Pabllo Vittar is ready for pop domination

Identifying as gay and genderfluid in a country where LGBTQIA+ rights are on the decline, the success of Brazilian drag queen Pabllo Vittar is always going to be political. Using her sex-positive bops and worldwide visibility to spread a message of acceptance and pride, her work is a necessary counter-narrative to the vitriolic homophobia of Brazilian President Bolsonaro. Having now worked with the likes of Charli XCX and Brazilian superstar Anitta, racked up over 10 million followers on Instagram and become the first Grammy-nominated drag queen, Pabllo also represents a new horizon of the drag art form: taking it to new heights and paving the way for queens and kings to come.

We caught up with the trailblazer to celebrate her latest album 111 and to talk about the importance of using your platform for good and what makes her feel empowered.

Lovely to meet you! How have you been keeping busy during the COVID-19 lockdown?

I’ve been working out a lot, watching movies, listening to music, trying to write some new songs and chilling with my family!

Let’s talk about your latest album, 111. There’s a bunch of really exciting collaborations on the record, why did you choose these artists to work with?

I like a lot of different rhythms and kinds of music and I always love do mix them, so we got our Mexican diva Thalía, PC Music queen Charli XCX, king of brega funk Jerry Smith and the axé and carnaval queen Ivete Sangolo! That’s a lot of what I like to hear and what I wanted to bring to the album

On 111, you branch out from Portuguese to also sing in Spanish and English – why was this?

I have a bunch of fans that don’t speak Portuguese! Last year I did my first tour outside of Brazil and I was amazed by their effort to sing in Portuguese with me! I loved that! So I decided I also need to learn their languages so we can communicate better and connect even more during my tour! I am still learning and have a lot to improve, but now we can sing more songs together and it makes for easier communication overall.

There’s more and more acceptance of Spanish-language music in the US, do you think that Portuguese-language music will find a similar level of success?

I think the industry is growing so that we won’t care anymore about the language! We can see the popularity of Spanish-language music growing and Korean music is moving millions all over the world! I think Portuguese-language music can achieve that as well, we have a lot of great artists that sing in Portuguese.

With shows like Ru Paul’s Drag Race, drag queens are gaining more mainstream success. However, it can still be hard to break into a successful music career as a drag queen. What would be your advice to anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

Be yourself! Don’t try to make any kind of music just because it’s trendy right now. The same thing goes for your image! Be yourself and team up with a crew that believes in you and doesn’t want to change you!

Your lyrics aren’t afraid to talk openly about sex and romance — why is sex positivity important to you?

Sex is an important and normal part of anyone’s life, so why not talk about that openly? We have to, it’s natural.

As a queer person in Brazil where LBGT+ rights are under threat, do you feel an obligation to act like a spokesperson for the community and stand up against Bolsonaro’s comments against LGBT people?

I have to! I’ve got an important platform on my hands and I gotta use it to try to make the world a better place!

What changes would you like to see happen in your lifetime?

To live in a world that is more respectful in every way!

What makes you feel empowered?

Knowing who I am and loving all parts of me, including my flaws.

111 is out now. Stream it on Spotify.