''Shartistry in Motion'' is the second

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 ...

by American drag queen

Willam Belli Willam Belli (, born June 30, 1982), mononymously known as Willam, is an American drag queen, actor, singer-songwriter, reality television personality, author, and YouTuber. Willam came to prominence as a contestant on the fourth season of ''R ...

, released on June 2, 2015. The album was self-released by Belli but experienced a much wider release than his previous album, '' The Wreckoning'' (2012), and was made available to buy on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

and

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

, and to stream on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

. Much alike Belli's debut album, ''Shartistry in Motion'' features a mixture of original songs and parodies. The album quickly became Belli's most successful album, debuting at number 1 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Comedy Albums Comedy Albums is a ''Billboard'' chart that lists the "top-selling spoken word and musical comedy albums" each week, as ranked by sales data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Top Comedy Albums in October 2004 (simultaneously wit ...

chart.

Background and development

Two of the main collaborators on ''Shartistry in Motion'',

Courtney Act Shane Gilberto Jenek (born 18 February 1982), better known under the stage name Courtney Act, is an Australian drag queen, singer and television personality. Courtney first came to prominence competing on the Australian Idol (season 1), first s ...

and

Alaska Thunderfuck 5000 Justin Andrew Honard (born March 6, 1985) is an American drag queen and recording artist known by the stage name Alaska Thunderfuck 5000, primarily known mononymously as Alaska, from Erie, Pennsylvania. She is best known as the runner-up on the ...

are both members of the drag group American Apparel Ad Girls with Belli.

Detox Icunt Matthew D. Sanderson, (born June 3, 1985) better known by the stage name Detox Icunt or simply Detox, is an American drag performer and recording artist. Detox was a fixture of the Southern California drag scene before coming to international at ...

and

Vicky Vox DWV was an American pop group based in Los Angeles, consisting of drag queens Detox, Willam Belli, and Vicky Vox. They found fame with the release of " Chow Down (at Chick-Fil-A)" in March 2012, a parody of "Hold On" by Wilson Phillips, satirizin ...

, main collaborators on Belli's debut album '' The Wreckoning'' and ex-members of the band DWV with Willam, did not return for his sophomore album as the group disbanded in 2014. However, Rhea Litré, a drag queen in Willam's other disbanded group Tranzkuntinental and who featured on "Let's Have a KaiKai" on Belli's 2012 album, returned to feature on "U.C.C.". ''Shartistry in Motion'' features three original songs, "Coin on the Dresser", "How Much Can't", and "Thick Thighs" with fellow ''

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 ...

season 4 Season 4 may refer to: * "Season 4" (''30 Rock'' episode), an episode of ''30 Rock'' See also * * Season One (disambiguation) Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughte ...

alumni

Latrice Royale Timothy K. Wilcots (born February 12, 1972), better known by the stage name Latrice Royale, is an American drag performer, recording artist, and reality television personality. She is best known for her appearances on the fourth season of ''RuPa ...

. The rest of the songs featured on the album are parodies of popular songs; "Ride for AIDS" is a parody of "

Blank Space "Blank Space" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, taken from her fifth studio album, ''1989''. The song was released to US radio stations as the second single from ''1989'' on November 10, 2014, by Republic Records in partners ...

" by

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

, "American Apparel Ad Girls" is a parody of "Farrah Fawcett Hair" by

Capital Cities A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...

, "U.C.C." is a parody of " Love on Top" by

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

, and "Only Anally" is a version of "

Unconditionally "Unconditionally" is a song by American singer Katy Perry. It was released as the second single from her fourth studio album ''Prism'' (2013) on October 16, 2013, two days before the album was released. Inspiration for the song came primarily fro ...

" by

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...

. "Es Una Pasiva" is a solo version of the DWV hit "Boy Is a Bottom", sung in Spanish.

Promotion

Much of ''Shartistry in Motions promotion came from Belli's YouTube channel, Twitter account, website, and the single's music videos, with some being posted up to a year before the album's release. Belli also toured in numerous places across the United States, South America, Europe, and the United Kingdom, some with the American Apparel Ad Girls and some solo.

Singles

# "Only Anally" was the first single to be released from the album on 16 June 2014. A parody of

's 2013 single "

", with the lyrics changed to reflect how Belli only does things anally, the track was penned by Evil Jeff, creator of ''Jiz'', an animated webseries and dubbed parody of ''

Jem and the Holograms ''Jem'', also known as ''Jem and the Holograms'', is an American animated musical television series that ran from 1985 to 1988. The series is about record company owner Jerrica Benton, her singer alter-ego Jem, and the adventures of Jem and her ...

''. It was produced by Uncle Slamm, who also produced "Love You Like a Big Schlong" from Willam's debut album. The music video was also released on 16 June, and featured excerpts from an episode of ''Jiz'', entitled "Jiz is Dead". # "American Apparel Ad Girls", featuring

and

, was released as the album's second single on 24 September 2014. The song parodies

' 2014 single "Farrah Fawcett Hair", and was produced by Markaholic. Its release coincided with the trio's

American Apparel American Apparel Inc. is an online-only retailer and former brick-and-mortar stores operator based in Los Angeles, California. Founded by Canadian businessman Dov Charney in 1989, it was a vertically integrated company that ranked as one of the l ...

merchandise release and advertising campaign, both of which are mentioned in the song. The music video was directed by Shawn Adeli and produced by Anthony Torrez. The track quickly became one of Belli's most successful songs, reaching number 10 on the Billboard Comedy chart and garnering over 2,000,000 views on YouTube. Willam, Courtney and Alaska later toured the song around the United Kingdom with the #AAAGirls Tour. # "Es Una Pasiva" was released on 8 January 2015. It is a solo version of Willam's former band, DWV's hit "Boy Is a Bottom", a parody of

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

' 2012 single " Girl on Fire", this time sung in Spanish. The track was produced by Markaholic, who also produced the original version of the song. "Es Una Pasiva" also features a sample of a version of " La Bamba" by

Ritchie Valens Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959), known professionally as Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens was killed i ...

, "

Macarena "Macarena" is a dance song by Spanish pop duo Los del Río, about a woman of the same name. The song uses a type of clave rhythm. Originally appearing on the 1993 album '' A mí me gusta'', a subsequent remix by Miami-based producers The Bays ...

" by

Los del Río Los del Río (, "Those from the River"), also known as The Del Rios, are a Spanish Latin pop and dance duo which was formed in 1962 by Antonio Romero Monge (17 February 1948) and Rafael Ruiz Perdigones (10 November 1947). They are best known fo ...

and "

Bidi Bidi Bom Bom "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" is a song recorded by American Tejano singer, Selena. It was released as the second single from her fourth studio album, ''Amor Prohibido'' (1994). Originally written about a cheerful fish swimming freely in the ocean, the son ...

" by

Selena Selena Quintanilla Pérez (; April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995), known mononymously as Selena, was an American Tejano singer. Called the " Queen of Tejano music", her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most celebrated Mex ...

. The music video was released on 13 January 2015 on YouTube and was produced by Anthony Torrez and Beth Wheatley. # "Ride for AIDS", featuring Alaska Thunderfuck 5000, was released as the album's third single on 26 May 2015. It was released to encourage listeners to donate money and participate in the annual

AIDS/LifeCycle AIDS/LifeCycle (ALC) is a seven-day cycling tour through California starting in San Francisco and ending in Los Angeles. Description AIDS/LifeCycle is a charity event to raise money for HIV/AIDS services and raise HIV/AIDS awareness. Participants ...

fundraiser. The song is a parody of

's 2014 single "

". The music video was released on 29 May 2015 and was directed by Ryan Parma. # "Thick Thighs", featuring

, was released on 2 June 2015 with the music video premiering the same day. It is the only original song released as a single from the album. Its lyrics focus on how thicker thighs are more attractive and pleasurable to men. It was produced by The Prodigal for American Commission and the music video was directed by Kain O'Keeffe. # "U.C.C.", featuring Rhea Litré, was released as the album's sixth single on 22 September 2015 with its accompanying music video. It features Rhea Litré who had previously worked with Belli in the drag group Tranzkuntinental and on his song "Let's Have a KaiKai" from his debut album. The song is a parody of " Love on Top" and also features a small snippet of a parody of "

Jealous Jealousy generally refers to the thoughts or feelings of insecurity, fear, and concern over a relative lack of possessions or safety. Jealousy can consist of one or more emotions such as anger, resentment, inadequacy, helplessness or disgust. ...

", both by

. Its lyrics revolve around Willam and Rhea's love and need for uncircumcised penis, with U.C.C. standing for "uncut cock". The song's music video was directed by Kain O'Keeffe.

Track listing

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2010s comedy albums 2012 debut albums Self-released albums Willam Belli albums LGBT-related albums