Exclusive Interview with My Li'l Puny X Keta Minaj
Interview Ke; Bold text = Spill the Tea, P = My Li’l Puny, K = Keta Minaj
My Li’l Puny welcome back and the warmest of welcomes to you Keta Minaj, to Spill the Tea magazine. How are we doing?
P:Thank you so much, good thanks for having us.
K: We're doing very good.
Of course My Li’l Puny we spoke during season two of Drag Race Holland but you were both on the show together, how has life been since being on Drag Race?
P: Yeah, pretty good I mean we of course had, I think we had it twice with the whole Corona restrictions and everything being closed so it was kind of hard doing gigs, trying to stay visible and out there. There was nothing happening so that was a bit of a pity, but everything is starting up again now, we have all the restrictions out of the way, I think we're gonna have a nice summer ahead of us, i'm really excited about that sure.
K: For me, it was a period of well, not disappointment but we invested a lot of energy, time and money in Drag Race, so you expect it to be go, go, go you know, but we didn't really have a chance, we did some stuff but not what we wanted to do, so we invested all our time in the video clip, it’s really exciting, it's going to be amazing.
“People find us to be an iconic duo, so we said okay, let's do something with that, let's give it to the fans. We work together very nicely, we're very good friends, we're on the same level when it comes to creativity, so we were like, okay let's do this project together, see what comes out of it”
I don't think there's been an official announcement yet but if Drag Race Holland comes back for a third season, is there anybody that you would love to see be cast on the show.
P: Oh yeah definitely, it’s quite a list
K: Yeah me too.
P: We still have a lot of Dutch queens that I think would be amazing on the show.
K: Those that really deserve a chance to show themselves.
P: I would say Rosee-Sheneee Plastique, she is one of the few black girls that we have in drag here, I don't know why but unfortunately, we don't have that many, but she's one you really want to watch, she can act, she can dance and she adds amazing looks, she's really one to watch.
K: I also agree with you, Rosee is amazing but I also think Miss Cartier would be a very nice contestant, she's the daughter of Envy Peru (winner of Drag Race Holland Season 1) but she has her own style, it's very much fashion model and I think she can bring a really nice fashion and comedy factors, she's funny as f*ck.
P: She can also sing which is really nice. Another one would be the The Kameleon which is something completely different, she's more of an over the top clowny, comedy queen which is definitely a cool energy that would be very fitting for a third season.
You could both cast the season yourselves! Now I'm sure I mentioned it before but I am obsessed with Drag Race Holland, I think it's one of the best franchises to come out of the US show and I’m sure I talk about it far too much and at the second of course we're blessed to be seeing your sister from another season Janey Jacke competing on UK Vs the World. Have you been watching it?
P: Of course, yeah, I worked with her actually last weekend and she's super excited of course about the whole gig, it’s an international platform.
K: We are so proud of Janey, she's doing so well. She makes us proud.
I mean I should be full team UK but I’ve been far too honest and I keep saying Janey is one of my favourites, I keep forgetting, I'm like, oh no I’m from the UK, I need to support Blu, Baga and Cheryl, I can't jump ship (all laugh). Would either of you partake in if they bring it back for a second season?
P: If we start a crowdfund.
K: We are so broke from all the outfits and wigs.
P: I mean you broaden your horizon even more, Holland is quite a small country and I think a lot of people also maybe didn't watch the second season of Drag Race Holland. I think there's definitely an opportunity to make it bigger for both of us.
K: I agree if there comes a second season of course I have to think twice because like you said the investment is insane because you want to bring your A-game and you’re A-game costs money, but i'm also like, if you're gonna do it you have to do it good.
That's when it confuses me when some girls do go on the show and they spend the money on it but then when they get there they don't give it their all, I’ve not been there so I can't talk, but you guys have, but sometimes you just want to shake them and be like come on get a bit more fight, when you see them lose it.
K: It's a bit of a risk of course because you know you invest in the themes for all the runways and then if you go out first, that’s it, you can show your outfit on social media but you want to show the outfits on the show of course.
Yeah it's not it's not the same, now I need to go to Drag Race Holland quickly because I still don't have a clear answer what Fred says to you at the end, I can't find a clear translation, I saw it said ‘Bye Dear’, what is he actually saying?
P: Dag schat? yeah its like bye girl.
K: Byyyyeee, it's a bit nasty but in a funny way.
Both: DAG SCHAT!
K: It really sounds dutch right!
Me and my partner literally just run around the house shouting it at each other but we're like we should probably check what it means because we could be saying something that we really don't realize. Now we must move on to the real reason why we're here today to talk about your brand new single, how would you describe the track to us?
P: It's definitely energetic, it's definitely a dance track something that you would hear in a club and go out on. I think it has an iconic verse where we just say our names, I think it's quite catchy and I'm really excited for the world or the drag and queer scene to pick it up.
K: Yeah, go crazy.
P: And have it on repeat.
K: We wanted to release it right after the show, in October or something but we’re both busy, especially her (Keta points to Puny) she has a nine to five job so we had to shoot the scenes after her job, she had to do her makeup in like 20 minutes like in the show and then we had to go to the location to maybe shoot one scene. We are both perfectionists so when it comes to dance, we said okay we have to top it, so in the end it became like a whole fashioned book of looks. With the scenes we kept saying we could do this, we could do that. I would say this is a collection of Keta and Puny looks put together like a fashion catalog, it’s really something, it took a while but we are really proud of it. I think it's got something really arty as well, we're not dropping a song with one look, it’s really well thought out and I’m really curious about what you guys think of it because we we've seen it already for so many times now we're like oh, her face again my face again. But it's gonna be very cool.
P: The video clip took took a while but it really was a passion project, because we wanted to do everything ourselves and make decisions with how things were going to look and how things were going to be shot and it takes so much time. We’re just two people of course, we had some help of friends and our management to call the locations for example but it was definitely a project.
K: The general thing that we want to say with the clip is when there's a sentence that goes ‘do what you love and love what you do’ that's drag for us, we just want to do what we want, no matter what other people think.
Did you did you always want to make music or is it something that you sort of realized after after Drag Race?
P: We're both coming from a dance background and I think every drag queen has a little bit of a fantasy of being a pop star, I don't know why, maybe not all of them. I think it's definitely a direction that we as performers, especially having the background of theatre and being so invested in music as dancers, that we really wanted to make a track and see where that would bring us and what new passion it might bring out.
K: I think when you make songs for your own act, you always get inspired by the songs that you use and I’m also a DJ, so I play and mix a lot of songs together, so when we wanted to make our own track we said this the style that we like in music and also the style that we like to perform to, so it's really a personal project.
P: We're also trying to see how we can move forward with it and see how it might get picked up of course, it's definitely a new exploration and new field for the both of us.
What made you want to do it together rather than doing your own separate solo stuff?
P: We have plans to do solo stuff but people find us to be an iconic duo, so we said okay, let's do something with that, let's give it to the fans. We work together very nicely, we're very good friends, we're on the same level when it comes to creativity, so we were like, okay let's do this project together, see what comes out of it and then we can always continue with our solo.
K: We started this adventure together and we wanted to continue that in real life and really show the energy that we have together. I think it's the perfect combination because we have the same interests in fashion and music, it's a perfect match.
P: I agree.
Then you can have the big old bust up fight which means you have two rival solo singles and then you can do a reunion tour and come back together and make the most out of it.
P: Exactly
K: There's actually a fight in the video as well.
Touching on the clip, of course you were both known for your fashion looks on the show (Drag Race Holland Season 2) and you said you invested a lot of time in it, is there new looks in the video or is it looks people have seen before?
P: One iconic look from the show and then the rest is new looks, some really out there stuff. /
K: I think the looks really represent our own characters but also how we were inspired by each other so I have a little bit of Puny and she has a little bit of Keta and mixed gives a whole new futuristic style.
I'm excited, I can't wait to see it, when you were both growing up what sort of music influenced you or what was there music that influenced the track?
P: I grew up with Janet Jackson and looked up to her as a performer and also Britney Spears. I really loved all her concerts with all the dancers and all the big stages. When I was really doing my dance career before, that was the one thing that I really, really loved and now I have such a big range of music interests actually. I like a lot of stuff but those were the performers in the music industry that that I grew up with.
K: I think a big influence for me came from 90’s music, it was a really big influence for me when I was djing. I think there a bit inspiration from the 90s in our song.
Now, I want to play a little fun game called ‘piping hot tea’ it's basically quick-fire questions that just need really speedy answers back.
Out of the two of you who takes the longest to get ready?
P: Me
K: Her! She is so slow, especially in the beginning with her makeup.
P: Oh god
K: And in the beginning her makeup was so terrible when she just started, we were in a performance group and she had no experience with it. I thought, you’re a fierce performer but your make up is terrible! Now she can pull off looks better than mine, she got a glow up!
Well that's actually my next question whose drag is better?
Both: ooooo (both then go silent)
K: Silence!
P: On Drag Race Keta.
What's the first thing you do when you get out of drag?
K: Chill.
P: Shower.
K: Yes.
P: Cup of tea on the couch.
K: Smoke a cigarette, drag is amazing but its even better to take it off.
Yeah it's that feeling the relief!
Which do you prefer Instagram or TiK Tok?
P: I think still Instagram but I’m getting more into Tik Tok.
K: I think I prefer Instagram because it's such a general thing and its became a normal thing in your life. But we were always making movies, I’m surprised we didn't pick up on Tik Tok earlier. But we like to make videos on Tik Tok. The algorithm is so weird as well, sometimes your like this is amazing and you only get like a 1,000 views and then you make the most stupid video and it gets 30 or 40 thousand likes! It’s a weird phenomenon but we love it.
Is Fred a good judge? (Fred Van Leer is the host of Drag Race Holland)
Both go silent and look at each other.
Ooooo (I burst into laughter).
K: Is he a good judge?
P: Yes
K: He is a good judge but every good judge makes bad choices.
What was better Drag Race Holland season one or two?
K: Two!
Did you enjoy being on a season together?
Both: Yes!
K: It’s a… not scary but exciting time and we really gave each other power to rocket.
P: Also when you're having a hard time or you're getting tired and the competition is getting to you, if you have that somebody that you know so well, it's really nice to get some support. You can be less stressed about it, because you can get into your head quite easily.
K: At one point you gave me a role I didn’t like.
P : She was so stressed about it, there was a lot of text and a short amount of time, she was so stressed about the whole role and I was like no you can do this. She said I can’t do it, so I said shut up b*tch you can do this, then the next day she did and killed it.
K: So we helped each other.
Did the right person win your season?
P: Oooo, my god I think Keta should have won the season.
K: Or you b*tch. I would have preferred a finale between Puny and me.
P: Vanessa is amazing.
K: Yes, Vanessa is amazing.
P: I think what she does for our community is amazing and I’m really happy she won, she’s a very close friend to both of us but if we looked at track record, then Keta should have won.
I'm gonna keep out of it, I'm not going to get in trouble. Who is the better singer?
K: We are both horrible! Our song is more rap and spoken word. We can hold a note.
P: I think you are a better riffing.
K: When I’m drunk or something. I can sign really high, we both did musicals but we're not the best singers, I think you can fake it and nowadays if you’re an artist, it's not necessarily needed because we have all those extra autotune settings. But if you ask us are you going to sing a song for us…
P: We will do it.
Well that's my next question could you sing… no I'm joking! We'll flip it then, what's your favorite song to lip-sync to?
P: So many, I really love to sing like ballard with all those riffs and really detailed parts but I mostly perform high energy songs. I love a Beyonce mix.
K: I like songs with high energy that you can show of your dance moves but if you're talking about lip syncs, mine is a little bit old-fashioned. It's something that you would not expect from me but I did it yesterday night, ‘I'm telling you’ by Jennifer Holiday, I love her mannerisms and her way of singing. You can really give it your all and put your own heart in it.
P: I think my favourite song is Chandelier but it's like a cover version.
What is the best thing about drag?
P: The feeling that drag can give you, when you're putting it all together it just shifts something inside of you. I feel really powerful, I don't know how to explain it. It's a different energy, it's very female energy for me, I feel beautiful and that's a really powerful feeling because you don't always feel like that when you look in the mirror sometimes. You feel like sh*t and then in drag you can be different.
K: I'm very happy that I was born a boy, in drag I can let loose all my feminine energy and go all the way. We are currently being born and told by others to act a certain way and through drag I can really explore the female side of my personality, I give it a name Keta but it's sort of therapy, to get to know yourself even better. Don't care about what other people think just do what you like.
P: As a performer you want to give people a really good time but feel pretty but it's nice that people also get a smile on their face whe they come to you and they're inspired, that's an amazing thing.
K: I agree with that.
Finally did you love this interview?
P: Of course.
K: It was okay (we all laugh).
That's it I’m not inviting you back.
K: No I really liked your questions.
Final thing, I like to round off the interviews by giving you a shout out to another queer person, they can be a performer so drag king, queen or anything in between. So who would you like to shout out and why?
K: I would like to shout out Theo, he organized so many queer events and gave us the opportunity to start our drag careers, so I want to give a big shout out to Theo, I love you.
P: I'm going shout out Rosee because i think she's an amazing performer, I think she's really one to watch.
To listen to Keta X Puny click here, or follow Keta on Instagram here and My Li’l Puny here.
Note: Some of this interview has been edited from the original transcript to help with readability.