Myki Meeks Has All The Classics Covered At The Pregame

Myki Meeks came prepared. Not only is the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18 in full drag when she logs on to Zoom with Bustle — she’s about to head to a gig — she also quickly pulls up a playlist she’s put together with her Gay Guy Music Video Night go-tos. “It’s pretty sickening, in my opinion,” she says with a laugh. Newly into her reign, America’s Next Drag Superstar is still getting used to the travel (“Ooh, it’s wearing thin, honey! I think we were up at 3:30 or 4 a.m. today to get to the airport!”) but relishing meeting viewers on the other side of the TV screen — especially younger fans who might be coming out to their first drag shows or Pride events this season. “It’ll be nice to show them that if they’re coming into their queerness, there’s a whole community and whole world ready waiting for them with open arms,” she says.

First thing’s first: Lady Gaga and Beyoncé need to be played at every single Gay Guy Music Video Night. You can put on any Gaga or Beyoncé music video, and it’s going to be good. “Bad Romance” really changed my life as a little queer middle-schooler. It was Gaga at her most everything. I can’t wait for the day she tops it, though “Abracadabra” comes pretty close. “LoveGame” is also really special to me, and the Artpop “G.U.Y.” film is pretty iconic — I don’t think it is as revered today as it should be.

Next, if we’re going to talk throwbacks, Madonna, Janet Jackson, and Kylie Minogue are requirements as well. Madonna has to be played. When “Hung Up” comes on and I hear that “tick tock, tick tock,” I’m like a sleeper agent waking up. With Janet, I’m throwing on “Rock With U.” Some gays might not know it, but you’ve got to get into it. I’ve performed “Rock With U” so many times, and there’s something so hypnotic about it.

“Gay Gay Music Video Night is like going to a museum and seeing the portraits on the wall.”

And then Kylie: “Come Into my World” is just one of my favorite videos of all time. The way it keeps looping and she’s adding herself in over and over — what an unbelievable music video. I haven’t watched her Netflix documentary yet because I’ve been on the road, but it’ll be a must-watch when I get home because I just got my boyfriend into Kylie. He really likes her Body Language era — “Chocolate,” “Slow.” They’re all so good. I mean, Kylie does no wrong. Drag Race actually helped me discover more of Kylie’s catalog when they did “I Was Gonna Cancel” in Season 7.

I don’t understand people who feel like they can pick only one diva. That’s so boring. Why can’t we stan more than one? To see how all these artists interpret their version of pop is so inspiring. Beyoncé does something completely different from Kylie, who does something completely different from Janet, and so on. Pop culture is like our language as queer people, but I also think it’s important to remember the effort that gets put in. Beyoncé didn’t just make a music video to make a music video. This is her art. Watching her videos at Gay Gay Music Video Night is like going to a museum and seeing the portraits on the wall. Music videos are how these artists portray the world they’re trying to build.

I live within walking distance of the nightclub that we all go to in Orlando, so I’ll have people over for little drinkies beforehand, and then we’ll all just add music videos to the queue. If we’re really partying, we’ll turn up the really loud ones. I get a workout just from watching Tinashe’s “Bouncin,” where she’s in a gymnasium with her dancers and they’re all doing choreo on mini trampolines. If we’re just hanging out and want to dissect the videos, we’ll put on FKA Twigs’ “Cellophane,” where she’s riding down the stripper pole up into heaven — or hell, I’m not really sure which, but it’s incredible. She’s the definition of a true performance artist. The last videos I’ll watch are probably XG’s “Gala” or “Hypnotize,” because they’re overstimulating in the best way possible. Out of all the international pop being marketed out there right now, XG’s visuals feel like the future.

When we feel hyped-up enough, we’ll head out to the bar or club. I moved to Orlando for college to study musical theater, and the people I met in that world are some of my best friends to this day. Then, after college, I matched with this guy on Tinder who started introducing me to his friends in the Orlando club scene, and they became my queer family. When we would go out, we wouldn’t dress up in drag, but we would dress up in a theme. We’d go out to Southern Nights. We’d go out to Parliament House, which was an iconic LGBTQ+ tourist destination in Orlando. It was a motel and nightclub with different dance floors and some of the best drag entertainment in the country: Sasha Colby, Kylie Sonique Love, Jazell Barbie Royale, Darcel Stevens. To experience that in my early 20s as I was discovering and embracing my queerness was very formative. I remember seeing Kennedy Davenport performing on the outdoor stage at Parliament House and thinking, I want to do that. It was life-changing. That’s where it all started.

Now, as the crowned queen of RuPaul’s Drag Race, I get to go to a bunch of Prides this year and meet our community around the country. I think this year needs to be our loudest, most political Pride yet. Every Pride is political, but we all need to step up to the plate and really make our voices heard, especially with a government that’s trying to silence not just us but a lot of minority groups as well. This isn’t just Pride for the queers, this is Pride for the immigrants, Pride for anybody who is being discounted by this White House. We can still party — but just remember what the party is for.