Aja is a queen who always makes an impression. Whether it was giving epicly quotable sound bites, leaping from boxes, or serving up her unique blend of banje-harajuku realness on the runway, this New York queen is a force to be reckoned with.
While she’s already snatching focus in the first two episodes of the new RuPaul’s Drag RaceAll Stars season, it's been a moment that many fans — and Aja herself — once thought would never happen. Much was made of Aja saying in a 2018 interview with Them that she was no longer using the term “drag 1ueen” to describe herself. “I've been working on my burlesque and my live music, and I don't really have the drive to dance and flip flop and be doing dips and ‘Is she gonna jump from there?’ It's just not something I want to do. It's something that is part of me, but it's not something that I'm carrying into the future, so I’m kind of leaving the term behind,” she explained at the time. Many interpreted this as her leaving drag behind and, unsurprisingly, it led to the usual fan backlash.
After a period of reflection, and coming to terms with her trans identity, Aja has fully embraced the art form again, and is ready to share her renewed passion with the world — and clear up any false narratives along the way.
PRIDE caught up with Aja to chat about this journey. It includes how, as challenging as her life during stints between
Drag Race seasons became, she emerged on the other end with a greater sense of purpose and joy. Plus, why all this means that, for the first time ever, we’re seeing the true Aja, unburdened, unleashed, and ready to get raw.
PRIDE: Take me back to getting the call to come back for All Stars. Why was this the right time for you to say yes?
AJA: I was having a good day. I had just smoked a blunt. I was getting ready to go to Miyake-Mugler practice, and I got that phone call. Wait, let me rewind it a little bit. I'm going to tell you something, it’s going to sound absolutely crazy.
Right before [I got the call] I was going through some stuff in my life, everything was a little tumultuous. I was having my ups and downs, and I said, ‘You know what, I really need some change.’ I'm a spiritual person. I prayed on it, and literally nine days later, I got the call. In my culture, nine is a number that sort of represents change and transformation. So, I would be a fool to say no. I immediately said, yes — and then I panicked. I said, ‘What the fuck did I just get myself into?' I immediately started to crash out.
Nine, like season nine! You've been through a lot in your life since your original season, so how has this one felt different for you?
All Stars 10 was the first time in my drag career that I felt like it was okay for me to be a trans woman and do drag successfully and not feel ashamed about it.
Coming back and really, really, like, digging into it. Oh, baby. It made me fall in love with drag all over again, and now I feel like drag is like that ex-boyfriend that you know you want to keep away, but you can't. You can't help because it's so good.
Did you have any concerns coming back? Were there things about the fandom or the competition itself that you were nervous about?
Honestly, I didn't really have any concerns. And I think you kind of see that through the episodes. You see me just having fun. I'm making jokes. I'm being extremely silly. I'm play-fighting with Irene. Drag is not that serious. It is serious, as in, we take the art form seriously, but drag allows us to kind of clown around a little bit and just enjoy and have fun. And I had so much fun allowing myself to do so.
Because child, let me tell you something, getting to that point was not easy, and quitting drag to navigate my trans identity came with a lot of pushback. I had people who no longer wanted to represent me or talk to me, and I lost a lot of friends. I lost a lot of supporters. Thousands and thousands of people unfollowed me on social media.
A lot of false narratives started coming around, and it just became like a punch line. It became a joke. It was like, 'Aja quit drag to be a rapper. Aja quit drag because she says that Drag Race is not good enough, or it was a lot of stuff that was just completely not true. Drag Race changed my life. When I went on it in season nine, I was in such a horrible situation before that, and it allowed me to not just blossom in life, but it created a bridge for me to be in a safe space, and I would never take that for granted.
So it was really hard for me to navigate that, because that, in turn, made people not want to hire me in any capacity as an artist, and I truly felt very unsupported. But at the same time, I was very grateful because I was able to keep a big portion of my fan base who was like, 'Baby, whether you are trans, a square, a circle, Hillary Duff, we don't care. We love you for who you are in every stage and capacity.' And I just feel so blessed and lucky, because not everybody has that.
You’re in a unique position to understand the platform in a way that other people who have not been on the same journey as you can’t or don't. This is your chance to reintroduce yourself to the audience and really retake the narrative. What do you hope people come to understand about Aja 3.0?
I hope people understand that All Stars 10 is the most unfiltered you've ever seen me in my life because I was literally just having a good time. I feel like in past seasons, I did things like code switch, to kind of like straighten up a little bit and deliver a version of myself that I felt was a little bit more palatable. I know that sounds crazy because I definitely was known for saying some crazy shit. But truthfully speaking, there is just a weight that has been lifted off of my shoulders, and just being authentically myself inside and outside. The things people would say that were hurtful used to hurt me a lot more when I was insecure of myself. Now ... I don't really care that you don't like me, because I like me, and that's all I need.
I do feel like you're freer and having more fun this season. You brought up how you were cutting it up with Irene but then by the end of Untucked, you were sharing a sisterly moment. Do you feel like having that banter makes you closer to your sisters, or do you want it to be Kumbaya backstage?
I feel like everybody should just be raw. I feel like everybody should just be honest about how they feel. If you're a kumbaya bitch, then you're a kumbaya bitch, and that's okay. There's nothing wrong with that. But if you're a rah-rah bitch then be a rah-rah bitch. It doesn't matter what Sally and Bob think at home. Girl, f*ck Sally and Bob. Be yourself. There's an audience for every type of personality on Drag Race, and people don't realize that yet. Listen, you got people like Mistress Isabelle Brooks out there. Well, Mistress is a little psychotic, but she's a poster board for villains, and people love her for that. So just be yourself.
I love that! Well, in that case, let's leave things on a raw and real note. This season was filmed differently because you are all broken up into groups. Now that you're all together filming for the preseason, who in the cast is the most chaotic? And who do you vibe with the most?
Who is the most chaotic? [Dissolves into laughter] I can't even answer the question! [Laughs again] The most chaotic is definitely. Nicole Paige Brooks from Atlanta, Georgia. And you have to say the full name. If you don't say the full name, it is blasphemous. So yeah, Nicole Paige Brooks from Atlanta, Georgia is a fucking ki-ki. She is crazy. She is unhinged, and I wouldn't have her any other way. I feel like, honestly, she should win the season. She should have a million — 2 million followers. Somebody needs to give her $5 million, a house, a gold statue of her put up in the middle of Central Park. Girl, that woman deserves everything!
It's no surprise and it's also no secret that I love Lydia 'Backdoor' Kollins. That's what I call her. I know it's Butthole, but I call her Backdoor because I want to — and when I'm feeling really spicy, I call her Lydia Backyardigans De La Cruz. That's what she's feeling, a little spicy!
