Since being thrust into the limelight on season 10 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Monét X Change has been nothing if not busy. Dropping an album, starring in a Pepsi commercial with Cardi B, launching her own podcast, hosting a weekly talk show… if you can criticize her of anything, it’s not getting enough rest. Currently doing what she does best as one of the sassiest mentors on RuPaul’s Celebrity Drag Race, this is one queen who’s in no danger of sashaying her way off our radar anytime soon. Find out more with these 10 quick facts.
1. Meet Monét X Change
Inspiration sometimes comes in the strangest of places. Monét’s inspiration for her drag name came after she spotted a currency exchange booth across the street as she was chowing down on some chicken wings. After figuring Money Exchange didn’t quite set the desired tone, she decided to make a few minor alterations… and within a few minutes, Monét X Change was born.
2. Miss Congeniality
She may have finished season 10 of Drag Race in just 6th position, but Monét clearly won the hearts of her fellow contestants, even if she didn’t always quite get there with the judges. In the first vote ever decided by the queens themselves, Monét was awarded the crown of Miss Congeniality. Continuing her record of firsts, she later became the first Miss Congeniality to win a series of All-Stars.
3. Duking It out with Banks
In 2018, Monét entered into a Twitter war of words with Azealia Banks after the rapper accused RuPaul of ripping off her song “The Big Big Beat” in his track “Call Me Mother”, before proceeding to launch into a tirade against both RuPaul and Drag Race. Of all the commentators to rise up in RuPaul’s defense, Monét was one of the most virulent, calling Banks “rotted TRASH” and swearing never to perform her music again, Bank responded by saying Monét’s “crotch is rotting and fermenting under that sour mildew ass girdle,” but failed to get the last laugh after Monét fired back “Good one Azealia. Gotta love a tired b***h with preschool reads. Obscurity is where you shall exist.”
4. Soak It Up
During her time on season 10 of Drag Race, Monét faced some pretty cutting criticism from the judges, not least for her decision to forego the big voluptuous wigs and high heels of the other contestants for short, pussycat hairstyles and her own unique style of glam. But for all the criticism, Monét never stopped being her own inimitable self. In 2018, she hit back at the haters with the aptly titled single, ‘Soak It Up’. Explaining her choice of song title to Hornet (https://hornet.com/stories/monet-x-change-interview/), Monét said, “Throughout the season, whether it was about my pussycat wigs or the sponges, people had some not-so-nice things to say about them. I would say, “Well, like a sponge, I’m gonna soak all this stuff up and I am going to use it to be an even fiercer Monet X Change.” That is what the song is about: soaking up all the positive, the negative and living your life to the fullest and being fierce, free and unbothered.”
5. Respecting the Music
With the release of her first EP, Unapologetically, in Feb 2019, Monét was hoping for a lot more than just a chart position. Tired of the music industry treating drag as nothing more than lightweight candy floss, she’s determined to spark a change- and let’s face it, if there was ever anyone capable of doing that, it’s her. “I think that they need to stop looking at us as just drag performers,” she told Billboard. “Just look at us as artists. Do you like this music? If the answer is yes, then support us!” “You have performers like Pabllo Vittar in Brazil — he is recognized as an artist and a beautiful musician. That’s how I want people to look at me here in America,” she says. “I think I have the chops and the talent to do so. Get me to the Grammys, girl.”
6. Learning from Mom
Monét’s drag mother is none other than House of Davenport member (not to mention RuPaul’s Drag Race season 11 contestant) Honey Davenport. Monét’s learned a lot from the legendary New York City queen over the years, as she shared with Hornet. “I think I learned how to have a good time from Honey,” she said. “She knows how to do that and is always charismatic, and I think I get a lot of that from her.”
7. Queen of the Sponge
Anyone who watched season 10 of Drag Race can’t fail to remember Monét’s choice of clothing during the runway challenge on the first episode: a dress decorated from top to bottom with kitchen sponges. The frock quickly became a running joke, not to mention the subject of a thousand and one memes. So famous did it become, in fact, it even made the pages of the official Twitter feed of SpongeBob Square Pants.
8. Classically Trained
If you’ve heard even a snippet of Monét’s music, you know hers is a voice to be reckoned with… which is probably no coincidence, considering she’s a classically trained opera singer. A baritone that magnificent doesn’t just happen, you know.
9. Going Viral
Proving that elimination is no barrier to success, Monét’s career just seems to go from strength to strength since being ejected from season 10 of Drag Race. As well as launching the podcast Sibling Rivalry alongside BFF, Bob the Drag Queen, she’s also hosted her own weekly talk show, “The X Change Rate”, created the WOWPresents internet series “Monét’s Herstory X Change”, and presented a YouTube series titled “I Feel Skinny” that shows her participating in fitness and Yoga classes in full drag.
10. Feeling the Nerves
Monét might have seemed a tower of confidence on Drag Race, but even she felt the occasional bout of jitters. So bad did the nerves get on one occasion, she’s reported to have had a bit of an embarrassing moment on stage- at least if her fellow contestant Monique Heart’s to be believed. “Monét X Change peed on the stage in her red costume when she was getting critiqued, right before she lip-synced against Dusty Ray Bottoms,” Heart told Gay Times. “Like, a puddle. Literally. She had to go and they were in the middle of critiques, she was shaking and she was like, ‘I got to go, I got to go’. So she starts going, and then she ran.”
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