'We're Here' Star Priyanka on the Process Behind New Album 'Devastatia'

Queen Priyanka, the first winner of Canada's Drag Racehas released a new album, Devastation.

THE We are here star worked hard to create the hyper-pop album, which opens with the catchy, confident anthem, “I'm a Star,” in which the drag queen turned pop star tells the listener, “You're good enough / Now look in the mirror and say / I'm a star.”

The eight-track album, out Friday, has been a long time in the making. “I'm so used to quick turnarounds and content being contained that I didn't expect it to take this long,” Priyanka says. The Hollywood Reporternoting that it's been two years since he released his EP Taste Test“I didn't expect to have to go through what I went through.”

The singer says that looking back, she feels bad for herself and that it's “crazy to think about.” However, she tries to remind herself not to have a pity party. “It takes a very hurt person to write a song called 'No New Friends,'” she says, referring to the album's sixth track. “It takes a very hurt person to write a song called 'Shut It Down,' and it made me go, 'Oh, these have been really tough years since I won. Acceleration raceSince I released my first record, I've done all the things I've done so far.”

Priyanka jokes that she used to not understand when artists said things like “this album is a page from my diary” when the songs were about drinking or going to clubs. “Now I know what these artists are talking about,” the drag queen says.

“There's so much of me in the stories in terms of the overall theme, it's that Devastation character,” adds Priyanka, saying she has often been suggested to make stereotypical drag music.[I was] like, “No, I want to talk about my real life experience.” When it came to writing Devastationit was almost like throwing that idea in people's faces.”

Priyanka adds, “You want me to be in a box and you want me to be like, ‘Ten across the board.’” She notes that the pre-chorus (“I can’t control myself / I’m reckless / You should go save yourself / The clock is ticking”) has a deeper meaning. “That’s the devastation I felt at having to put myself in a box of any kind,” she explains.

THE We are here star She's also gearing up for a tour of Canada and the U.S., which she says has been “really hard” because she doesn't have a manager at the moment. “I'm pretty much doing everything myself at the moment,” she explains.

“I'm doing so much to prepare for a tour. It's tough,” Priyanka says. She adds that the big pop stars were right, saying, “You don't get success if you don't do it yourself, and as much as I hate it, it's hard to find people who understand what it takes to put on these kinds of shows.”

THE Acceleration race The winner notes that she turned down the drag cast tour to go on her own tour. And as she prepared for her North American stint, the pop star also realized that “I would actually make less money than just doing a drag cast tour.”

“Sometimes you lose a lot by choosing yourself, but in the end you gain because I'm creating a project that will be one of many that lay the groundwork for this foundation work,” she says, adding that Priyanka the drag queen and Priyanka the singer, though they are the same person, are different. “I didn't know that part of this industry, and now I'm learning it, like, 'Oh, shit.'” She notes that she loved her Acceleration race experience and will also perform Acceleration race songs.

Priyanka adds that her time on the award-winning HBO series We are here in 2024 has also affected the way she makes decisions and lives post-filming. “Everything I’ve dealt with since has been a lot… I’ve been more certain,” she says. “Here you have these queer kids living in small-town America who are like, ‘No, no, no, no, I don’t want to run away to the big city. I live at home.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, then I’m a bitch for running away to the city.’”