Alaska

‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 2’ Winner Alaska: Crown Firmly Placed, She’s Not Looking Back and Serving a Big Slice of ‘Poundcake’

From the moment she strutted into the workroom on season five of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” with her signature “hieeeeeee,” we kind of had a feeling that Alaska was going to be a superstar. Finishing in the top three on that season, Alaska was one of the contestants on this season’s “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 2.” Despite a total spin on the elimination process, along with some external drama with the other girls, Alaska managed to lip sync her way into the “Drag Race Hall of Fame.” I chatted with Alaska the day after her crowning about everything from her new album “Poundcake” to the snake emoji-filled online hate this season drew and what queens she thinks would be great to take a crack at the crown for “All Stars 3.”

Alaska, congratulations on the big win! Has the post-crowning celebration died down so you can get some rest?
Thank you so much! You know, I was up really late singing really great country songs with my brother. I’m a little sleepy, but I’m very happy.

How does it feel to go from someone who applied, literally, to be on every season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” prior to your own, to now being the winner of “All Stars 2”? It must be quite surreal.
I mean, it’s crazy. I go back and watch my original audition tapes, and I still very much feel like that very person. I am still that person. I’ve never changed. The makeup has changed slightly, and I am glad for that. I still very much feel like that person though. I hope that kids out their can believe that “Anus-thing Is Possible”!

Speaking of one of your singles, you dropped the track “The T” overnight post-crowning. It was a cameo-filled, scalding
pot of tea, it seems!
That’s exactly it; that totally sums it up. It’s a snapshot of how I was feeling throughout the process. I actually wrote it during a time when “All Stars” had been filmed but had not aired yet. It was about dealing with the internal conflict of all of that. It’s kind of like a WikiLeaks: Let’s just put it all out there, and let’s move on from here.

“RuPaul’s All Stars 2” has gotten so much positive press and has almost reinvigorated the entire brand. Why do you think it has gotten so much attention?
I think it’s in large part due to the people at Logo and the people at World of Wonder. This is more than just a show that they make, that they produce and then put it out to them. It’s something that they really care about. They know the ins and the outs and how to make it really exciting. I was glued to the screen when I watched it, and I was there! I think I would have been even if I had not been though. I think it was really well executed, and I can’t wait for season nine! [Season nine premieres in spring 2017.]

Who were you surprised not to see appear alongside you on your “All Stars” cast?
I mean, there are so many queens that could have been there! I would have loved to have seen Kennedy Davenport, Laganja Estranja, Gia Gunn, Shangela, Trixie Mattel. Any of these queens could have been there, and they would have been amazing. You know what though? There’s always “All Stars 3.”

Looking back on the season as a whole, why do you think girls like Phi Phi O’Hara, Roxxxy Andrews and yourself got so much hate online this season, complete with the infamous “snake emoji” from viewers?
You know, I think that there are a lot of people that care greatly about the show. Part of what makes the show amazing is how dramatic and how intense the whole thing is. I wish that the energy that is used putting snake emojis in my inbox and in my comments would really be used for something better though. I think there are more pressing issues out there right now. Black Lives Matter as a movement that is really important, Hillary Clinton being elected president of the United States is very important, women being paid an equal wage to men is very important, things like that. I would say that instead of putting snakes into my comments, put their energy into something good. I don’t even read the comments, so I never see them anyway.

You are one of the premiere contestants to come out of the “Drag Race” franchise, and now as an “All Star” you will most likely have much more visibility. When did it occur to you that you were a star?
Wow, you know, I don’t really think of it that way. I think of myself as that nerdy kid who prefers to be alone drawing pictures in his house in his room. I think I am very much still that. The fact that I have a job doing this, this crazy thing called drag, that I have an actual career doing this, is nothing short of a miracle. I am so grateful that I get to do it. I am grateful every single day.

Your album “Poundcake,” as we hear every so often, is available on iTunes. Tell me about the new album.
The new album is definitely by drag, for drag and about drag. It really goes deep into that world. I wanted to do an album that was really unapologetic about drag. It’s not much that’s going to be played on Kiss FM. It’s specific, and it’s for us. It’s for our community. I hope people will enjoy it. I think it’s really filthy and nasty and weird and fun.

If you had to look at the Alaska that walked into the season five workroom, horse face and all, and tell her something now as the “All Stars 2” winner, what do you think you would tell her?
I probably would’t tell her anything. I think the first rule of time travel is that you don’t alter the past. I would probably just go back into the workroom and watch behind that two-way mirror!

“Poundcake” is available on iTunes now!