Sutan Ibrahim Karim Amrullah (; born June 14, 1974), often shortened to Sutan Amrull, is an American drag queen and

make-up artist A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and Prosthetic makeup, prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other simil ...

who also goes by the stage name Raja Gemini or simply Raja. They are best known for winning the third season of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the Drag Race (franchise), ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder (company), World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, ...

''. Amrullah later returned to compete on the seventh season of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'' is an American reality competition spin off edition of the original ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', which is produced by World of Wonder, for Logo TV and later VH1. The show premiered on October 22, 2012, on Logo TV, ...

'', an all-winners season, where they won the title "Queen Of She Done Already Done Had Herses". Outside of drag, Amrullah is also known for their makeup artistry on the reality television show ''

America's Next Top Model ''America's Next Top Model'' (abbreviated ''ANTM'' and ''Top Model'') is an American reality television series and interactive competition in which a number of aspiring models compete for the title of "America's Next Top Model" and a chance to b ...

'' (cycles four through twelve). Amrullah's clients include

Tyra Banks Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American model, television personality, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15 and was the first Black A ...

, Dita von Teese,

Pamela Anderson Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress, model and media personality. She rose to prominence after being selected as the February 1990 ''Playboy'' Playmate of the Month. She went on to make regular appearan ...

Paulina Porizkova Paulina Porizkova (; born 9 April 1965) is a fashion model and author. Born in Czechoslovakia, she moved to Sweden in 1973 and began modelling in France at the age of 15. In 1984, Porizkova became the first Central European woman to appear on th ...

, Iman,

Iggy Azalea Amethyst Amelia Kelly (born 7 June 1990), known professionally as Iggy Azalea ( ), is an Australian rapper. Born in Sydney, Azalea moved to the United States at the age of 16 in order to pursue a career in music. She earned public recognition ...

RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960) is an American drag queen, television host, singer, producer, writer, and actor. He produces, hosts, and judges the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and has received List of awards ...

, and

Twiggy Dame Lesley Lawson (''née'' Hornby; born 19 September 1949), widely known by the nickname Twiggy, is an English model, actress, and singer. She was a Culture of the United Kingdom, British cultural icon and a prominent teenage model during th ...

. Since 2009, Amrullah has been make-up artist to singer

Adam Lambert Adam Mitchel Lambert (born January 29, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his dynamic vocal performances that combine his theatrical training with modern and classic genres. Lambert rose to fame in 2009 after ...

for print media, live U.S. appearances, and Lambert's international 2010 Glam Nation Tour. Amrullah previously co-hosted the podcast ''Very That'' alongside

Delta Work Delta Work is the stage name of Gabriel A. Villarreal, an Emmy Award-winning American drag performer and stylist, best known for competing on the third season (2011) of the reality competition television series ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. Work r ...

Early life

Amrullah was born in

Baldwin Park, California Baldwin Park is a city located in the central San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 72,176, down from 75,390 at the 2010 United States c ...

. They are of Dutch and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

n descent. Their father, Abdul Wadud Karim Amrullah, was the younger brother of Indonesian ʿālim and philosopher

Hamka Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah, better known by his pen name Hamka (17 February 1908 – 24 July 1981) was an Indonesian ʿālim, philosopher, writer, novelist, lecturer, politician and journalist. First affiliated with the Masyumi Party, until ...

. When they were three, their family moved to the island of

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

, their parents' native country, where they stayed for six years before returning to the U.S. They grew up in

La Puente, California La Puente ( Spanish for "The Bridge") is a city in east Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city had a population of 39,816 at the 2010 census and is approximately east of downtown Los Angeles. History The original inhabitan ...

and went to high school at Bassett High School in nearby

Bassett, California Bassett is an unincorporated community in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California, United States, within the Census-designated places boundaries of Avocado Heights and West Puente Valley. Its ZIP Code is 91746 and it uses area ...

Career

Career beginnings

At sixteen years of age, Amrullah got into the drag scene by attending L.A. nightclubs with friends. They were part of a sector of drag that was inspired by the

goth Goth or Goths may refer to: * Goths, a Germanic people Arts and entertainment * Gothic rock or goth, a style of rock music * Goth subculture, developed by fans of gothic rock * ''Goth'' (2003 film), an American horror film * ''Goth'' (2008 f ...

and

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

subcultures A subculture is a group of people within a culture, cultural society that differentiates itself from the values of the conservative, standard or dominant culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures ...

. The first few years of their drag career in the early '90s were spent as a club kid named Crayola. Amrullah attended

California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public research university in Fullerton, California, United States. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the California State ...

as an art student, focusing on art direction and illustration, for two years, then decided to pursue a career in makeup artistry and female impersonation. Amrullah's first drag performance was in 1991 at

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California is part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in ...

performing "

Groove Is In The Heart "Groove Is in the Heart" is a song by American dance band Deee-Lite, released in August 1990 by Elektra Records as their debut and lead single from their first album, ''World Clique'' (1990). Written and produced by the band, it was a hit in man ...

" by

Deee-Lite Deee-Lite was an American House music, house and Dance music, dance music group formed in New York City. The group's Single (music), single "Groove Is in the Heart", which was released in 1990 from their debut studio album, ''World Clique'' (19 ...

''RuPaul's Drag Race''

They were a contestant on the third season of ''

'' as Raja. They were a member of the "Heathers" clique, which took its name from the popular

cult film A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase, which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in repeated ...

Heathers ''Heathers'' is a 1988 American teen dark comedy crime film written by Daniel Waters and directed by Michael Lehmann, in both of their respective film debuts. The film stars Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, K ...

''. In the final episode, after a lip-sync battle with

Manila Luzon Karl Philip Michael Westerberg (born August 10, 1981), known professionally as Manila Luzon, is a Filipino-American drag queen, reality television personality, recording artist, and comedian. Luzon came to international attention as a contestant ...

, Raja was declared the winner of the show's third season and crowned ''America's Next Drag Superstar''. As part of their duties as the third-season winner of ''Drag Race'', Amrullah toured the U.S. and Canada on ''Logo's Drag Race Tour'' in 2011. In 2014, Raja joined the Drag Race Battle of the Seasons tour where they performed a lip-sync duet with Manila Luzon to the

Babymetal (stylized in all caps as BABYMETAL) is a Japanese kawaii metal band consisting of Suzuka Nakamoto as "Su-metal", Moa Kikuchi as "Moametal" and Momoko Okazaki as "Momometal". The band is produced by Kobametal from the Amuse Inc., Amuse talent a ...

song " Gimme Chocolate!!" In April 2022, Raja was announced as one of the eight returning winners that would be competing in seventh season of ''

'', the first ever all-winners season of ''Drag Race''. They won the title of "Queen of She Done Already Done Had Herses" and a prize of $50,000.

Other ventures

Amrullah was a make up artist on ''

'' from 2005 until 2009. In May 2011, Amrullah released their first single as Raja, titled " Diamond Crowned Queen". The single debuted at number fifty on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Dance Club Songs The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set list ...

, before peaking at number thirty-five. On August 21, 2012, their second single "Sublime" was released. Their third single, "Zubi Zubi Zubi" (roughly translating to "Dance Dance Dance"), was released June 1, 2013. Since 2014, they have presented the weekly WOWPresents YouTube series '' Fashion Photo RuView'' with fellow ''Drag Race'' alumna

Raven A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...

. In February 2017, they starred as an intergalactic creature in the music video for Blondie's single " Fun". They also appeared in the "Make Love Not Walls" Diesel campaign directed by

David LaChapelle David LaChapelle (born March 11, 1963) is an American photographer, music video director, and film director. He is best known for his work in fashion and photography, which often references art history and sometimes conveys social messages. His ...

and in a campaign for

Urban Decay Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban decay. ...

alongside fellow ''Drag Race'' alumni

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, Jiggly Caliente, and Katya. Amrullah has created and performed live drag shows as Raja in

Provincetown, Massachusetts Provincetown () is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States census, Provi ...

, such as ''Gawdess'' (2017), ''Masque'' (2018), and ''Lush Life'' (2019). Amrullah guest starred as themself in ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'' episode " Werking Mom", which aired on November 18, 2018. In June 2019, they were one of 37 queens to be featured on the cover of ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Clay Felker and Milton Glaser in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'' a ...

''.

Personal life

On December 14, 2017, Amrullah married Ryan Turner at a small ceremony at City Hall in

Norwalk, California Norwalk is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 102,773 at the 2020 census. Founded in the late 19th century, Norwalk was incorporated as a city in 1957. It is located southeast of downtown Los Angeles a ...

Discography

Singles

As featured artist

Other appearances

Filmography

Film

Television

Web

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gemini, Raja 1974 births Living people American drag queens American make-up artists American LGBTQ singers American people of Dutch descent American people of Indonesian descent American people of Dutch-Indonesian descent American people of Minangkabau descent American drag queens of Asian descent Minangkabau people

Raja Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. T ...

People from Baldwin Park, California Artists from Los Angeles American LGBTQ people of Asian descent LGBTQ people from California Drag performers from Los Angeles 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people RuPaul's Drag Race contestants