My Chosen Music Genre

I have fully decided on doing my magazine on the genre 'American Drag Culture'. This is a genre that is not commonly known to everyday people, but is actually very widely known throughout the world and is getting more and more recognisable in everyday life. I decided to choose this genre because it is my life and defines who I am; I love to indulge myself in the community. T

American Pop (extracted from Wiki/AmericanPop)

American Pop is a vague term applied generally to whatever form of music is most popular among teenage audiences. Perhaps the first genre of teen pop was the swing craze, which was an important dance style among teens across the nation in the early parts of the 20th century. Some examples of successful artists from this include; Dean Martin, Christina Aguilera, Tony Bennett, Britney Spears, *NSYNC, Frank Sinatra and Backstreet Boys.

Drag (extracted from Wiki/DragQueen)

A drag queen is a man who dresses and often acts, with exaggerated femininity. While drag is mostly associated with gay men and gay culture, there are drag artists of all genders and sexualities who do drag for various reasons or purposes. Generally, drag queens are males who dress and act in a female gender role, often exaggerating certain characteristics (such as makeup and eyelashes) for comic, dramatic or satirical effect.

The term drag queen usually refers to people who dress in drag for the purpose of performing, whether singing, lip-syncing, dancing, participating in events such as gay pride parades, cabarets and discotheques.

Famous drag queens include; Divine, Dame Edna Average, Lady Bunny, RuPaul, Willam Belli, Conchita Wurst, Courtney Act, Bianca Del Rio, Adore Delano, Sharon Needles, Lipsinka and Jinkx Monsoon.

Examples of Artists in This Genre:

~ RuPaul

~ Celine Dion

~ Adam Lambert

~ DWV (Detox, Willam, Vicky)

~ Neil Patrick Harris

~ Robyn

~ Manila Luzon

~ Cher

~ Jeffree Star

~ Janet Jackson

~ Raja

~ Amanda Lepore

~ Culture Club (Boy George, Mikey Craig, Roy Hay, Jon Moss //John Suede, Sam Butcher//)

~ Jonny McGovern

~ Adore Delano

~ George Michael

~ Lady Gaga

~ Sharon Needles

~ Elton John

~ Madonna

~ Alaska Thvnderfvck 5000

~ Christina Aguilera (Xtina)

~ Dolly Parton

Mood Boards To Portray My Chosen Genre

About a Few of the Artists:

Cher

Cher is an American singer, actress, model, fashion designer,comedian, songwriter, dancer, businesswoman, philanthropist, author, film producer, director, record producer, and television host. (You already knew that though, duh.) Described as embodying female autonomy in a male-dominated industry, she is known for her distinctive contralto singing voice and for having worked in various areas of entertainment, as well as adopting a variety of styles and appearances during her career, which has lead to her being nicknamed the Goddess of Pop.

She is most known street-wise for her song 'Believe' (Watch Here) - released on the 19th of October, 1998 -  as it became one of the "biggest-selling singles ever" by topping the charts in a total of 23 countries with sales of more than 11 million copies worldwide.

DWV

L to R: Willam, Vicky, Detox

DWV was an American Pop Group based in Los Angeles, consisting of drag queens Detox Icunt, Willam Belli and Vicky Vox. On June 14th, 2014, it was confirmed that the group had split (I was heartbroken).

Their most famous song is 'Boy is a Bottom' (Watch Here), which is a parody of Alicia Keys' 'Girl on Fire' and also features the "breakdown" from 'My Lovin' by En Vogue. The original music video went viral and has been viewed over 15.1 million times since uploaded to YouTube on the 28th of January 2013. 'Boy is  a Bottom' debuted at number six on Billboard's Comedy Digital Songs, selling 3,000 downloads (Click Me) in its first week.

Elton John

Sir Elton John is an English singer, songwriter, composer, pianist, record producer, and occasional actor. in his five-decade career he has sold over 300 million records, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world. He has more than fifty 'Top 40' hits, including seven consecutive No.1 US albums, fifty-eight Billboard 'Top 40' singles, twenty-seven top 10, four No.2's and nine No.1's.

The song of his that is the most known is 'Your Song' (Watch Here), which was released in 1970, more recently covered by Ellie Goulding, whose version reached No.2 in late 2010.

Sharon Needles

Sharon Needles is an American drag performer and recording artist. A self-described "stupid genius, reviled sweetheart and PBR princess", Needles rose to prominence on the fourth season of the Logo reality competition series RuPaul's Drag Race, where she quickly became a fan favourite and was subsequently crowned "America's Next Drag Superstar" in April 2011.

The first single Miss Needles released was called 'This Club Is A Haunted House' (Watch Here), which features an intro humorously narrated by the Supermodel of the World herself; RuPaul, and is a single from her very successful album 'PG-13' (Purchase/Browse Here). 

Jonny McGovern

Jonny McGovern, also widely known by his character name 'The Gay Pimp', is an openly gay American stand-up comedian, musician and podcaster. In total, he has ten albums as a comedic singer in his discography and is also a cast member of Logo's The Big Gay Sketch Show.

He has a very popular YouTube show called 'Hey Qween' of which him and his sidekick Lady Red interview popular icons and of which the introduction music played is his song 'The Gayest of All Time' (Watch Here) - a song made for 2013's Gay Pride.

Dolly Parton

Dolly is an American singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, actress, author and philanthropist, known for her work in country music. Her career began as a child performer on the radio, then recording a few singles from the age of 13. Parton is the most honoured female country singer of all time and has achieved 25 RIAA certified gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards, she has 25 songs reach No.1 on the Billboard Country Charts, a record for female artists.

In 1999, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. She has composed over 3,000 songs, the best known of which include "I Will Always Love You" (a two-time U.S. country chart-topper for Parton, as well as an international pop hit for Whitney Houston), "Jolene", "Coat of Many Colours", and "9 to 5". 

RuPaul

Ru is an American actor, drag queen, model, author, and recording artist, who first became widely known in the 1990's when he appeared in a wide variety of television programs, films, and musical albums. RuPaul is noted among drag queens for her indifference toward the gender-specific pronouns used to address him - both 'he' and 'she' have been deemed acceptable as she has said: "You can call me he. You can call me she. You can call me Regis and Kathie Lee; I don't care! Just as long as you call me."

Her most famous song is 'The Beginning' (Watch Here) from her album 'Galamzon' and is - in my opinion - one of the best songs she has done. (AVAILABLE ON iTUNES)