Shuga Cain

Last updated
Shuga Cain
RuPaul DragCon 2022 (52072217862) (cropped).jpg
Shuga Cain at RuPaul’s DragCon, 2022
Born
Jesus Martinez Jr.

(1977-11-20) November 20, 1977 (age 47)
Occupations
Known for RuPaul's Drag Race (season 11)
Website shugssweetshop.com

Shuga Cain is the stage name of Jesus Martinez Jr. (born November 20, 1977), an American drag queen and baker who came to international attention on the eleventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race .

Contents

Early life

Martinez was born in Oakland, California and as a child moved to Northern California, where he grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood. His father was Salvadoran, and his mother was Apache with Spanish ancestry. [1]

Career

In 2011, Martinez starred in a production of Xanadu , portraying Sonny Malone. [2] He started drag full time in 2017, quitting a corporate job with the Scholastic Corporation to pursue it. [3]

In March 2018, Shuga Cain was a part of Max Emerson's Drag Babies series, hosted by Bob the Drag Queen. She was a Drag Mentor, alongside Peppermint and Chi Chi DeVayne. [4]

Shuga Cain was announced to be one of fifteen contestants competing on season eleven of RuPaul's Drag Race on January 24, 2019. [5] In episode 3, she was a part of the historic six-way lip-sync (the first time in the show history in which more than two contestants had to lip-sync to avoid elimination), which she survived. [6] Shuga Cain lipsynced once again in episode 5, where she sent home Ariel Versace to Whitney Houston's "I'm Your Baby Tonight". [7] Despite never winning a challenge, Shuga Cain placed in the top during the season's Snatch Game challenge, where she portrayed Charo. [8] She was eliminated in the tenth episode after lip-syncing to "No More Drama" (2001) by Mary J. Blige against Vanessa Vanjie Mateo. Shuga Cain finished the competition in seventh place. [9] During her time on the show, she released Shuga in the Raw, where she recapped every episode of season 11. [10]

From March 26 to September 6, she was a part of the rotating cast for RuPaul's Drag Race: Season 11 Tour, presented by Voss Events and World of Wonder, and hosted by Asia O'Hara. [11] The show kicked off in Los Angeles on May 26 during the RuPaul's DragCon LA wrap party (hosted by Drag Race judge Michelle Visage) and concluded with a final bow on September 6 in New York City (also hosted by Visage) at the top of RuPaul's DragCon NYC. [11]

Shuga Cain was announced to host Gimme Some Shuga, a six episode mini-series on WOWPresents Plus. The series focuses on Cain and baker Justin Salinas creating cakes inspired by RuPaul's Drag Race legends. [12] She was announced as part of the cast for A Drag Queen Christmas, a Christmas-theme drag show hosted by Nina West. [13]

Personal life

Martinez is currently engaged to Tim Carswell.

Filmography

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2019 RuPaul's Drag Race HerselfContestant (7th Place)
RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked Companion show to RuPaul's Drag Race
Tales of the City Drag queenExtra

Web series

YearTitleRoleNotesRef.
2018Drag BabiesHerselfDrag Mentor [14]
2019Queen to QueenWith Scarlet Envy and Kahanna Montrese [15]
Da FuqGuest, hosted by Honey Davenport [16]
I've Never Had a ...Guest [17]
Countdown to the CrownSeason 11 [18]
Whatcha Packin’Guest [19]
Cosmo QueensCosmopolitan Series [20]
Charo's Pink RoomWith Charo [21]
Shuga in the RawHost [22]
Take a Look BackSeries by Yuhua Hamasaki [23]
Gimme Some ShugaHost [24]
Bootleg OpinionsGuest, hosted by Yuhua Hamasaki [25]
2020Out of the ClosetGuest [26]

Music videos

YearTitleRef(s)
2020"Sweet Love" [27]

Discography

Singles

YearTitle
2020"Sweet Love"

Theatre

YearProductionRoleVenueNotesRef(s)
2011 Xanadu Sonny MaloneNew Conservatory Theatre CenterCredited as Jesus Martinez

See also

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References

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  2. "'Xanadu' rolling into The City". San Francisco Examiner. 4 December 2011. Archived from the original on 2019-05-05. Retrieved 2011-12-04.
  3. "Why Shuga Cain Gave Up A Six Figure Job to Do Drag Full Time". Out. 8 May 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-10-19. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  4. "Instagram Star Max Emerson's "Drag Babies" Set to Premiere". Metrosource. 7 March 2018. Archived from the original on 2019-10-02. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
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  6. "'Stink. Stank. Stunk!' Disastrous performance leads to herstoric 6-way elimination on 'RuPaul's Drag Race'". Yahoo. 15 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-03-22. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  7. "RuPaul's Drag Race season 11, episode 5 GIF recap: Clever girl, spooky bitch". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2019-07-06. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
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  10. "The Week in Drag: Blair St. Clair, Shuga Cain, Willam & More". Socialite Life. 21 April 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-05-08. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  11. 1 2 Nolfi, Joey. "RuPaul's Drag Race sets season 11 tour dates with all 15 queens". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
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  13. "'A Drag Queen Christmas' coming to El Paso in December". KFoxTV. 10 September 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-09-16. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  14. DRAG BABIES: Project #1 "What The Hell Are We Doing?". YouTube. March 13, 2018. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  15. Queen To Queen: Scarlet Envy, Shuga Cain & Kahanna Montrese | RuPaul's Drag Race Season 11. YouTube. May 22, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  16. Honey Davenport - Da Fuq S1 EP1 with Shuga Cain!. YouTube. March 8, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
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  20. "Shuga Cain's Shimmery Makeup Look Is Sweeter Than Dessert". Cosmopolitan. May 8, 2019. Archived from the original on July 25, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
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  25. SHUGA CAIN joins Drag Race UK x Bootleg Opinions Season 1 Episode 7!. YouTube. November 18, 2019. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
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  27. Cook, Michael (September 2, 2020). "Instinct Premiere: Shuga Cain Masks Up For Her Sickening New Single 'Sweet Love'". Instinct. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.