Before Beyoncé's ‘Renaissance’ comes to town, 5 Philly drag queens talk to us about Queen Bey and what she means to them

Ahead of Beyoncé's Philly concert, we reached out to Black drag queens in the city who perform her music locally and feel a deep connection to the pop legend. We asked each queen what Renaissance means to them — plus, what they plan to wear if they’re attending.

Answers have been edited and condensed for clarity.

Performs at: Franky Bradley’s, Tabu, Voyeur Nightclub

Favorite song to perform: “Heated”

Seeing Bey in Philly?: Yes, with their mom and partner

The outfit: A replica of Beyoncé's Loewe handprint bodysuit with some 40,000 rhinestones that they glued on individually. They hope the fit will lead to an invite to Club Renaissance.

“You can’t turn a corner without having someone performing a Renaissance song. I’ve never seen an artist be emulated like this before. The album is very empowering. She takes influences from ballroom culture, Black queer culture — that’s something that a lot of us have been wanting to see from her. A lot of us are her fans, and for her to embrace us, our culture, and the contributions that we’ve [made] in pop culture … She just knows how to pay homage to the cultures that she pulls from. One of my favorite songs is ‘Cozy,’ for the simple reason that it talks about just being comfortable in your skin, your melanin. A lot of us struggle with that because the world tells us otherwise, that we’re not beautiful. [The song says] we have to be cozy in our Blackness.”

Performs at: World Cafe Live

Favorite song: “Crazy in Love”

Seeing Bey in Philly?: No, scheduling conflict.

“I’m going to say it in color — Renaissance is like a fiery amber, glowing and pulsating. It means acknowledgment of self and comfortability with self. Doing what you want to do and being proud of who you are simply because you are. It’s not listening to anybody that says otherwise. As soon as ’Break My Soul’ came out, it was being played and performed. Especially at a time when people are criminalizing drag and have so many outward and negative things to say about the art of drag, it is an affirmation to stand onstage and say the words ‘You can’t break my soul.’ You didn’t get it. It’s here, it’s mine, you can’t break it. It’s powerful to hear those words. It’s powerful to perform those words.”

Performs at: Franky Bradley’s, Voyeur Nightclub, Woody’s

Favorite song to perform: “Cozy”

Seeing Bey in Philly?: Yes, and in three other locations

The outfit: The “Renaissance” tour T-shirt with a disco cowboy hat ordered off Etsy and custom-made silver sequined pants.

VinChelle decided to be out of drag for the Philly show (though she’ll be in drag at the other concerts, wearing replicas of Beyoncé's tour outfits, like a version of the Courrèges silver cutout bodysuit made by Ophelia Bawdy, a fellow local queen).

“Renaissance incorporated the ballroom scene, the dance scene, and it was just such a different mood for her. … In Philly, it definitely brought a lot of different types of gay people together. [When it came out] I pushed myself to do an album show six days after the album was released. I had six days to learn all the songs with four other cast members. I’ve performed each one of her albums, but Renaissance was the biggest one — the show sold out with over 200 people.”

Performs at: 1740 House in Lumberville, Bucks County, monthly; Franky Bradley’s

Favorite song: “Best Thing I Never Had”

Seeing Bey in Philly?: No, tickets were too expensive.

“Reaching out to the [LGBTQ+] community, she’s given exposure. It’s inclusive and that’s wonderful, that’s what we actually need more of in the world. Instead of taking on one another, we really should just be pointing out how we can help everybody. ‘You won’t break me’ feels like ‘I’ll still survive.’ It’s a message that I relate to.”

Performs at: Fabrika, Franky Bradley’s, Tabu

Favorite song: “Dangerously in Love”

Seeing Bey in Philly?: Yes

The outfit: They’ll attend out of drag because “it’s too hot,” but they’re sewing a custom metallic top and shorts with a rhinestone fringe. Plus, a cowboy hat.

“There’s this uncontrollable excitement that I get for Beyoncé when I perform her, especially with me being a Virgo. She always gets the crowd hype. ‘Cozy’ resonated with me, as someone who’s dealt with a lot of body image issues and just not being proud of who I am, and struggling — even to this day — with my identity, it just helps me. It’s very encouraging. ‘Alien Superstar’ [also resonated] because a lot of Black drag queens are alien superstars, we’re not normal. We don’t do everything that everyone else does.

“We all want to perform Renaissance, especially now that we have the tour versions. Pretty much every show that you go to, if there’s a Black drag queen, they will be performing Renaissance. Every week [at Fabrika’s drag brunch] there is a queen who wants to perform it. It has done so much for ballroom, she put the ballroom community on the map. People say there’s an agenda, like honestly they need to realize this is a culture. No one’s trying to force anything on anyone, it’s simply a lifestyle and it’s changed people’s lives.”