The Truth About RuPaul's Drag Race's LaLa Ri
Season 13 of RuPaul's Drag Race has some fierce characters that have connections to previous contestants of the hit reality show. For instance, Jan's (Season 12) sister Rosé and Season 12 runner-up Gigi Goode's drag sister Symone were both cast on the show, per Cosmopolitan. Interestingly enough, according to Screen Rant, Season 13's LaLa Ri is actually competing against someone from her own drag family: Tamisha Iman, her drag mother.
LaLa isn't focused on the friendly family competition, though. She's most excited to be representing her hometown of Atlanta. "I am very happy to be representing my city with another Atlanta queen, Tamisha Iman," she told Project Q Atlanta. "Two ATL girls in one season, go off!" Season 7 winner Violet Chachki is one of many drag queens who found their way onto the show from Atlanta. The city also holds some importance to host RuPaul, who first saw drag queens performing at clubs in Atlanta, per Screen Rant.
The drag daughter of Tamisha Iman calls herself a "baby queen," per Screen Rant, because she only dressed up in drag for three years prior to joining the cast of RuPaul's Drag Race. So, let's take a closer look at the truth about RuPaul's Drag Race's newcomer LaLa Ri.
LaLa Ri is newer to the drag scene, but you can't tell
Being fairly new at the game didn't stop LaLa Ri's bubbly personality from making fellow contestants see her as serious competition. When Decider asked Season 13 contestants about their first impressions of the cast in January 2021, drag queen Symone immediately spilled her thoughts on the Atlanta native. "Miss LaLa Ri bish? Let me tell you something. I first met her and I said 'I don't want to lip sync against the b***h because I already know. I already know, I feel it in my spirit.' She's a fierce entertainer," she said. Gottmik – who was noted by contestants as one of the season's top competitors, per Junkee– described LaLa as "just the most amazingly well-rounded human."
One can catch a whiff of LaLa's infectious personality on her Instagram, where she often posts fierce, fun and fashionable shots of herself. "Smile, it's contagious," she wrote on one post of herself grinning at the camera. She has also used her following to promote causes she cares deeply about, like the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, Black Visions Collective and the Black Lives Matter movement, which were all donated to through a charity show she participated in back in June 2020.
LaLa is super excited to be performing on RuPaul's Drag Race, telling Project Q Atlanta that RuPaul "is a pure goddess" who she believes "knows everything." Good luck to the passionate queen as she struts her way through the race!