Album Information
The album peaked at #109 on the Billboard 200. Instant (and unexpected) popularity among all types of listeners triggered the ascent of RuPaul to celebrity status. Before the release of the album RuPaul was known primarily for being the only drag queen supermodel (hence the album title). The album's first single, "Supermodel (You Better Work)", was a huge club and dance hit that peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 and achieved Gold sales status. The video for the song was put into heavy rotation on MTV; this was a huge surprise to RuPaul and her record label as, at the time, the music being heavily played on MTV was grunge, gangsta rap, and rock. In addition to the success of "Supermodel (You Better Work)" "Back to My Roots" charted #1 on the Billboard Club/Dance Play Songs Chart on July 24, 1993 and "A Shade Shady (Now Prance)" also charted #1 on the Billboard Club/Dance Play Songs on October 9, 1993 and reached #40 on the UK singles chart. The album was reissued on Rhino Records.
The album's songs take many of the trends and colloquialisms of the drag queen and gay subcultures and turns them into dance, disco, and house tracks. "House of Love" is an all-encompassing anthem of acceptance of all people. "Back to My Roots" is a play on words, referring both to ethnic heritage and to hairstyles. "A Shade Shady" references what was, at the time, a popular catch phrase in the gay community. (Someone who is "shady" is untrustworthy; though obviously not exclusive to gay people, in the early '90s the term was extremely prevalent in gay slang.)
African-American actress/comedienne LaWanda Page (best known as Aunt Esther on the television series Sanford and Son) was featured in spoken word clips on several album tracks, though she is heard most notably on the hit single "Supermodel (You Better Work)". That song's chorus also features RuPaul repeating the phrase "Sashay! Shantay!" When asked about the meaning of "shantay", RuPaul replied that the term means "to weave a bewitching spell." The term had previously appeared in the 1990 drag ballroom documentary Paris Is Burning.
Read more about this topic: Supermodel Of The World
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