Slay Belles | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 23, 2015 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 39:43 | |||
Label | RuCo Inc. | |||
Producer |
| |||
RuPaul chronology | ||||
|
Slay Belles is the ninth studio album and second Christmas album from American singer and drag queen RuPaul. It was released exclusively via iTunes and Amazon on 23 October 2015, through RuPaul's label RuCo. [1] It was also made available to stream through Spotify. Slay Belles sees a return to Christmas music for RuPaul after releasing his first festive album, Ho, Ho, Ho , in 1997. The album features RuPaul's frequent collaborators, Michelle Visage and Big Freedia, as well as Markaholic, Ellis Miah, Todrick Hall and Siedah Garrett. The album's interludes feature the Pit Crew from RuPaul's Drag Race .
RuPaul released his first Christmas album, Ho, Ho, Ho , in October 1997, almost exactly 18 years before the release of Slay Belles. The album was a combination of original songs, standards and comedy vignettes. The album was tied into a television Christmas special from The RuPaul Show on VH1. Much of the humor on the album was of a risqué nature, making it quite different from traditionally wholesome holiday albums. For instance, the classic "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" lyrics were changed to "I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus".
News that RuPaul was releasing his second Christmas album came after he posted the LP's track list on Twitter, just two days before Slay Belles release date. [2] A picture of RuPaul, Ellis Miah and Siedah Garrett recording "Brand New Year" in the studio was also posted to his Twitter account the same day. [3] The album was subsequently released on 23 October 2015, just in time for the festive season.
Musically, the album sees a departure from RuPaul's first Christmas album and his seventh studio album, Realness , released earlier in 2015. The lyrics throughout Slay Belles focus on being more heartfelt and meaningful than the comedic themes featured in his 1997 Christmas album. The album also sees RuPaul return to a pop/dance-pop sound after focusing on more electronic and recently house music on Born Naked (2014) and Realness (2015).
The album's title is a play on 'sleigh bells', with 'sleigh' replaced with 'slay', a word frequently used within the drag and LGBT community meaning amazing, and 'bells' replaced with 'belles' meaning beautiful women. [4]
A music video for "Nothing For Christmas" was released on World of Wonder's YouTube channel on December 10, 2015. It features archive footage of RuPaul in the 1980s from the archives of Nelson Sullivan. [5]
On December 13, 2015, "RuPaul's Green Screen Christmas" aired on Logo and featured music videos for "Merry Christmas Mary", "Jingle Dem Bells", "Deck The Halls", "You're The Star (On My Christmas Tree)", "From Your Heart", "Christmas Cookies" & "Brand New Year". The show and videos featured guest appearances from Big Freedia, Todrick Hall, Michelle Visage, Siedah Garrett and the Pit Crew & contestants from RuPaul's Drag Race. The videos featured in "RuPaul's Green Screen Christmas" were uploaded to Logo's YouTube channel on December 15, 2015.
All tracks are written by RuPaul, except where noted
No. | Title | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Hi Pit Crew" (Interlude) | 1:01 | |
2. | "Merry Christmas, Mary" | 2:57 | |
3. | "Everybody Else's Money" (Interlude) | 0:26 | |
4. | "Christmas Is About Love" | 3:40 | |
5. | "Redefined Christmas" (Interlude) | 1:14 | |
6. | "From Your Heart" (featuring Michelle Visage) | 3:07 | |
7. | "Stripping in the Living Room" (Interlude) | 0:11 | |
8. | "You're the Star (On My Christmas Tree)" (written by RuPaul and Lucian Piane) | Markaholic [6] | 3:22 |
9. | "BLT" (Interlude) | 0:30 | |
10. | "My Favorite Holiday" (featuring Markaholic) | 3:32 | |
11. | "Do It Forever, Daddy" (Interlude) | 0:49 | |
12. | "Christmas Cookies" | 3:24 | |
13. | "Jingle Bells" (Interlude) | 0:22 | |
14. | "Jingle Dem Bells" (featuring Big Freedia & Ellis Miah) | 2:58 | |
15. | "BB Gun" (Interlude) | 1:28 | |
16. | "Nothing for Christmas" | 3:08 | |
17. | "Celebrity Shopper" (Interlude) | 1:07 | |
18. | "Deck the Halls" (featuring Todrick Hall) | 4:21 | |
19. | "Joy to the World" (Interlude) | 0:27 | |
20. | "Brand New Year" (featuring Siedah Garrett) | 4:02 | |
21. | "Merry Christmas, Mary" (Reprise) | 1:42 |
Chart (2015) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums [7] | 21 |
Region | Date | Label | Format |
---|---|---|---|
Worldwide | October 23, 2015 | RuCo Inc. | Digital download |
RuPaul Andre Charles is an American drag queen. He produces, hosts, and judges the reality competition series RuPaul's Drag Race and has received several accolades, including 12 Primetime Emmy Awards, three GLAAD Media Awards, a Critics' Choice Television Award, two Billboard Music Awards, and a Tony Award. He has been dubbed the "Queen of Drag".
Ho Ho Ho, also known as VH-1 Presents RuPaul: Ho Ho Ho, is a 1997 Christmas album and the third studio album by American singer and drag queen RuPaul. Released on October 28, 1997, by the record label Rhino, it is RuPaul's first album featuring Christmas music and serves as a follow-up to his 1996 album Foxy Lady. RuPaul co-produced the album with Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato from the production company World of Wonder. Ho Ho Ho consists of thirteen tracks, including ten covers of Christmas standards and carols, and three original songs written by Joe Carrano and RuPaul. Music critics frequently described the album as an example of camp though RuPaul clarified that it included several more serious covers, specifically "All Alone on Christmas" and "Hard Candy Christmas".
Michelle Lynn Shupack, better known as Michelle Visage, is an American singer, television host, actress, radio DJ and producer. She first gained recognition as a member of the musical group Seduction, who charted five singles on the Billboard Hot 100. She later served as lead vocalist of another group, The S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M., who reached the top of the dance charts with the single "It's Gonna Be a Lovely Day" in 1993. In 2011, she joined the American reality competition series RuPaul's Drag Race, and has served as a permanent judge since season three. She is also a permanent judge on RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, RuPaul's Drag Race UK, and RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under. Visage has won 3 Primetime Emmy Awards as a producer of RuPaul's Drag Race.
Ellis Miah is an American songwriter, record producer, composer, vocalist and DJ of Bangladeshi and Caribbean descent. He has had over 17 records on various Billboard charts including the Billboard 200, Electronic Album, Club Play and Maxi Singles as part of the production teams the Orange Factory and Beat Hustlerz. As a songwriter, producer and remixer he has worked with artists including Miley Cyrus, Backstreet Boys, Annie Lennox, RuPaul, Big Freedia, Siedah Garrett, Todrick Hall, and Loleatta Holloway.
RuPaul's Drag Race is an American reality competition television series, the first in the Drag Race franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV, WOW Presents Plus, VH1 and, beginning with the fifteenth season, MTV. The show documents RuPaul in the search for "America's next drag superstar". RuPaul plays the role of host, mentor, and head judge for this series, as contestants are given different challenges each week. Contestants are judged by a panel that includes RuPaul, Michelle Visage, an alternating third main judge of either Carson Kressley, Ross Mathews, or Ts Madison, and one or more guest judges, who critique their progress throughout the competition. The title of the show is a play on drag queen and drag racing, and the title sequence and song "Drag Race" both have a drag-racing theme.
Todrick Hall is an American singer, choreographer, and YouTuber. He gained national attention on the ninth season of the televised singing competition American Idol. Following this, he amassed a huge following on YouTube with viral videos including original songs, parodies, and skits. A documentary series about his video-making process titled Todrick aired on MTV in 2015.
Freddie Ross Jr., better known by his stage name Big Freedia, is an American rapper and performer known for his work in the New Orleans genre of hip hop called bounce music. Freedia has been credited with helping popularize the genre, which had been largely underground since developing in the early 1990s.
Chantaize Darius Jeremy Pierce, better known by the stage name Shangela Laquifa Wadley or simply as Shangela, is an American drag queen, reality television personality, and actor best known for competing on RuPaul's Drag Race. Shangela was the first contestant eliminated in season two, and returned as a surprise contestant in the series' third season, placing sixth. She returned once again for the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars where she finished in joint-third/fourth place alongside winner of the first season, BeBe Zahara Benet. Shangela has also made several television appearances and regularly performs across the United States and Canada.
Jade Jolie is an American drag queen and impersonator of Taylor Swift, known for competing in the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race and the fourth season of The Boulet Brothers' Dragula.
Jay Evan Jackson, known professionally as Laganja Estranja is an American choreographer and drag queen based in Los Angeles. Laganja competed on the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, finishing in eighth place. She came out as transgender in 2021.
Miss Fame is the stage name of Kurtis Frank Dam-Mikkelsen, an American model, makeup artist, drag queen, recording artist and reality television personality best known as a contestant on season 7 of RuPaul's Drag Race. After appearing on the show, Dam-Mikkelsen as Miss Fame launched a music career, releasing his debut single, "Rubber Doll" on April 28, 2015. His debut album, Beauty Marked, was released on June 9, 2015. Miss Fame appeared in numerous fashion publications.
Joshua Allen Eads, better known by the stage name Ginger Minj, an American drag queen, actor, singer-songwriter, and reality television personality. After achieving recognition for placing as the runner-up on the seventh season of the reality television competition series RuPaul's Drag Race, Minj returned to compete on the second and sixth seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. Minj has acted in three Netflix productions—the comedy feature film Dumplin' (2018), the animated series Super Drags, and RuPaul's fictional series AJ and the Queen, and has acted in numerous theatrical productions. Minj appeared in the 2022 film Hocus Pocus 2, the sequel to Hocus Pocus. Minj has released three studio albums—Sweet T (2016), Gummy Bear (2021), and Double Wide Diva (2021).
Sang-Young Shin, known professionally as Kim Chi, is a Korean-American drag queen, artist, entrepreneur, and television personality best known for competing on the eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. Kim Chi was the first Korean-American contestant on the show as well as the first Korean-American drag queen on American national television. She owns the beauty brand Kim Chi Chic Cosmetics.
Butch Queen is the tenth studio album from singer and drag queen RuPaul. It was released on March 4, 2016, just three days prior to the eighth season premiere of RuPaul's Drag Race. The album features guest appearances from Ellis Miah, Ts Madison and Taylor Dayne, among others.
Ryan A. Taylor, known professionally as Trinity "The Tuck" Taylor or just Trinity the Tuck, is an American drag queen and recording artist best known for competing on the ninth season of RuPaul's Drag Race and for winning the fourth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, shared with Monét X Change. She went by Trinity "the Tuck" Taylor on her original season, but on the first episode of All Stars, she indicated that she would henceforth go simply by Trinity the Tuck.
Christmas Queens 2 is a holiday compilation album by various artists. It was released by Producer Entertainment Group on November 11, 2016. Consisting of 30 tracks, the album is a sequel to Christmas Queens (2015) and features RuPaul's Drag Race contestants alongside Jackie Beat, Michelle Visage, and Carnie Wilson performing mostly original material; exceptions include ensemble covers of "Deck the Halls" and "Auld Lang Syne, as well as Visage's rendition of "O Holy Night". The compilation was promoted by a music video for "Working Holiday", which features Alaska Thunderfuck and Manila Luzon, a web series entitled Christmas Queens, and a tour by various artists with December 2016 shows in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. It received mixed reviews from music critics and peaked at number two on Billboard's Comedy Albums chart.
Jaren Kyei Merrell, known professionally as Shea Couleé, is an American drag queen, musician, actor, podcaster, and fixture of the Chicago nightlife scene. Born in Warsaw, Indiana, they began their drag career in 2012. In 2017, Couleé achieved international fame after competing on season nine of RuPaul's Drag Race, placing in the top four. In 2020, Couleé won the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. Couleé later returned to compete on the all-winners seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars in 2022, once again placing in the top four.
Forbidden is the third solo album by American singer-songwriter and YouTube celebrity Todrick Hall with music produced by Jeeve Ducornet and wiidope, released on March 28, 2018.
RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-slay Spectacular was a holiday television special, which aired on VH1 on December 7, 2018. The hour-long RuPaul's Drag Race special, announced on November 1, had former Drag Race contestants Eureka O'Hara, Jasmine Masters, Kim Chi, Latrice Royale, Mayhem Miller, Shangela, Sonique, and Trixie Mattel compete to become "Drag Race Christmas Queen".
Vagina is the third studio album by American drag performer Alaska Thunderfuck, released by Producer Entertainment Group on May 24, 2019. The album's surprise release was announced by Alaska in a television advertisement which aired during the eleventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race. The album's songs were then heavily promoted in her appearance at RuPaul's DragCon LA and during the debut of her new drag pageant. The song "Cellulite" features rapper Big Dipper, and music producers Jodie Harsh and Ellis Miah each contributed to a track. The album reached a peak position of number two on Billboard's Comedy Albums chart.