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Cosmopolitan
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
New Chappell Roan Book Dissects How She Loves Drag Culture
Chappell Roan is about to hit cities on a pop-up tour, but before she graces a stage near you, it's time to talk about a key component of her super-stardom: the art of drag. In an excerpt from a new Chappell Roan book out October 7, Chappell Roan: The Rise of a Midwest Princess, writer J'na Jefferson dissects the ways in which drag has influenced Chappell's stage persona. But first! Here is more about the book: To pre-order the book, click on the retailer or your choice: AMAZON BARNES & NOBLE BOOKS-A-MILLION BOOKSHOP HUDSON BOOKSELLERS POWELL'S Drag as an art form goes way back—dating to the dawn of theater in Ancient Greece. However, the growing visibility of drag over recent decades—in film, on screen, and on stage—has given today's queer artists, including Doechii and Troye Sivan, more freedom to weave its influence into their music. Chappell Roan, who describes herself as a 'singer/songwriter/performer/drag queen,' occupies a unique space as both a wildly successful pop star and a purveyor of drag's spirit. Her music, aesthetic, and outspoken nature are deeply drag-infused, as she uses her platform to entertain, inspire, and amplify marginalized voices. Her elevation of this once-underground culture into mainstream pop is also reshaping the queer direction of 21st-century pop music. 'I've always noticed when someone is using drag as a prop versus drag as a castmate,' Hanukah Lewinsky, a drag performer in New York City, explains of Chappell's appreciation for the drag community, which has been proudly reciprocated. 'There have been artists [in the past] who have had drag queens on stage, and [the queens] haven't been paid, they don't get tagged, they don't get any recognition.' 'When Chappell has drag queens with her,' Lewinsky adds, 'it's 'this is so-and-so, this is where you can find their art, this is where you can find what they do.' We're her co-stars.' Lewinsky is among the performers who replaced Chappell at the 2024 All Things Go Music Festival after Chappell pulled out of her set for health reasons. The last-minute set, dubbed 'Queens of the Dancefloor' by festival coordinators, was curated by NYC-based drag star Beaujangless the night before the event, and included several drag performers, such as legendary queen Kevin Aviance, festive background dancers, and DJ B-Roc of The Knocks. 'Drag queens are used to getting something ready that's very exciting, very quickly,' Lewinsky said. The queens stood in for the singer, lip-syncing and dancing to a slew of Chappell songs for about 45 minutes. 'The crowd really loved it—in that moment and online. The general consensus felt like we were able to add something exciting and new to that day,' explains Lewinsky. 'It was by far the coolest experience of my life thus far. Just that I got to do it to music that I love, for an artist that I love, with such close friends, it was 10/10. I wouldn't change it for the world,' Lewinsky says. Though Chappell's music reflects her queerness and affinity for drag, drag's influence on the music industry is hardly new. In the 1930s, 'Pansy' performer Jean Malin recorded songs referencing queer identity; while in the '50s, rock pioneer (and former drag queen) Little Richard's flamboyant stage persona paved the way for future LGBTQ+ performers. David Bowie's experimental sound, costumes, and theatrics were key in pivoting pop in a queer direction. Elton John's 'lifelong love affair' with drag and a friendship with Divine encouraged the Rocket Man's over-the-top costumes. In the 2010s, rapper Nicki Minaj embraced drag elements, notably with her alter ego 'Roman Zolanski,' which toyed with gender norms. Chappell is continuing a tradition set in motion long before her reign. 'Pop and rock specifically have always been informed by queer culture, and drag is also part of that conversation,' explains Elyssa Maxx Goodman, the author of Glitter and Concrete: A Cultural History of Drag in New York City. '[Chappell's rise] has the possibility of continuing drag's presence in mainstream culture.' Chappell's discography is a proclamation of her queer identity, using drag-inspired themes to amplify self-discovery, empowerment, and resistance. 'Pink Pony Club' celebrates queerness while exploring somberness, creating a drag-evoking emotional juxtaposition. 'Femininomenon' flips the script, proudly embracing queer sexuality. She blends pop with elements of country, alt-rock, and folk (at times in the same song) mirroring how drag fuses high art with low culture. This art form has long challenged boundaries, not only of gender but also of music, bringing power to Chappell's work. Pop has used drag to create visual spectacles rooted in queer resistance and celebration. Through bold, avant-garde makeup and costumes—like her signature white face paint, a nod to her hometown's homophobes who called queer kids 'clowns'—Chappell is helping normalize drag's aesthetics. 'The people in my hometown would call gay people 'clowns.' That's why I actually wear white face [drag makeup], because of how those people called us clowns. I was like, 'Bitch I'll show you a clown,'' she said to an audience in Manchester. Goodman notes that Chappell highlights femme drag, a style in which women or nonbinary people dress in drag, popularized by performers like Fauxnique and Crimson Kitty. Chappell's drag-heavy aesthetic in her music videos and live performances adds to her allure. In the 'My Kink Is Karma' video, she plays a lingerie-clad devil/clown, a nod to the apparently queer character HIM from The Powerpuff Girls. She also frequently uses blue eyeshadow, a deliberate tribute to the sex workers and drag queens who have been unfairly demonized. As Chappell put it in Faces of Music, a documentary series sponsored by Sephora: 'Blue eyeshadow is so stigmatized…and it's all connected to why I picked it.' 'Drag and drag aesthetics have long been part of how pop musicians visually connect to their audiences,' Goodman says, referencing Cher's Bob Mackie costumes, Madonna's Marie Antoinette–inspired outfit at the 1990 MTV VMAs, and Lady Gaga's early career looks, including her 2011 drag king persona 'Jo Calderone.' Chappell's stage presence is bold and playful, drawing from drag's performative theatrics where every move tells a story. This allows her to explore both lighthearted and darker themes, reflecting drag's ability to blend cheek and earnestness. And she uses her live performances to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and visibility. At the 2024 Governors Ball music festival, Chappell called for 'freedom for all oppressed people' while dressed as the Statue of Liberty. A week later, at the Kentuckiana Pride celebration, she performed in full drag, paying tribute to legendary queen Divine and her iconic role in the 1972 film Pink Flamingos. 'I feel like any time [Chappell has] a big platform, she lets people know that drag is here to stay,' New York City queen Mo'Riah says about Chappell's commitment to drag. Like Lewinsky, Mo'Riah was one of the performers asked to dance in Chappell's place at All Things Go, a moment she says made her 'feel like Beyoncé,' adding that Chappell 'always stands up for [drag queens.]' '[Chappell's] touchstone comes at a time where there's a very odd turn back to 'We don't want anything that's out of line,'' Lewinsky notes of the tepid climate Chappell is finding her success in, where queer and trans rights hang in the balance and are even under direct attack. 'It would be so easy for someone to fit into what society deems appropriate, but it's nice to have someone who says, 'Fuck that, we're not going to tailor ourselves for what you deem is right or acceptable.' It's very energizing.' Lewinsky, who uses she/her pronouns while in drag, also performed during the New York stop of Chappell's Midwest Princess Tour. Chappell supported local drag acts by having them open for her during these shows, sharing the spotlight with performers who've been an integral part of her artistic journey. 'The first time I ever saw Chappell is when she came to one of my weekly gigs at Pieces,' the popular West Village gay bar, Mo'Riah adds. 'She even stayed after and watched the other show after ours. It's clear she loves drag, and she loves the community and the art of it, I think that's beautiful.' Unlike artists who may incorporate drag aesthetics without nourishing deeper ties to the community, Chappell's integration feels genuine. She's part of a wave of queer artists who aren't just referencing drag—they're making it a core part of their artistic DNA. Her drag persona is theatrical, but it's also authentic. '[Drag] just feels like freedom,' Chappell says in Sephora's Faces of Music. 'It lights up something in my brain, it's just pure serotonin.' — By J'na Jefferson, Chappell Roan: The Rise of a Midwest Princess Chappell Roan: The Rise of a Midwest Princess by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, Dibs Baer, Patrick Crowley, Izzy Grinspan, J'na Jefferson, Ilana Kaplan, and Samantha Olson will be released by Hearst Home Books on October 7, 2025. To preorder the book, click on the retailer of your choice: AMAZON BARNES & NOBLE BOOKS-A-MILLION BOOKSHOP HUDSON BOOKSELLERS POWELL'S Disclosure: Hearst Magazines is the parent company of Hearst Home Books and Cosmopolitan.
New York Times
10-06-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Wait, isn't this a college sports salary cap? What to know about House-NCAA for now
Until Saturday Newsletter 🏈 | This is The Athletic's college football newsletter. Sign up here to receive Until Saturday directly in your inbox. Today in college football news, the 28-minute electronic album 'Revelation' by The Knocks and Dragonette is on loop. 'We crafted the term student-athlete, and soon it was embedded in all NCAA rules and interpretations as a mandated substitute for such words as players and athletes.' That was Walter Byers, writing in his 1995 book 'Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Exploiting College Athletes.' Forty-four years prior, he'd been named the first executive director of the rapidly expanding NCAA. (Obviously, his mind had changed along the way.) Why'd the NCAA concoct 'student-athlete'? Because those are just college students who happen to play sports, not people employed by athletic departments as revenue generators … your honor. ('South Park' was all over this in 2011, months after an Auburn student named Cam Newton paused his studies to seek full-time employment.) Years later, Byers' confession remains one of the starkest reasons to mistrust the NCAA's favored jargon. And lately, another term has appeared a lot in college sports contexts. It strikes me as curious, the way it's being used right now: 'Revenue sharing.' The term has emerged as the most important part of the long-awaited legal settlement that will greatly reshape college sports, following its approval late last week. This is that House v. NCAA thing that'd been drip-dripping in the news forever, the Colleges Can Now Pay Their Athletes Actual Money thing. Except technically, according to the people who define what 'technically' means, these transactions amounting to as much as $20.5 million per school aren't payments. Technically, they're merely revenue being shared. The term 'revenue sharing' makes total sense to me when we're talking about 32 teams in a professional league pooling their money as veritable equals. But when we're talking about powerful humans passing portions of money along to the less powerful humans who are doing the heavy labor that is the core attraction? That's 'sharing'? Jeff Bezos 'shares' with delivery workers? To make a little more sense of this, let's turn to The Athletic's Justin Williams, who's been on the House beat for a long time now. He will maybe soon be free to write about things besides courtrooms. But not yet, because for now, he has been turned to by us. Why is this called 'revenue sharing,' and who was it that decided 'salary cap' is a dangerous pairing of words that must never be uttered? Was it the NCAA? The courts? Doctor Strange? The answer, as usual: lawyers. It's helpful to remember that the House settlement was born out of the NCAA and power conferences attempting to avoid yet another high-profile defeat in court — and the financial ruin that could have come with it. Some of this is about progress, sure, but a lot of it is about the top stakeholders in college sports trying to mitigate the onslaught of legal battles in recent years. It's 'revenue sharing' because the pool of money that can be paid directly from colleges to athletes under the settlement is calculated using the revenue that power conference athletic departments generate through television contracts, ticket sales and sponsorships. The reason it's a 'revenue cap' and not a 'salary cap' is because 'salary' would imply that the athletes are being paid for their services — or as employees — which remains taboo for the leaders of college sports. The settlement has ripped away the facade of amateurism, but the NCAA and power conferences still want to classify athletes as students, not employees. Got it, thank you. I'll keep calling it a 'salary cap' until I am sued. (Since, after all, the NFL's salary cap is also calculated based on that league's revenue.) Speaking of lawyers, surely this was the last court battle on the subject of college athlete compensation, right? Unlikely. Even the settlement's most ardent supporters acknowledge that it is not a fix-all. There are still plenty of unresolved questions about things like Title IX, conflicting state laws, athlete employment status and whether the settlement's efforts to curb third-party NIL deals violate antitrust laws. This is why the NCAA and power conferences continue to lobby Congress for antitrust exemptions and federal legislation that will preempt state laws and help set the settlement terms in stone. What that congressional intervention looks like — or whether it's even a realistic option — remains to be seen. Until then, expect more lawsuits. Billable hours remain undefeated. Thank you to Justin. For more from him, try out his full story on how college sports money works now, which is packed with details like this: 'The top (football) teams are going to cost $40-50 million a year,' said one power conference personnel director. 'That's where this is going. Anyone who thinks different is nuts.' Okie dokie. Below, we have plenty more House ramifications, after a quick break for non-House news. (Side note. Now that I think about it, the term 'revenue sharing' feels OK, on one condition: The NCAA's most powerful member schools admit the sharing of revenue is exactly how employer-employee relationships have worked since many thousands of years ago, when one caveperson first paid another caveperson in berries to go trade an axe for a hammer.) 💎 Women's sports just keep cooking: 'A record 2.4 million watched Texas' win over Texas Tech in Game 3 of the Women's College World Series.' 📺 TNT will keep paying ESPN in order to air some ESPN-produced College Football Playoff games. Need to keep this going until your good friends at The CW are airing a thoroughly fried meme of a burned DVD-R of the Fenway Bowl. 🦬 From this newsletter's poll late last week, the first in our 2025 season countdown: Reader Sarah R. proclaims, 'I'm going to go out on a limb and say a team from the Dakotas without the word State in their name,' while Joe believes in 'Villanova's pope-fueled title run.' (And yes, the mysterious figure who always casts one vote for Thanasis Antetokounmpo in every poll by our NBA newsletter wrote in to reveal Giannis' brother will somehow cause South Dakota State to win it all.) One: The Power 4 conferences suddenly have their own mini-NCAA in addition to the NCAA that is basically already theirs. Two: Prepare for 'the NIL clearinghouse' to be a non-stop punchline. Three: Politicians. Four: After one of the biggest changes in college sports history, college sports will remain college sports. Ready, break! Friday, we'll talk about things that might happen on actual football fields. Email me at untilsaturday@ Last week's most-clicked: Never any doubt about this one: Grace Raynor's ranking of every No. 1 recruit since 2000. Travis Hunter, No. 2!
