Journey to Pride Castle with Jaida Essence Hall

What happens when you release a bunch of drag queens from isolation to spend Pride in a castle? Audiences are invited to find out Saturday, June 27 as trans activist Candis Cayne hosts the highly anticipated third edition of the Werq the World live stream series, Pride Castle.

Featuring RuPaul’s Drag Race favorites Heidi N Closet, Raja, Naomi Smalls, Kim Chi, Plastique Tiara, Yvie Oddly, and our reigning winner Jaida Essence Hall, Candis will lead viewers through the partial hallways of Pride Castle, where they will be whisked into the regal rooms of the residing queens and be treated to a grand performance by each. The tour will conclude with a live ball featuring all the queens together for one, over-the-top, majestic, spectacular in the castle’s vast courtyard.

In addition to sickening performances and hilarious drama, Werq the World: Pride Castle will include a roundtable discussion where the queens will give their take on this year’s Pride season, the COVID-19 pandemic, and how the Black Lives Matter movement has impacted the LGBTQ community. Net proceeds from ticket sales and 100 percent of viewer tips and donations will go towards the National Black Justice Coalition, an organization dedicated to empowering the black LGBTQ community.

OUT FRONT spoke more with Jaida about Pride Castle and what it means to be a winner, baby! Hello, Miss Jaida! Thank you for taking the time to chat with me. Are we still floating on Cloud 9 since winning RuPaul’s Drag Race season 12?
Yes! It’s still so crazy. Like, all the time, I’m thinking, is it real? Did I really win? But it feels good.

When Ru announced your name, how surreal of a moment was that for you? Watching the reaction video between you, Gigi, and Crystal was everything.
Thank you. OK, so this is the crazy thing. Before I would prepare for the show, I was like, I wonder what it will sound like if RuPaul said, ‘The winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race is Jaida Essence Hall!’ I always had that in my mind, but when he said it, I was like, it sounded a little bit better in my head when I said it [laughs]. But it was one of those things where you have no idea; you can’t even imagine what is happening in front of you. I got light in my head; it was so weird and crazy.

Related article: Denver’s Drag Superstar- Yvie Oddly 

And how awesome was it for fans from your hometown to organize a socially distant parade to celebrate? That was so sweet!
That was the most surprising thing ever in my life. I literally had no idea that was happening, and I usually hate surprises. To know that a city that I love, I love where I’m from; I love every part of it, but to know that the people in my city love me enough to want to put together a parade and show up. Like, it was so loud, and all my neighbors who never noticed me before were looking out on their doorsteps and congratulating me. It was crazy.

Care to share some of your plans for that prize money?
Literally, I want to buy some really cute Louboutin shoes. That is one of things I always told myself I would treat myself to. Jan, Gigi, and I, we all made a pact to be together for my first pair of Louboutins. I need to be in the store to get them and be shopping with them, too. So, we made an agreement, and now I kind of have to wait to get the shoes until everything is back to normal, but I’m still excited.

Was this your first time auditioning for Drag Race?
No, this was my second time.

Why did you want to be on the show?
You know, I think the big thing about doing RuPaul’s Drag Race is what it can do for your career. I didn’t think, I mean, obviously I wanted to win, and that’s one of the biggest parts of the show, but I know that the opportunities that the show presents to you can change your life. Being from Milwaukee and being from one of the roughest neighborhoods here, I always wondered what it would be like if I can have one opportunity to make my life completely different. Drag is something that I think that I’m kind of good at, a little bit, so I was like, I’m going to audition for the show because it aligns with everything that I love to do. Everything that I have a passion for, but it can also give me an opportunity to make a better life for myself.

You became one of the most meme-ed queens of this season. Do you have a favorite one?
[Laughs] My favorite meme, there are so many! Obviously, the “look over there” ones. Those are the best.

Which challenge was your favorite?
The challenges that I loved the most, obviously there was the political challenge, but the one that I loved the most, I would have to say is the makeover challenge because I really, really enjoyed being able to work with the fans of the show. My career is so heavily based and made from the people who support and love me, so to see and work with people who love drag as much as I do and for them to have a moment in the spotlight and live their fantasy meant the world to me. That’s why I didn’t want to be shady with casting out the girls. Like, let’s be real. I want them to have the best moment that they can while they’re here.

Your win is very significant right now. A black drag queen winning the title on a mainstream platform right as the national protests started. Has it been difficult for you to enjoy your win during this time?
No. I think with all of what’s happening in the world right now, it gives my platform more of a purpose. It’s cute to be like, I won Drag Race and bragging rights about it, but now you have the opportunity to have a voice. With who I am and where I’m from, when I say things, people can tend to pay a little bit more attention to that, and I am glad that I won at a time like right now where people need to pay attention to what their black counterparts have to say.

How do you think the Black Lives Matter movement has impacted the LGBTQ community?
I think it’s impacting our community in a way where a lot of people who may not have paid attention to the issues, primarily the queer and trans brothers and sisters, they hear what those issues are more directly, and they are now paying a lot more attention to those.

The Drag Race fandom has been known to experience a lot of toxic racism. Have you encountered any of this?
I have had some issues where some people have said some really nasty, negative things to me, and obviously there has been racist things that people have said to me, but we all go through a lot of stuff, and I have to say that I am really lucky that as time has been progressing, you can tell that the fandom, a lot of people who have been that way are maybe turning a tide, or the fandom is becoming less than that because a lot of my other black sisters from the show, have told me that they are so grateful that queens from this season have not been getting as much crap for being who they are on the show.

I think that speaks a lot about the fandom. Racism is taught to people, and a lot of times, you will have to unlearn that behavior. Watching the show and realizing that you have a lot in common with these queens on the show, and then also realizing that you have a lot in common with the queens of color on the show, it opens up a point in your heart for a lot of people who may not have had that. Like, you know, we have a lot in common, and maybe what they have to say is important. I shouldn’t be this way.

Switching gears, you are going to be a part of Werq the World’s livestream episode, Pride Castle. How exciting is that?
It is so exciting because I always wanted to be a part of Werq the World ever since I first saw a Werq the World show. To be part of the livestream show, it’s the fantasy coming true!

This is your first live performance since winning. What do you have in store for audiences?
I really want to take the audience on like a fantastical journey through my mind. When you see the space, and you see what the castle is, I just immediately got inspired. I want to not have to verbally tell people what I am doing, and I want them to see what I’m doing and be like oh, this is what this is giving me. This is what the story of the character is; this is the story of what the music actually is, and I just want to take them on a journey.

Clearly, you can take us on a journey through your now-famous living room!
[Laughs] Oh my God. I feel proud to put my light back up. Also, I was scared I would shock myself to death. The funniest thing I saw was somebody wrote on Twitter, ‘I literally can’t make a living and Jaida just made $100,000 in her living room.’

Pride Castle will also have a roundtable discussion about not only Black Lives Matter, but also this year’s Pride season and the COVID-19 pandemic. Do you feel the pandemic robbed you from a full Drag Race experience?
I think in a lot of ways, we missed out on a little bit of work and stuff like that, but also at the same time, that would be so selfish to be like, oh my God, what we didn’t get, because everybody in the world has been feeling it really hard. So, I am still very grateful for all the opportunities that I have been given since the pandemic. Like, there are people suffering throughout all of this, and we are able to do live shows and still be able to make a living. So, it’s just a little bit selfish to feel overindulge and have this Drag Race fantasy idea. Thankfully, since winning, hopefully I will be able to do a lot more with my career after all of this ends.

Well, you are just getting started. What do you hope to accomplish with your platform?
You know, one of the things right away when I thought about the idea of being on the show, I thought about a purpose more. I kept thinking in my head, like the word, throughout the audition process and everything. The one word that kept standing out to me was perspective, perspective, perspective. Last year, I was on the other side, like, doing makeup for the finale, and I have been on the side where I have been a fan of the girls on the show. To see where I’m at now, and I think that I have so much perspective from keeping my mind open from both sides of it.

I know that a lot of young, queer people who see the show, they look up to us, and there’s so much they can learn from us. There is so much that I have learned from watching the girls on the show, and I am hoping that I can be able to be a beacon of light to people. I know that a lot of eyes will be on me; a lot of people will talk about the things that I’m doing. It’s not like I have to change who I am to make people fall in love or be inspired by me, but I know there are a lot of eyes on me and I think it is important for me to be able to be the best person I can be. Show them that no matter who you are, where you come from, you can make great things happen for yourself and in your life. Like, if I can do it in my living room, you all have the whole world to do anything. The possibilities are endless.

What can we expect to see from Miss Jaida Essence Hall in the future?
I really want to work on my makeup line, and since I am at my heart a performer, I cannot wait to be on the road and travel. I have met so many people through social media, and it’s cute to meet people through social media and have conversations with them, but I am ready to meet these people in person. I want to be able to hug and embrace then and, like, share a shot or drink. Just have a good time and make friends with those people.

Also, I feel like it’s super important to say, all the things that you imagine for your career will be possible. So, leave a little bit of room on your plate for things that you didn’t even know that you want to do. Things that you could do. So, I am definitely leaving space open for anything that could possibly fall in my lap. Like, maybe music. We will see what happens!

To stay up-to-date with Jaida, follow her on social media. Werq the World: Pride Castle will stream live on vossevents.com June 27 at 8:00 p.m. EST. The show will be available to replay for 48 hours after the live event.