Sutan Ibrahim Karim Amrullah ; (born June 14, 1974), often shortened to Sutan Amrull, is an American drag performer and make-up artist who also uses the stage name Raja Gemini or simply Raja. He is best known for winning the third season of ''

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 ...

'' and remains the only Asian American to win the show. Amrullah later returned to compete on the seventh season of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'' is an American reality competition spin off edition of the original ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', which is produced by World of Wonder, for Logo TV and later VH1. The show premiered on October 22, 2012, on Logo TV, b ...

'', an all-winners season. Outside of drag, Amrullah is also known for his makeup artistry on the reality television show ''

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 ...

'' (cycles four through twelve). Amrullah's clients include

Tyra Banks Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American television personality, model, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15, and was the first Africa ...

Dita von Teese Heather Renée Sweet (born September 28, 1972), known professionally as Dita Von Teese, is an American vedette, burlesque dancer, model, and businesswoman. She is credited with re-popularizing burlesque performance, earning the moniker "Que ...

Pamela Anderson Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress and model. She is best known for her glamour modeling work in ''Playboy'' magazine and for her appearances on the television series ''Baywatch'' (1992–1997). Anders ...

Paulina Porizkova Paulina Porizkova (born Pavlína Pořízková, ; 9 April 1965) is a Swedish model. Born in Czechoslovakia and raised in Sweden, Porizkova became the first Central European woman to appear on the cover of the ''Sports Illustrated'' swimsuit issu ...

, Iman,

Iggy Azalea Amethyst Amelia Kelly (born 7 June 1990), known professionally as Iggy Azalea (), is an Australian rapper. At the age of 16, Azalea moved from Australia to the United States in order to pursue a career in music. Azalea earned public recognitio ...

, RuPaul, and

Twiggy Dame Lesley Lawson (''née'' Hornby; born 19 September 1949) is an English model, actress, and singer, widely known by the nickname Twiggy. She was a British cultural icon and a prominent teenaged model during the swinging '60s in London. ...

. Since 2009, Amrullah has been make-up artist to singer

Adam Lambert Adam Mitchel Lambert (born January 29, 1982) is an American singer and songwriter. Since 2009, he has sold over 3 million albums and 5 million singles worldwide. Lambert is known for his dynamic vocal performances that fuse his theatrical tra ...

for print media, live U.S. appearances, and Lambert's international 2010

Glam Nation Tour The Glam Nation Tour (also known as GlamNation International) was the first headlining concert tour by American singer/songwriter Adam Lambert in support of his debut album, '' For Your Entertainment''. The tour included over 100 shows in North A ...

. Amrullah currently co-host the podcast ''Very That'', alongside

Delta Work Delta Work is the stage name of Gabriel A. Villarreal, a Mexican-American drag performer and stylist, best known for competing on the third season of the reality competition television series '' RuPaul's Drag Race''. Villarreal received the ...

Early life

Amrullah was born in

Baldwin Park, California Baldwin Park is a city located in the central San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 72,176, down from 75,390 at the 2010 census. History Baldwin Park began as ...

. He is of

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

and Indonesian descent. His late father, Abdul Wadud Karim Amrullah, was the younger brother of Indonesian ʿālim and philosopher

Hamka Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah, better known by his pen name Hamka (17 February 1908 – 24 July 1981) was an Indonesian ʿālim, philosopher, writer, lecturer, politician and journalist. First affiliated with the Masyumi Party, until it was d ...

. At the age of three, his family moved to the island of Bali in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, his parents' native country, where he stayed for six years before returning to the U.S.

Career

Career beginnings

At sixteen years of age, Amrullah got into the drag scene by attending L.A. nightclubs with friends. He was part of a sector of drag that was inspired by the goth and

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

subcultures A subculture is a group of people within a culture that differentiates itself from the parent culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures develop their own norms and values regarding cultural, pol ...

. The first few years of his drag career in the early '90s were spent as a club kid named Crayola. Amrullah attended

California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

as an art student, focusing on art direction and illustration, for two years, then decided to pursue a career in makeup artistry and female impersonation.

''RuPaul's Drag Race''

He was a contestant on the third season of ''

'' as Raja. He was a member of the "Heathers" clique, which took its name from the popular cult film ''

Heathers ''Heathers'' is a 1989 American black comedy film written by Daniel Waters and directed by Michael Lehmann, in both of their respective film debuts. The film stars Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker, and ...

''. In the final episode, after a lip-sync battle with

Manila Luzon Karl Philip Michael Westerberg, better known by the stage name Manila Luzon (born August 10, 1981), is an American drag queen, recording artist, comedian and reality television personality. Luzon came to international attention as a contestant on ...

, Raja was declared the winner of the show's third season and crowned ''America's Next Drag Superstar''. As part of his duties as the third-season winner of ''Drag Race'', Amrullah toured the U.S. and Canada on ''Logo's Drag Race Tour'' in 2011. Raja is the first and only Asian American winner of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. In 2014 Raja joined the Drag Race Battle of the Seasons tour where he performed a lip-sync duet with Manila Luzon to the

Babymetal (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese kawaii metal band consisting of Suzuka Nakamoto as "Su-metal" and Moa Kikuchi as "Moametal". The band is produced by Kobametal from the Amuse talent agency. Their vocals are backed by heavy metal instrume ...

song "

Gimme Chocolate!! is a song by the Japanese kawaii metal band Babymetal from their self-titled debut album. Though it was not released as a single in Japan, the song became an international success, with its music video gaining over 170 million views on YouTube. ...

" In April 2022, Raja was announced as one of the eight returning winners that would be competing in seventh season of ''

'', the first ever all-winners season of ''Drag Race''. He won the title of "Queen of She Done Already Done Had Herses" and a prize of $50,000.

Other ventures

Amrullah was a make up artist on ''

'' from 2005 until 2009. In May 2011, Amrullah released his first single as Raja, titled "

Diamond Crowned Queen "Diamond Crowned Queen" is a song recorded by American drag queen Raja Gemini, Raja, which was released on May 3, 2011, through the record label Citrusonic Flavor Recordings. This was shortly after he was crowned winner of RuPaul's Drag Race ...

." The single debuted at number fifty on the '' Billboard'' Hot Dance Club Songs, before peaking at number thirty-five. On August 21, 2012, his second single "Sublime" was released. Her third single, "Zubi Zubi Zubi" (roughly translating to "Dance Dance Dance"), was released June 1, 2013. Since 2014, he has presented the weekly WOWPresents YouTube series ''RuPaul's Drag Race Fashion Photo RuView'' with fellow ''Drag Race'' alumna Raven. In February 2017, he starred as an intergalactic creature in the music video for Blondie's single " Fun". He also appeared in the "Make Love Not Walls" Diesel campaign directed by David LaChapelle and in a campaign for Urban Decay alongside fellow ''Drag Race'' alumni

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

Jiggly Caliente Bianca Castro (born November 29, 1980), commonly known as Jiggly Caliente, is a Filipino-American drag performer, singer, and actress best known for competing on the fourth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', the sixth season of '' RuPaul's Drag ...

, and

Katya Katya is a feminine given name. It is a very popular name in Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Serbia, and North Macedonia. It is a Russian diminutive form of Yekaterina, which is a Russian form of Katherine.This name is also can be spelled Katia.MFnames ...

. Amrullah has created and performed live drag shows as Raja in Provincetown, Massachusetts, such as ''Gawdess'' (2017), ''Masque'' (2018), and ''Lush Life'' (2019). Amrullah guest starred as himself in ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

'' episode "

Werking Mom "Werking Mom" is the 646th episode of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' and the seventh episode of season 30. The episode was directed by Mike Frank Polcino and written by Carolyn Omine and Robin Sayers. The episode was al ...

," which aired on November 18, 2018. In June 2019, they were one of 37 queens to be featured on the cover of ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...

''.

Personal life

On December 14, 2017, Amrullah married Ryan Turner at a small ceremony City Hall in

Norwalk, California Norwalk is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 105,549 at the 2010 census and an estimated 103,949 in 2019. It is the 58th most densely-populated city in California. Founded in the late 19th century, Nor ...

Discography

Singles

As featured artist

Other appearances

Filmography

Film

Television

Web

Music videos

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gemini, Raja 1974 births Living people American drag queens American make-up artists LGBT singers from the United States American people of Dutch descent American people of Indonesian descent American people of Dutch-Indonesian descent American people of Minangkabau descent Asian-American drag queens Minangkabau people

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

People from Baldwin Park, California Artists from Los Angeles LGBT American people of Asian descent LGBT people from California RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars contestants