Shuga Cain is the stage name of Jesus Martinez Jr. (born November 20, 1977), an American drag queen and baker who came to international attention on the eleventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race.
Shuga Cain | |
|---|---|
 Shuga Cain at RuPaul’s DragCon, 2022 | |
| Born | Jesus Martinez Jr. November 20, 1977 Oakland, California, U.S |
| Occupations | |
| Known for | RuPaul's Drag Race (season 11) |
| Website | shugssweetshop |
Early life
editMartinez was born in Oakland, California and as a child moved to Northern California, where he grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood. His father was Salvadoran, and his mother was Apache with Spanish ancestry.[1]
Career
editIn 2011, Martinez starred in a production of Xanadu, portraying Sonny Malone.[2] He started drag full time in 2017, quitting a corporate job with the Scholastic Corporation to pursue it.[3]
In March 2018, Shuga Cain was a part of Max Emerson's Drag Babies series, hosted by Bob the Drag Queen. She was a Drag Mentor, alongside Peppermint and Chi Chi DeVayne.[4]
Shuga Cain was announced to be one of fifteen contestants competing on season eleven of RuPaul's Drag Race on January 24, 2019.[5] In episode 3, she was a part of the historic six-way lip-sync (the first time in the show history in which more than two contestants had to lip-sync to avoid elimination), which she survived.[6] Shuga Cain lipsynced once again in episode 5, where she sent home Ariel Versace to Whitney Houston's "I'm Your Baby Tonight".[7] Despite never winning a challenge, Shuga Cain placed in the top during the season's Snatch Game challenge, where she portrayed Charo.[8] She was eliminated in the tenth episode after lip-syncing to "No More Drama" (2001) by Mary J. Blige against Vanessa Vanjie Mateo. Shuga Cain finished the competition in seventh place.[9] During her time on the show, she released Shuga in the Raw, where she recapped every episode of season 11.[10]
From March 26 to September 6, she was a part of the rotating cast for RuPaul's Drag Race: Season 11 Tour, presented by Voss Events and World of Wonder, and hosted by Asia O'Hara.[11] The show kicked off in Los Angeles on May 26 during the RuPaul's DragCon LA wrap party (hosted by Drag Race judge Michelle Visage) and concluded with a final bow on September 6 in New York City (also hosted by Visage) at the top of RuPaul's DragCon NYC.[11]
Shuga Cain was announced to host Gimme Some Shuga, a six episode mini-series on WOWPresents Plus. The series focuses on Cain and baker Justin Salinas creating cakes inspired by RuPaul's Drag Race legends.[12] She was announced as part of the cast for A Drag Queen Christmas, a Christmas-theme drag show hosted by Nina West.[13]
Personal life
editMartinez is currently engaged to Tim Carswell.
Filmography
editTelevision
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | RuPaul's Drag Race | Herself | Contestant (7th Place) |
| RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked | Companion show to RuPaul's Drag Race | ||
| Tales of the City | Drag queen | Extra |
Web series
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Drag Babies | Herself | Drag Mentor | [14] |
| 2019 | Queen to Queen | With Scarlet Envy and Kahanna Montrese | [15] | |
| Da Fuq | Guest, hosted by Honey Davenport | [16] | ||
| I've Never Had a ... | Guest | [17] | ||
| Countdown to the Crown | Season 11 | [18] | ||
| Whatcha Packin’ | Guest | [19] | ||
| Cosmo Queens | Cosmopolitan Series | [20] | ||
| Charo's Pink Room | With Charo | [21] | ||
| Shuga in the Raw | Host | [22] | ||
| Take a Look Back | Series by Yuhua Hamasaki | [23] | ||
| Gimme Some Shuga | Host | [24] | ||
| Bootleg Opinions | Guest, hosted by Yuhua Hamasaki | [25] | ||
| 2020 | Out of the Closet | Guest | [26] |
Music videos
edit| Year | Title | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | "Sweet Love" | [27] |
Discography
editSingles
edit| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2020 | "Sweet Love" |
Theatre
edit| Year | Production | Role | Venue | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Xanadu | Sonny Malone | New Conservatory Theatre Center | Credited as Jesus Martinez |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Whatcha Packin': Shuga Cain, Season 11 Episode 10, RuPaul's Drag Race". YouTube. 3 May 2019. Archived from the original on 2020-03-25. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
- ^ "'Xanadu' rolling into The City". San Francisco Examiner. 4 December 2011. Archived from the original on 2019-05-05. Retrieved 2011-12-04.
- ^ "Why Shuga Cain Gave Up A Six Figure Job to Do Drag Full Time". Out. 8 May 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-10-19. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
- ^ "Instagram Star Max Emerson's "Drag Babies" Set to Premiere". Metrosource. 7 March 2018. Archived from the original on 2019-10-02. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
- ^ "Aquaria & Adam Rippon to Announce 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Season 11 Cast in Upcoming 'Ruveal'". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-05-22.
- ^ "'Stink. Stank. Stunk!' Disastrous performance leads to herstoric 6-way elimination on 'RuPaul's Drag Race'". Yahoo. 15 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-03-22. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
- ^ "RuPaul's Drag Race season 11, episode 5 GIF recap: Clever girl, spooky bitch". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2019-07-06. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
- ^ "'RuPaul's Drag Race' Season 11: Snatch Game and a lip-sync for the herstory books". Houston Chronicle. 19 April 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-09-01. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
- ^ "'RuPaul's Drag Race' 11 episode 10 recap: Which queen didn't make magic on 'Dragracadabra'? [UPDATING LIVE BLOG]". Gold Derby. 3 May 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-05-05. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
- ^ "The Week in Drag: Blair St. Clair, Shuga Cain, Willam & More". Socialite Life. 21 April 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-05-08. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
- ^ a b Nolfi, Joey. "RuPaul's Drag Race sets season 11 tour dates with all 15 queens". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
- ^ "Miss Vanjie becomes dessert in Shuga Cain's Gimme Some Shuga preview". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2019-08-21. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
- ^ "'A Drag Queen Christmas' coming to El Paso in December". KFoxTV. 10 September 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-09-16. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
- ^ DRAG BABIES: Project #1 "What The Hell Are We Doing?". YouTube. March 13, 2018. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- ^ Queen To Queen: Scarlet Envy, Shuga Cain & Kahanna Montrese | RuPaul's Drag Race Season 11. YouTube. May 22, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- ^ Honey Davenport - Da Fuq S1 EP1 with Shuga Cain!. YouTube. March 8, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- ^ Munchies Staff (May 29, 2019). "Watch 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Stars Try Truffles, Snails, and Caviar for the First Time". Vice. Vice Media. Archived from the original on September 13, 2019. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
- ^ "Impressions" COUNTDOWN TO THE CROWN: RuPaul's Drag Race Season 11. YouTube. May 21, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- ^ Whatcha Packin': Shuga Cain | Season 11 Episode 10 | RuPaul's Drag Race. YouTube. May 3, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- ^ "Shuga Cain's Shimmery Makeup Look Is Sweeter Than Dessert". Cosmopolitan. May 8, 2019. Archived from the original on July 25, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- ^ Charo's Pink Room EP 1: Charo & Shuga Cain. YouTube. June 5, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- ^ Shuga In The Raw Episode 1. YouTube. March 7, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- ^ YuhuaHamasaki (July 3, 2019). "TAKE A LOOK BACK: Part 1 Cast RuVeal & What + Why Drag?!" (YouTube video). Archived from the original on July 12, 2019. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
- ^ Gimme Some Shuga with Shuga Cain & Justin: Miss Vanjie Cake - Coming Soon To WOW Presents Plus!. YouTube. July 30, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- ^ SHUGA CAIN joins Drag Race UK x Bootleg Opinions Season 1 Episode 7!. YouTube. November 18, 2019. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
- ^ "Shuga Cain's Chaotic Organization | S3 E5 | RuPaul's Drag Race Out Of The Closet". YouTube. 23 June 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-11-19. Retrieved 2021-11-19.
- ^ Cook, Michael (September 2, 2020). "Instinct Premiere: Shuga Cain Masks Up For Her Sickening New Single 'Sweet Love'". Instinct. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
External links
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