Xunami Muse On Her ‘Drag Race’ Season 16 Journey, Finding Joy In The Artform And Bringing The Muse Brand On The Road

RuPaul’s Drag Race‘s annual, iconic Snatch Game episode, claimed another victim with Xunami Muse becoming the next queen to sashay away. But Muse isn’t viewing her loss as the end of her story. In fact, she sees it as just the beginning.

Muse talked with Blavity’s Shadow and Act about her time on the show and what it’s like to bring the Muse energy back to the mainstage of Drag Race. As Muse said about her and her mother (and Drag Race alum) Kandy Muse, the Muses are always bringing the party.

“We built here in New York [and] people really like our energy. They like our vibe. They come to our shows because we are always a great time,” she said. “You can be feeling whatever type of way, and then when you come to our shows, you are gonna leave uplifted and wanting to do push-ups or whatever the case may be.”

“I feel like [from] my run on the show, I feel like fans definitely got that from me, that I like to enjoy myself, I like to have a great time and the same thing with Kandy, you know what I mean?” she continued. “They know she’s a great time and now they’ve gotten to know me and experience the other Muse. I’m excited that [fans are saying], ‘There’s something there and I want more.’ I think that’s really what it is–they want to know more.”

Muse might have shown she was a fashionista on the series, but she has already been working in the fashion industry as a working model. She talked about what it was like to expand her career beyond modeling to include drag entertainment.

“It’s a true testament to the work that I’ve been putting in, you know what I mean? It is a testament to the power of manifestation and it was kind of a fantasy at some point before I was doing it. I was working, but then I was like, ‘Wait, no, I want to do [Drag Race],'” she said. “And I would just put myself out there and it took people seeing it that and they wanted to believe in [me] too, and they took a chance on me. So it tells me that there is something that I should continue to follow that…that’s the message that I want everyone to instill in themselves.”

“I feel like we stop ourselves a lot out of fear because they’re like, ‘No, no, that’s not me.’ But you never know until you try. Then once [my career] started becoming a thing, it’s like, ‘Okay, I got something to sell,’ you know, and I feel like now being on Drag Race is going to amplify that even more,” she continued. “And it makes me so excited because I love to work. I love to collaborate with so many different artists and just being a part of this [work] and at the end of the day, [spreading] the joy of drag because I’m having fun doing it. And when people come to our shows, they have fun. [I’m] just continuing to share that as long as I can. As long as people are calling and knocking, I will be putting that wig on.”

Muse is just the second Panamanian queen to grace the Drag Race stage, sharing that honor with Serena ChaCha. Muse said she’s been feeling the love from Panama throughout and after her run on the show.

“It’s cool because we’re very proud of our country. And anyone that comes from where we come from and go anywhere outside of the country and succeeds, we always applaud,” she said. “I have so overwhelmingly been feeling that love for my country and it makes me so proud that they are proud of me. And what I’ve been putting in and what I’ve given on the runway and on the screen week after week, it feels me with even more joy [of their pride] and makes me want to continue to go harder and do it. [I want to] keep going higher and higher and higher because it all started because I took a chance on myself. And now it just feels like people are taking a chance on me too. They’re tuning in and showing up and supporting. What else could I ask for?”

Muse’s original Snatch Game character, the Gold Tooth Fairy, and Morphine Love Dion’s portrayal of Anna Delvey, both landed them in the bottom. This led to the two queens, both friends, having to lip-sync each other. Neither queen wanted to go up against each other, but their lip sync led to a moment that looked like it could have been a double shantay because of the passion and friendship on display. But that didn’t pan out.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God, maybe she’ll [RuPaul] will give a double shantay, you know? Maybe it’ll be this episode. But unfortunately, it wasn’t the case,” said Muse. “And for a moment, I left my body completely at the end because I could not believe that I was there. I had expectations for myself, you know, but it happens. And when I was told to sashay away for a moment, I was kind of frozen. I feel like I didn’t even look at Morphine when she got called to ‘Shantay, you stay’ because I was just frozen.”

“[I thought] ‘I guess it’s really my reality,’ but I quickly accepted it. I was like, ‘No, look, at the end of the day, whatever happened, I was just very happy and proud of what I have put up to that moment,’ and I was like, ‘If this is my time to go, I’m very okay with that because what I’ve shown, it was very me,'” she continued. “And it was excellent, you know, and the thing about it is that, to be honest, just getting on Drag Race is the win, you know what I mean? You know, all the opportunities that you get exposed to and it’s such a massive fan base that everyone is really able to find their corner and find their light…and excel. Like, look at Alyssa Edwards–she never made it to a finale, but she’s one of the biggest stars from that world. So it’s remembering that just because you lose something doesn’t mean it’s the endo f the road. It could be the beginning of a new road, you know? So this is now my new narrative and I’m stepping fully into it.”

So what’s on the horizon for Muse? Everything.

“I see TV, I see being on the road,” she said, saying that the Monday night show she and Kandy would have at New York bar Pieces is something that they want to “take it on the road and share it with everyone because there is really something about going to see a live drag show, you know what I mean?”

“It’s beautiful to see it on TV, but when the girls tour and do Voss tours and Bianca Del Rio does her comedy tour, it’s the beauty of going out there and supporting drag at your local venues,” she continued. “I’m working on music and I’m just excited that the people are calling. They want the Muses and guess what? We’re going to give it to them because I love to work. I love to do drag. I love to share it. I’m a fan of drag fist. And getting to share my drag with other fans of drag, that’s going to be really the most fun thing. I can’t wait to see everyone all over the country and, hopefully, the world.”

Watch RuPaul’s Drag Race Fridays at 8/7c on MTV.