''Champion'' is the fifth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

from singer and

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part o ...

RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960; stylized as RuPaul) is an American drag queen, television personality, actor, musician, and model. Best known for producing, hosting, and judging the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' ...

. It was released on February 24, 2009. The album is a mix of dance, electro pop, R&B, and hip-hop. The album failed to reach the ''Billboard'' 200, however, it managed to peak at number 12 on the ''Billboard''

Dance/Electronic Albums Top Dance/Electronic Albums, Dance/Electronic Albums (formerly Top Electronic Albums) is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine which ranks the top-selling electronic music albums in the United States based on sales compiled by ...

as well as number 26 on the ''Billboard''

Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

chart.

Background

On January 5, 2009, RuPaul released the world premiere of his first single "Cover Girl" on his MySpace profile and his blog. It was premiered as a promotional video which included footage from ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

'', a

reality TV show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

formatted similar to ''

America's Next Top Model ''America's Next Top Model'' (abbreviated ''ANTM'' and ''Top Model'') is an American reality television series and interactive competition in which a number of aspiring models compete for the title of "America's Next Top Model" and a chance to b ...

''. The single was later available as a download on February 11, 2009, or as a CD directly from RuPaul's webpage (released in the "RuCo, Inc." imprint RuPaul founded for his last 3 albums.) It was recorded in the bedroom of

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Lucian Piane's home, with the closet serving as the vocal booth. Work on the album was complete by February 10, 2009, and the album was released February 24, 2009. After receiving an initial release online, the album is now available on the physical CD format from RuPaul's website and other major on-line retailers. March 17 the video of the second single ''Jealous of My Boogie'' was released. December 2009 music videos for "Tranny Chaser" & "Devil Made Me Do It" were released in arrival of Season 2 of "RuPaul's Drag Race". According to RuPaul, "The theme of this album is stepping up to your throne, owning your power, and saying goodbye to playing small. There has been a shift in consciousness socially, politically and spiritually. The time has come for you to be .. Champion". RuPaul has also said that the album is his best, adding, "I understand what the public wants from me - and I am letting these children have it!".
To this end, the album is strongly directed to a gay audience (even more so than previous RuPaul albums). The song "Tranny Chaser", for instance, is a comedic hip-hop track about sexually curious heterosexual men who pursue casual sex with transgender women. In it RuPaul sings "Is some tranny chasers up in here? Welcome to my stratosphere! Make a move...what you gonna do? I ain't got no time for no lookie-loo, boo!"; and later, "Do you wanna fuck me? That don't make you gay!" Another song, "Let's Turn the Night", correlates the

Proposition 8 Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage; it passed in the November 2008 California state elections and was later overturned in cou ...

struggle in California with the story of

Harvey Milk Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk was born and raised in N ...

; according to RuPaul, "Lucian and I wrote the song during the height of the prop 8 protests here in West Hollywood." The album's title song "Champion", played throughout

Abercrombie kids Abercrombie Kids (stylized as abercrombie kids) is a children's clothing brand owned by Abercrombie & Fitch, introduced in 1998. Targeting consumers aged 7–14, the concept is designed as the children's version of its parent company A&F. There ar ...

stores during the Spring 2009 season. Two other songs featured on the album "Let's Turn the Night" and "Jealous of My Boogie" have also been played throughout all Abercrombie & Fitch stores in the summer and fall of 2009.

Track listing

All songs written by RuPaul Charles and Lucian Piane.

Chart performance

Album

References

{{Authority control 2009 albums Albums produced by Lucian Piane Albums recorded in a home studio RuPaul albums