Jun 25, 2004  |  By: Tray butle  | COMMENTS     

In 1983, a decade before becoming the world’s most famous drag queen, RuPaul had an idea. The then 22-year-old had visited Manhattan and came home to Atlanta with a bold plan to make his name known. He carefully photocopied a series of posters of his punk-rock drag persona and the headline, “RuPaul is red hot.”

Using wallpaper wheat paste, he plastered the fliers all over Midtown. The slogan became so popular, people would actually drive by his apartment and yell, “RuPaul is red hot!”

Now, 21 years later, RuPaul is going back to his roots. His new CD, “Red Hot,” drops on June 22, marking his return after a four-year break from public life.

“That’s why I called the CD ‘Red Hot,’” says RuPaul, who now lives in Southern California. “It’s me proclaiming my arrival again. I’m starting again. I’m hungry again.”

The drag diva’s rise to fame may have started with those homemade posters, but it took him years to become a household name. Born in San Diego, RuPaul Andre Charles moved to Atlanta at age 15 and attended the Northside School of the Performing Arts. He still calls Atlanta his home and spiritual touchstone.

In the early ’80s, RuPaul transformed his love of performing into a punky drag act, playing with bands like the Wee Wee Poles and the U-Hauls, and starring in super low-budget flicks. He found his groove in 1989, moving to New York and changing his look from punk to streetwalker.

Clubbers voted him “Queen of Manhattan 1990.” Then came Tommy Boy Records, who enlisted RuPaul as its new “Glamazon” and produced his 1992 album, “Supermodel of the World.” The first single landed in heavy rotation on MTV — and brought a 6-foot,4-inch drag queen to Middle America.

His 1996 album, “Foxy Lady,” didn’t match the sales or buzz of “Supermodel,” but by then RuPaul had become a bona fide celebrity, with frequent film appearances (18 screen credits to date) and a talk show on VH1, plus a sweet deal promoting M.A.C. cosmetics.

In 2000, after the unveiling of his wax statue in Madame Tousand’s Times Square museum, the performer decided to take a step back from public life. RuPaul’s reluctant now to talk much about this period “going underground,” but notes his hiatus corresponded with the election of George W. Bush.

“I really shouldn’t talk about me — Ru the man, the person behind the bitch,” he says. “In my career, people have been a lot more comfortable putting me in a box as a fabulous drag queen, as someone to accessorize.

“But I’m at a point where I can’t go on being a cartoon character,” he says. “Maybe I should just let the album speak for itself.”

The new CD, which he’s releasing on his own RuCo label, almost didn’t happen. It sat on a shelf for a year before RuPaul finally dusted it off, recorded new tracks and created new mixes. Though the first single, “Looking Good, Feeling Gorgeous” is a bouncy dance-floor ditty (and simply screams for a big-room remix), the album overall feels more political and personal than previous outings.

From the tense and preachy “Love is Love” to the coming-out anthem “Superman,” the record finds RuPaul saying more than, “You better work.”

“When I started in Atlanta, I was punk rock, I was counterculture,” he says. “I always have been. Every time I’ve gotten into drag, it’ s been a political statement. I could get on this album and just sing, ‘La, la, la,’ and it would be a political statement.”

Not that the CD lacks the singer’s signature club influences, what he calls “shake your booty” tracks. Ru, an avid music collector who owns more than 5,000 CDs, suggests that dance music is on the decline these days due to the political climate.

“Right now we’re in a place of fear in this country,” he says. “That’s why dance music is on the low side right now. And that’s why I say if you can dance, you can start a revolution. When you dance, you tap into this other energy that has nothing to do with control. It has to do with letting go, not with fear.”

These days RuPaul is letting go of his own fears, launching what he calls “act three” of his life. The new phase is less concerned with show business and more about personal growth. He’s thrilled about the new CD, he says, but even more stoked to be able to go out on the road and reconnect with fans.

“I used to put all ...