Amrullah previously co-hosted the podcast Very That alongside Delta Work.[2]
Early life
Amrullah was born in Baldwin Park, California. They are of Dutch and Indonesian descent.[3] Their late father, Abdul Wadud Karim Amrullah, was the younger brother of Indonesian ʿālim and philosopher Hamka.[4] When they were three, their family moved to the island of Bali in Indonesia, their parents' native country, where they stayed for six years before returning to the U.S.[5]
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 and punksubcultures.[6] The first few years of their drag career in the early '90s were spent as a club kid named Crayola.[7]
They were a contestant on the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race as Raja.[10] They were a member of the "Heathers" clique,[11][12] which took its name from the popular cult filmHeathers. In the final episode, after a lip-sync battle with Manila Luzon, Raja was declared the winner of the show's third season and crowned America's Next Drag Superstar.[13] 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.[14][15]
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 song "Gimme Chocolate!!"
In April 2022, Raja was announced as one of the eight returning winners that would be competing in seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, the first ever all-winners season of Drag Race.[16] They won the title of "Queen of She Done Already Done Had Herses" and a prize of $50,000.[17]
In May 2011, Amrullah released their first single as Raja, titled "Diamond Crowned Queen."[19] The single debuted at number fifty on the BillboardHot Dance Club Songs,[20] before peaking at number thirty-five.[21] 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.[22]
Since 2014, they have presented the weekly WOWPresents YouTube series RuPaul's Drag Race Fashion Photo RuView with fellow Drag Race alumna Raven.[23]
In February 2017, they starred as an intergalactic creature in the music video for Blondie's single "Fun".[24] They also appeared in the "Make Love Not Walls" Diesel campaign directed by David LaChapelle and in a campaign for Urban Decay alongside fellow Drag Race alumni Alaska, Jiggly Caliente, and Katya.
Amrullah has created and performed live drag shows as Raja in Provincetown, Massachusetts, such as Gawdess (2017),[25]Masque (2018),[26] and Lush Life (2019).[27]
Amrullah guest starred as themself in The Simpsons episode "Werking Mom," which aired on November 18, 2018.[28][29]
In June 2019, they were one of 37 queens to be featured on the cover of New York Magazine.[30]
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