“Mama didn’t raise no quitter.” — Charlize Theron
When Academy Award-winning actress Charlize Theron uttered these words at the 2024 Critic’s Choice Awards, Theron adoringly credited them to her “goddess.” That goddess was Queen Priyanka. The Indo Guyanese Canadian entertainer burst onto the world stage after winning the inaugural season of Canada’s Drag Race in 2020, turning heads with performances that infused her South Asian and Caribbean backgrounds.
In the years since, Queen Priyanka has appeared on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and joined the Emmy Award-winning, HBO reality TV series “We’re Here” as a Drag Mother. Now, she’s filming a new reality show, “Drag Brunch Saved My Life,” and taking on the music scene. After her EP “Taste Test” received over 20 million streams online, Queen Priyanka’s debut album, “Devastatia,” is set to release on August 23, and followed by a North American tour.
Finding Herself in the Spotlight
“I’ve always been a queen,” Queen Priyanka began, joining me on a video call backstage at one of her performance venues. “It just took me finding myself to be it.”
Queen Priyanka started her career in entertainment as a host and personality on Canada’s children’s network YTV. Appearing then as Mark “Suki” Suknanan, she was a staple on the popular series “The Zone” for seven years, but around 2017, she felt destined for more.
“When you work in a corporate media job, at a point, you begin to feel like, ‘Sh*t, I’m an artist. Artists don’t work in boxes.’ I had played this corporate game to get my job and shook the white man’s hand, but I was asking myself, ‘How do I express who I am more?’”
It was at this time she discovered drag.
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“I would go to the local drag bars and feel like I was at a pop star’s concert every night,” Queen Priyanka continued, drawing parallels between the shows and those she used to put on in her bedroom as a child. “I love drag so much because it goes against everything that people tell us we can’t be as children. When I’m in drag, I feel like I have the power to live out the thing I used to hide in my room.” Her belief in the power of drag was undeniable.
“As kids, we are so imaginative; we have big dreams. We put a song on the radio and dance in our rooms by ourselves. It isn’t until people put judgment — a brother or sister bullies you or your mom comes in and yells at you — that we get hunkered down. Drag is the one thing that just throws it all away. It proves everything that people said growing up about ‘how guys can’t wear pink and girls can’t wear blue’ is wrong. All that sh*t is made up. I can do whatever I want.”
The minute many of Priyanka’s friends saw her do drag for the first time, they remarked that it was what she was meant to do; that “it all made sense,” and it made sense to her as well. But that doesn’t mean the road to success was easy.
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Getting Pushed Off the Cliff
Priyanka is the child of Indo Guyanese immigrants and grew up in a Hindu household in Canada. She noted being surprised at how supportive her mother was of her career and sexuality, identifying as gay with the pronouns “She/Her” in drag and “He/Him” out of drag.
Her father and extended family however, were a different story. It wasn’t until Queen Priyanka was cast on “Canada’s Drag Race” that she came out to her father — an emotional milestone captured in an episode.
“Not every coming out story can be this big celebration or Pride parade,” she said candidly, reflecting on the experience. “We decided to wait until it was absolutely necessary to tell my dad. With Drag Race, I quit my job, I was about to be on billboards in drag, and he was gonna hear my voice. We had to do it. It was now or never.”
She admits it was an awkward conversation. Her father wondered what took so long and why they didn’t tell him sooner. To this day, he has yet to see Queen Priyanka perform in drag, but she knows the day will come and is ultimately happy things unfolded as they did.
“I needed the push,” she shared. “I am happy it went how it did because I got to know and understand my parents more. I was also able to give them space to just react as humans would.” She is glad she was “pushed off the cliff” in the public eye and has both inspired and offered comfort to many through her journey.
She is also proud that she was able to raise global awareness of the state of LGBTQ+ rights in Guyana and showcase her culture.
For Culture and the Community
“It’s nice to see a brown person bringing our culture into the mainstream, not Selena Gomez or the Pussycat Dolls. You know what I mean?” Queen Priyanka enjoyed the efforts of both artists with “Come & Get It” and the “Jai Ho” Remix, respectively, but noted representation from the community itself has a different impact.
As we spoke, she smiled, recalling how fans rushed the stage at a recent performance to proudly tell her they were also Guyanese and how she cried watching people’s reactions to a dancehall medley she performed last year. She called it one of her happiest moments and shared how grateful she is to be able to help Indo Caribbeans feel seen in this way.
This kind of representation from Queen Priyanka is not a rarity, either.
She chose her name, thinking of actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas. Jonas was making her mark in Hollywood as Suknanan began doing drag, so she knew the name would be known and recognized as Indian even before she showed her face.
She also performed in a red and white bridal dupatta on “Canada’s Drag Race,” donned the colors of Guyana’s flag to RuPaul’s audience, and can be seen performing to “Silsila Yeh Chahat Ka” from the 2002 Hindi film Devdas on “We’re Here.”
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Furthermore, the influence of Indian instrumentals can be heard in her latest single, “GUCCIYANKA” and throughout the new album in general.
It is all by design. “I want to put Bollywood sounds back on the radio. I want to put dancehall drum patterns on TikTok,” she explained. “I remember being in class with a Discman listening to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and someone asking, ‘Oh, what are you listening to?’ only to say ‘Britney Spears!’ I want people to be proud. To be like, ‘I’m listening to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. It’s amazing. Want to hear?”
Queen Priyanka wants everyone, especially fellow South Asians, to feel comfortable and proud in their skin, but also blaze a new trail.
“My inspiration is the rebel inside of me,” she declared, explaining how most people’s instinct is to go into a recording studio or drag performance and do what’s safe and been done before. “When I was making this new album, I was like, ‘What am I not hearing that I feel like everyone needs to hear?’ My inspiration is going against the grain.”
A Mission Bigger than the Backlash
In recent years, the drag community has been the subject of grave controversy in the United States, and Queen Priyanka has been caught in the middle, especially since appearing on “We’re Here.” She explained how she viewed the attacks on drag performers as attacks on the queer and trans communities more so than the art itself, and she doesn’t let that stop her.
“The backlash comes from carving space for myself,” she shared. “The only reason it’s happening is because more people are seeing me. And if more people are seeing me, that means that more people like me, who need to see me, are seeing me, and that’s what’s important.”
Queen Priyanka and others, who are part of the drag and LGBTQ+ community, are in a constant battle for their rights, representation and respect that many others take for granted. But she’s not backing down. Queen Priyanka is on a mission far greater than any of the hate-filled comments she may have received. She hopes her work and new album will be a source of joy and inspiration for all, especially for little brown boys and girls who may not think their dreams are possible.
“[The comment sections] can tell me to go die. They can tell me to kill myself… As long as that kid in their bedroom sees me twirling on stage and can be like, ‘Oh my God. Wait, they’re like me. I can do that one day,’ it’s worth it. I’ll take it.”
Queen Priyanka’s debut album “Devastatia” drops Friday, August 23 on all major streaming platforms. To learn more and see her upcoming tour dates, visit www.thequeenpriyanka.com.
