When RuPaul launched RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2009, the veteran drag queen was already perhaps the most recognizable drag queen on the planet. He rose to prominence in the late ’80s and early ’90s, most notably with his hit 1993 single “Supermodel (You Better Work).” Throughout the ’90s, he expanded his footprint with his own talk show and appearances on other TV shows. During that time, he often repeated sayings that he became known for — and decades later, they became integral parts of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
‘Everybody say love!’
RuPaul has long stood on the message of spreading love, especially in the midst of growing anti-LGBTQ sentiment and legislation across the country. When gathered in front of people, he often urges everyone, “Everybody say love!”, often repeating it so as to repeat the responses of “Love!”
Though it’s become a staple on RuPaul’s Drag Race, RuPaul has been “saying love” for a long time. In 1993, MTV followed RuPaul as he went shopping in the mall. When surrounded by a crowd of people, he told them, “Everybody say love!” They shouted “love” in response.
‘You’re born naked and the rest is drag’
One of RuPaul’s famous affirmations of self-love is that “You’re born naked and the rest is drag.” It’s become such a trademark that he even recorded a song and an album titled “Born Naked,” with the chorus of the song emphasizing that fact. It simply means that everyone is in some kind of drag in their life, whether that be on stage or wearing a three-piece suit at the office.
When explaining to MTV News what he means, RuPaul insisted that pop stars like Madonna, Garth Brooks, and Flavor Flav are all doing their own kinds of drag.
‘If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else? Can I get an amen up in here?’
After eliminating a queen following the lip sync for your life in every episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Ru celebrates with the remaining queens and bestows some wisdom and words of self-confidence for his queens: “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else? Can I get an amen up in here?”
The saying originates from his rise to fame in the early 1990s. It was one of the many ways Ru communicated his message of love to anyone who watched, showing that he cared much more about instilling self-love in others and urging those to spread love to other people, rather than they love and be obsessed with him specifically.
‘Sashay/Shantay’
At the end of every Drag Race episode, RuPaul tells the queen who wins the lip sync, “Shantay, you stay.” The loser, meanwhile, has to “Sashay away.”
The terms originate from Ru’s breakout single “Supermodel (You Better Work).” In the chorus, he sings, “Work, turn to the left / Work, now turn to the right / Work, sashay, shantay.”
‘You better work’
Similarly, “You better work” also originates with “Supermodel.” Back on the first episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race, they’re the first-ever words we hear in a lip sync. Today, “you better work” has become a saying of support to anyone willing to accept it.
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