This biracial drag queen is paying homage to famous Black artists by recreating their album covers - Action News
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This biracial drag queen is paying homage to famous Black artists by recreating their album covers

Biracial drag queen Kendall Gender has been recreating the famous album covers of Black artists to draw attention to the importance of Black culture and history and to pay homage to the women who inspired her drag persona.

Kendall Gender has impersonated Beyonc, Rihanna and Whitney Houston

Kenneth Wyse, who performs under the name Kendall Gender, is pictured getting ready for his photo shoot replicating Mariah Carey's Merry Christmas album. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

When Vancouver drag queen Kendall Gender decided to recreate the album covers of famous Black artists for Black History Month inFebruary to pay homage to the artist who inspired her drag persona, she had no idea it would grow into something bigger.

"We shot four in the beginning for Black HistoryMonth, and then it became such an overwhelming success that I decided to continue it on," said Gender on the set of one of her photo shoots.

Gender, who is half Black, half white, says she continued to create and post the photos to Instagram because she realized how important it was to celebrate Black culture and history year round.

But in a year like 2020, which saw the deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Rayshard Brooks at the hands of police and pushedthousands of people out on to the streets in the middle of a pandemic to protest that Black lives matter, the project took on another meaning for Gender.

Drag queen Kendall Gender remade Beyonc's Dangerously in Love album cover as part of a project to honour the women who have inspired her drag persona for Black History Month. Gender says the project was such a success, she decided to continue doing it for the rest of the year. (Fernando Cysneiros)

"We are on the precipice of the biggest civil rights movement of our generation so to continue on and be a voice within this movement is so important to me," said Gender.

Gender has remade album covers such as Beyonc's Dangerously in Love, Rihanna's Unapologetic and Whitney Houston's Whitney.For December, she did a Christmas themed shoot featuring the album cover of Mariah Carey's Merry Christmas.

Gender said she recently heard a story about Carey growing up, where an elementary school teacher told her she used the wrong colour for her Dad because nobody believed she was half Black. This is something Gender can relate to.

Gender recreates Mariah Carey's Merry Christmas album cover as part of her ongoing project honouring Black artists who have impacted her drag career. (Fernando Cysneiros)

"I sort of get pinholed into a lot of different boxes. Not necessarily being Caucasian enough, not necessarilybeing Black enough and this project has really allowed me to pay homage to these Black artists and really get to know that side of my heritage," said Gender.

From Kenneth to Kendall: What it takes to become a drag queen

4 years ago
Duration 1:03
Vancouver-based drag queen Kendall Gender gives a behind the scenes look at what it takes to get ready for one of her album cover photoshoots dedicated to Black artists.

Who is Kendall Gender?

Kendall Gender is the drag persona of Kenneth Wyse. The 30-year-old, who grew up in Richmond, B.C., started doing drag in 2014.

"A lot of my drag character comes from strength, empowerment and inspiration," said Gender.

Gender won the competition Vancouver's Next Drag Superstar in 2017, and was the first drag performer to do the halftime show at the Rugby Sevenstournament in Vancouver in March 2020.

Gender has been doing drag since 2014. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

Gender hopes people feel like they can be a part of drag by watching her recreate these historical moments.

"Drag is universal. It's something that a lot of people can relate to."

Gender plans to create a 2021 calendar with the images and partial proceeds going to Black Lives Matter Canada.

Gender says like Mariah Carey, many people don't realize she's biracial. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.

A banner of upturned fists, with the words 'Being Black in Canada'.
(CBC)