the talked-about cover of the pop artist’s debut album, For Your Entertainment. “[Adam] is my spiritual sister. On the Glam Nation Tour, I was like his drag mom. We are really close,” Raja says.
Even though Raja had to leave the tour halfway through to go compete on Drag Race, she says she would not trade the experience for anything in the world. With Lambert set to embark on his upcoming tour in support of his sophomore effort Trespassing, Raja says talks are in the work for her to accompany the “If I Had You” singer once again.
“I probably won’t be on as a make-up artist, he is kind of going down a different route. We talked about me helping with the art direction,” Raja says.
It seems that some of Adam’s music career may have rubbed off on the drag performer. Raja has released two singles to date. Maybe a collaboration with the glam rocker could happen in the future.
Raja’s first musical offering, “Diamond Crowned Queen”, was completed a week before her season of the show ended and recorded while the artist had a head cold, which she says explains the nasally voice. The queen does not claim to be a pop star, but says that once you have been on a reality show you have a responsibility to deliver. You don’t want to be tardy for the party.
Her second single “Sublime”, released on Aug. 21, was written by New-York-independent artist SIRPAUL, who Raja met during the 2012 NewNowNext Awards where the two were both seen giving priceless reactions to Perez Hilton’s physical transformation.
At the finale party for the fourth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Raja suggested SIRPAUL write her next single. A day later, she received “Sublime”. Raja says she loved the song right away because it was “provocative.” Plans for the music video are already in works. “I like to think the music video will be groundbreaking. I have some really cool ideas. We will be shooting it in New York. It’s going to be good. The ideas are swimming around,” she says.
The first two singles are just the start. Raja plans to take her music career as far as she can, comparing the experience of creating her own music to foreplay. “I am taking it slow and enjoying it. I don’t want to unleash everything all at once,” Raja says. “I’m all about foreplay, I like to let it linger. It’s about having fun.”
Besides releasing singles and a cruise with 40 other contestants from RuPaul’s Drag Race on Dec. 2, fans of Raja will have more access to the gorgeous performer in the coming months. “This fall people will have more access to me. I will be starting my blog on my website. I am also working on a small accessories line. Everything should be a reflection of me,” she says. “New music is coming out soon and hopefully by Christmas I will have a book to sell.”
With a large following in the LGBT community, Raja says she is lucky and thankful for the fans she has. The performer only hopes her audience will continue to get larger and larger.
She understands people may not agree with her win on RuPaul’s Drag Race or understand her progressive type of drag performance, but Raja knows they will learn to love it. “People who don’t understand it, have never seen it,” she says. “I would just say give it time. You may not get it now, but you will. I’m patient.”
*This article on Queen Raja appears in the October issue of Dallas-based LGBT entertainment magazine, Evoke, out now. This is the original version of the article. An edited copy appears in the magazine's pages.
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