For all the strides the music industry has made in terms of LGBTQ inclusion, Drag Race stars Trixie Mattel and Monét X Change say there's still a way to go when it comes to drag musicians.
During the latest episode of Mattel's podcast The bald and the beautiful with Trixie and Katia, Mattel and X Change compared notes on life as a drag musician. When Mattel praised her guest for her musical talents, X Change asked the host if she felt there would ever be recognition for drag artists at the Grammys.
“I recently took a break from music because I feel the glass ceiling so strongly,” Mattel said in response. “I think I've just managed to do what I'm going to do, because we're only taken seriously for one month a year. And it takes the wind out of your sails. I want to do music, but if I don't have this wig, no one will care. But because I have this wig on, no one will take it seriously. Then what;”
X Change agreed, saying she often wonders why she continues to pursue music when the industry doesn't invest in drag artistry. “I often feel like, 'Why am I doing this,'” she said. “Why am I putting all this time, effort, money, everyone's patience into this thing?”
Mattel then talked about the cost of trying to maintain a career in music as an independent artist. “A cheap music video costs $30,000. And that's when the directors say, 'Well, we're not going to have food on set, and you're not going to have a ride, and there's no air conditioning,'” he explained.
X Change chimed in and added that music videos are also seen as extremely necessary to maintain a steady audience. “There's this machine where it's like, 'Well, you have to do the music video to get more publicity, you can talk about this thing…' and it's like, one thing leads to another, but we're independent artists. I have to finance all of this myself. There's no label behind me pumping all that money into one and one project.”
Even with the backing of a major label, Mattel pointed out that the industry is still brutal for up-and-coming artists. “I know artists who are signed and I know about their deals. The label can collect 80% of what they make, including tours and merch,” he said. “They could say, 'Here's $2-3 million… but it's an advance, which means it's against five album sales. So you're either making us that much money or, at some point, you owe us an extra album because you didn't do that much good.”
Each of Mattel's two studio albums and two EPs — of 2017 two birds, of 2018 A stonedecade of 2020 Barbara and 2022 The Blonde and Pink Albums — have been written on Advertising signThe Top Selling Albums Chart, with The Blonde and Pink Albums which was her highest debut (No. 48). X Change, meanwhile, released their debut EP No apologies in 2019, and is currently promoting her upcoming double album gray rainbow, with the first volume out on Friday, May 16 via PEG Records.
Watch the full conversation between Trixie Mattel and Monét X Change below:
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/culture/pride/trixie-mattel-monet-x-change-glass-ceiling-drag-music-1235671704/
