Featured photo by Jacob Ritts. Courtesy of Shore Fire Media.

Dominating on RuPaul’s Drag Race was only the beginning for Sapphira Cristál.

Fresh off a second-place finish on Season 16 of the hit drag competition, Sapphira is taking her talents to the studio and the stage. On the TV show, Sapphira proved she can do it all, winning four challenges with her skills in opera, songwriting, and comedy. But that was only a small glimpse of what the Philadelphia-based drag icon is capable of, and after releasing her upcoming EP’s first two singles, “Enough” and “Get Your Flowers,” and setting off on her Cristál Ball Tour, she’s putting her versatility on full display.

INTO caught up with Sapphira just before RuPaul’s DragCon to dish on the fabulosity of her tour, the life lessons behind her music, and which drag queens she couldn’t wait to meet in person (including a Drag Race winner who will have a feature on her EP).

Hey, Sapphira! Congrats on kicking off your new tour, The Cristál Ball. Why should your fans come out to see the show?

If you love the honesty, the raw nature of Sapphira, then you’ll love The Cristál Ball. You will laugh, you will cry, you will probably be turned on. Honestly, it’s really full of everything that people love about me and more. You get to learn a lot about who I am, what I’ve been through, why I am the way that I am.

Lots of your new fans know you from Drag Race — are there any skills you’re bringing to the tour that you didn’t get to showcase on TV?

You get to see me actually sing opera really, really well. You’ll get to know my personal style of comedy, not just the little bit we can do on television. You’ll get to see my real heart in real time.

Photo by Jacob Ritts. Courtesy of Shore Fire Media.

You’re also gearing up to release your debut EP. Both of the singles you’ve released so far, “Enough” and “Get Your Flowers,” have strong messages about confidence and self-love. Why are those themes so important to you?

I have been through a lot of things in my life. And a lot of it has to do with people not agreeing with my choices, or just who I am as a person. And you have to get to a point where you’re like, “It doesn’t matter what other people think about me. I love me. I love exactly who I am.” 

I grew up Christian, and I was raised to believe that God made no mistakes. And so, if I am the way that I am, it’s because there was no mistake made. I was meant to be here and doing the things that I’m doing. I need to love and accept the person I am so that I can go forward and create and receive the things that were meant for me — and it’s hard to receive the things that are meant for you when you’re just going through life angry about what you don’t have or what you aren’t, when you can just be happy about who you are.

Would you say self-love is the main theme of the EP?

Love in general is the running theme throughout the EP. There’s self-love, there’s romantic love, there’s love for someone who either is not here anymore, or who wanted to help you find yourself in those moments. “Get Your Flowers” is two-fold: It is a song that you can sing to yourself in the mirror, but I also think that giving people their flowers while they’re here is very important. 

I lost my dad a long time ago, almost three years ago now. And I recently lost one of my best friends in the world — they decided to leave. And it was very hard on me, especially because I didn’t get to tell them how amazing I think they are, and they didn’t get to know that I ended up on Drag Race and all that kind of stuff. It just was extremely hard to have my friend leave without me being able to tell them how amazing they are to me. And so I think it’s very important to give people their flowers while they’re here, while they can appreciate them, and “Get Your Flowers,” it’s definitely a song about appreciating people and appreciating those who deserve it.

Thank you so much for sharing. I know the whole EP was also produced by Ocean Kelly, a fellow drag star with iconic tracks of her own. What was it like collaborating with her?

Ocean and I have a unique ability to understand each other musically. They would write a demo track and just send me the music, and then I would send them a demo track of me singing over it. We would sort of bounce off of each other until we came up with a song, which was really, really fun to do. We both have ADHD, and so musically, we kind of bounce around, and it just makes for magic.

Anything else you can reveal about the EP?

Well, there is some baby-making music in there. And if you’re not making babies, there is some good love-making music in there.

We love to hear it. This weekend will be your first ever Drag Con! What are you most excited for?

One of my biggest things is that we’re all going to be together. I’m a fan of drag, and so to be around all these drag queens — some of them I have never met. I was on Season 16, but there were 15 seasons before mine, and I know a fair amount of girls but not all of them, and so I’m going to meet some of my favorite drag queens ever.

Are you hyped to meet anyone in particular?

Probably Shea Couleé. I’m very excited to meet Shea. Also, Shea Couleé is actually going to be a feature on my album! But unfortunately, we’ve never met in person, so that’ll be very exciting. 

I’m also really excited to meet Roxxxy Andrews: People who created the blueprint of what’s expected from Drag Race, the top tier of drag that people really aspire to, that we all want to make sure that if we’re going to be on this show, we are going to be at least that level or greater.

You’re also nominated for Best New Artist at the WOWIE Awards, which will be announced at DragCon! Fingers crossed for you.*

Yeah, I definitely expect to win over Chappell Roan. (laughs) But it’s nice to at least be nominated.

You and Chappell Roan are nominated for the same award — that says something!

Hey, Chappell Roan! ♦

Get tickets for The Cristál Ball Tour here, and stream “Enough” and “Get Your Flowers” now on all platforms.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

*The Best New Artist WOWIE went to Drag Race France star La Grande Dame.

Related
Ts Madison is one step closer to EGOT status after this news
Sapphira Cristál and Monét X Change dish about the aural confections of ‘Soundcake’

Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...

We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock our articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?

Once Monthly Annually

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated