QLife caught up with Kimora Blac before the season started for an interview about her experience with the show,
QLife: Hi Kimora. Thanks for taking time to chat with us today. Tell us what's been going on with you over the past few months.
Kimora: Oh my goodness, I am literally just living the dream. I feel like I have been in just a great dream and I won't wake up. Everything is magical. I am traveling from city to city. I love drag and I just want to lip-synch. I guess you can say I get to do what I love.
QLife: So you don't want to lip sync for your life, you want to lip-synch for a living!
Kimora: Yes! Exactly! [Laughs]
QLife (Russ): Do you remember that you are in my very first issue of QVegas (Russ White has been the publisher of QVegas since 2012. QVegas was rebranded as QLife in January 2017).
Kimora: Was that your first issue? The one with the rainbow cover?
QLife: Yes, that's the one!
Kimora: Oh my goodness.
QLife (Russ): I was looking at it a couple of weeks ago just after you were announced for this season, and I thought "Oh my gosh, she has changed so much." I remember thinking back how beautiful that photo shoot was. Now to see your new promo shoot, it's just so amazing.
Kimora: Yes! We shot that at the Hard Rock Hotel. I mean I still have that issue at home, and yes, I'm sure my makeup has changed. (Kimora says it jokingly because she knows it's true.)
QLife: What has been the biggest learning experience of being part of the RuPaul's Drag Race?
Kimora: The biggest thing that I have learned from being on the show is that the amount of confidence I had about my drag and who Kimora was. She was just a little fish in the sea, ya know? I'm my own worst critic and meeting these other girls allowed me to see what they were capable of doing. I believe Season 9 has some of the prettiest queens. I felt like I was the "Gretchen" of the group. It was hard for me to accept that I'm not the only pretty one and I have to take it to the next level. I had to ask myself "What was the next level? Where was I going to take Kimora?" Now she's trying more looks. She is experimenting with club kid vs androgynous. It's like if Kim K (Kardashian) shaved her head bald - that's kind of where I am at right now. I think I left the pretty box for a little bit, and now I am taking Kimora to this edgy, fierce and more drag. She used to rely on body and now she relies on costumes. She is taking dance classes. I am really evolving her. All of that has happened in less than a year.
QLife: So why the name change from Lady Kimora to Kimora Blac?
Kimora: Kimora Blac stood out to me because I am such a Kimora Lee Simmons fan when she was in her prime. She was this big diva, had money, and was just glamorous. She loved shoes, clothes and the world revolved around her. I am also obsessed with Kim Kardashian because she is so trendy and relevant and again, it's all about her. Kim is such a strong name in this industry right now that I just had to have it. There is also no other drag queen out there with that name so I just knew I could that to the next level. Blac is because I am obsessed with the color black. If you were to ever walk through my closet, you would see that I own every kind of clothing in black. I love the color black because it is so seductive and haunting and sexual. I have this obsession with Blac Chyna and strippers. I built my look around being a video vixen. I thought that if I drop the "k" at the end it would give it that vixen feel. My autograph signing usually comes out Miss Blac. It just clicked, and the fans love it. They just love hearing the name Kimora Blac. It's so hot. I just love it.
QLife (Garrett): We have known each other for a while now also. You just recently performed for AFAN (Aid for AIDS of Nevada) here in Las Vegas. Tell me why it's important to you to give back to the community.
Kimora: It's important for me to get back because I started at the bottom. I started rough, and I had no idea what to do with my makeup or costumes. I had no budget for costumes, and I didn't even know how to sew at the time. Looking back, the one thing that I can say is that I still have the same passion then as I do now. I love drag so much even if I am just making tips or a full-time check. The core of drag is what I cherish the most. I moved out of San Francisco just to do this. Being able to say I have my title in Las Vegas is such a big deal to me because it is considered my hometown. I started just making tips. I'm like a little baby drag stripper. You just start out for little clubs working for tips and one day you get big. It's like I actually did it! I haven't even hit the end yet. I haven't even hit half way with what I want to do with my drag. It's kind of cool to see where I've progressed and where I've grown. My goal with going on the show is that I want everyone that I have performed for like AFAN and other charities, clubs to know that is exactly who Kimora was and who she is. She's not changing for anybody. I'm so thankful every day because if it wasn't for the shows that I've done, I don't think I'd be where I'm at today.
QLife (Garrett): I remember some of those early costumes and I know everyone was thinking the same thing, "Where does she put it?" There was literally 2 feathers that covered everything.
Kimora: I will bring it back (jokingly). I don't know if I know how to do that still, but we will see.
QLife: Your male to female transformation is so extreme from one end of the spectrum to the other. How do people react when they see you for the first time as your other half? (We encourage all of our readers to look up both images.)
Kimora: You know, that's one of the biggest reactions that I get when people see me for the first time. Now that I'm traveling a lot I have people that pick me up from the airport and are surprised. I had this obsession with plastic surgery, and I don't even have any plastic surgery, but I love the way that it looks. I love transformation whether it's pulling skin back or adding cheek bones. I think I built my makeup in a way to make me look like I've been under the knife, but what's cool is that I can take that off. I can remove that "work" and feel like "Oh my God I'm like a normal person again." I guess my drag really stands between (the persona) of a boy and a girl . I love the look of transsexuals, so I try to do things with my drag that fool the eye. I don't give the drag look like an Ongina or Acid Betty, but still give my own drag look. I love to fool a really good looking straight man.
QLife (Garrett): Ha! And we both know that you have. I am a witness that they chase after you. I felt like we had to hire security just to escort you out of the club through the casino sometimes. LOL.
Kimora: You know what it is, and this gets a little deep here. This is kind of my personal thing as to why I do drag. I want to break down the stigma that drag queens have to look a certain way. I want people to really know that if you just put on eyelashes and a lip gloss you're doing drag. I want people to go to their comfort zone and say what it is. It's drag. I want people to stay away from thinking that drag queens all look like clowns. Drag can be hot. Drag can be ugly. Drag can be sexy. Drag can be anything you want it to be.
QLife: Well we can't wait to see you on the show! Just know that QLife is always here for you if you need us. We are so proud of you! Thank you for always showing up when we needed you. Your support means a lot to our community.
r: OMG, Always. My address is Las Vegas. I am always here for you. This is the beginning for Kimora. Watch out!
