Naomi Smalls is a reality television personality, a drag queen, and a person with a big personality. Smalls is an immense talent and someone who the world wants to know more about. How did Naomi become who she is when she’s dressed in drag, and how did she grow up when she was not dressed in drag? What is the story here, and what turned this person into the person they are now? We know that it’s such a fun and unique way to work and make a living, and it’s natural for so many people to feel curious about Naomi’s life outside of work. Let’s get into it.
1. Naomi is a Stage Name
When you are a man who works as a woman in drag, you know you have to find a name that works. A drag name has to be divine and amazing, and we love Naomi Smalls. The name comes from two super cool people you know and love. Naomi Campbell, supermodel extraordinaire, and Biggie Smalls, late rapper, and exceptional talent. His real name is actually Davis Happenstall.
2. He’s From California
Davis is from California. More specifically, he is from the Redlands area of California. He grew up there after he was born, but he was not raised by his own family. If he knows much about his biological family, he does not discuss it and we simply don’t know much, either. He was adopted and raised in the same area in which he was born.
3. He’s a Singer
In addition to being on RuPaul’s Drag Race, he is someone who has been singing for a long time. But, not as himself. As his drag personality and alter ego Naomi Smalls. He’s been working so hard to make a career as a singer, and even released a music video in 2018 for “Pose,” which is her first song.
4. He Has a Huge Family
When Davis was adopted as a child, he was adopted into a very large family. He would grow up with eleven siblings. That’s eleven brothers and sisters. We know most of them are also adopted into the family, but we aren’t sure how many were born into the family and how many were adopted. Either way, it’s a beautiful thing to give a child a home and a family when they have neither.
5. She’s Not Been Doing Drag a Long Time
Here is what is phenomenal about this person. They didn’t do drag for many years. Some people do this their entire lives, but Smalls was someone who was only doing it for about three years prior to going into the RuPaul world of drag. He felt like he didn’t really know anything about it, how to do it, and what worked, but he wasn’t willing to quit.
6. Her Male Ego Though He Would Be Behind the Camera
Growing up, Davis thought he would work behind the camera. He thought he might be someone who was in art direction or even production in some manner of speaking. Being a reality show star and being someone who has their own show (The Smalls World Show) is not something that he thought he would ever do, but it’s a dream come true for Davis.
7. Davis Was Into Musical Theater
As a child, he was always into musical theater. He loved the entire situation that went into it, from dressing up to doing makeup and hair to performing. It was something that allowed him to focus on one thing and be one thing at a time, and that one thing was always someone else. He loved that.
8. He Was Empowered By His Differences
Growing up, he knew he was not the same as the other boys in his age group. He went to the mall in heels with painted nails and so many things that are not considered the norm for teenage boys, and the hate and stares and the judgment he would get from those around him gave him a sense of empowerment. Those people didn’t bother him or hurt him. They fed his need to be different and his desire to be an influence for others in his same position.
9. Naomi is Davis’ Positive
Growing up the way that Davis did being so different from the other kids he knew could have turned him into someone negative and hate-filled, but it didn’t. Naomi is the positive that came from all of that. It’s the energy the channeled into being someone and something positive, and it worked for him. It’s the hate and the anger and the judgment that he managed to use as fuel for the fire rather than water to douse his fire.
10. Making Something Out of Nothing is Important
There is a common theme in his life, and that is taking what is apparently nothing from the outside and turning it into something. That’s why art direction is so important and so big in his life. He has taken what he feels is nothing and turned it into something amazing with Naomi, and he gets to continue to do that in so many other ways, too.
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