The two reality stars sit down with So.Gay for an exclusive interview about their new bop, “Melanin SZN” – revealing the powerful meaning behind the song, their Pride plans, and a deep dive into their friendship, as well as what it’s been like to go through their transitions so publicly.
Two of the biggest personalities from Canada’s Drag Race have joined forces to maximize their joint slay. Season 5 competitors-turned-best friends Sanjina DaBish Queen (who placed 9th) and Makayla Couture (the runner-up) are making moves after sashaying away from the Werk Room, collaborating on a new single with Canadian DJ Lady Pista and queer dancehall artist Lexxicon.
The song, “Melanin SZN,” blends Sanjina’s self-described “Bolly-hood queen” background and Makayla’s Jamaican flavor for an all out celebration of the queer, trans and POC communities. With their Andrew Nguyen-directed music video dropping in May, see what the pair spilled to So.Gay about working through hard times on the shoot, how to be a trans ally, and why it’s so important to be “obnoxiously loud” this year for Pride.
SO.GAY: Hi ladies! You both competed on Canada’s Drag Race Season 5 back in 2024. What was your relationship like while you were filming the show, and how did it evolve after the season wrapped?
Sanjina DaBish Queen: I’ve known Makayla since she started up. When I got cast … I heard that Makayla was on, I was actually really happy and excited to be on a season with Makayla because I was such a fan of her before she even became Makayla Couture. From her ballroom scene, just seeing her grow to who she was.
It’s just something with Makayla on this season, just me and her just clicked. I think it’s because both of us are from the hood, and we kind of have similar struggles, and our journeys are somewhat alike in weird ways.
After Drag Race, me and her just got so much more closer and tighter, we actually have a true sister bond. I know that a lot of people, when they see mine and Makayla’s relationship, they kind of envy it, because me and her are a dangerous duo, and we’re fun. I told myself I was not gonna cry, so I’m trying very hard to control my estrogen right now. I’m just really thankful to have Makayla part of my life.
Makayla Couture: One of my biggest things, going into the season was, I wanted to be surrounded by people who look like me, who reflect some of the things that I’ve also gone through, just so I can have that relationship.
[Sanjina] was on Call Me Mother Season 1, and then I appeared on Call Me Mother Season 2, so we had known of each other, but I wouldn’t say we were best friends. It wasn’t until filming the show, where I had my iconic crash-outs, and Sanjina would have her moments, and it was in those moments where Sanjina would be like, ‘Oh, I see you, I see you,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I see you too, I get you.’ So our friendship kind of grew from that and grew from there, just sharing our lived experience.
SO.GAY: How did this specific collaboration come about? Obviously, this song fuses your backgrounds; we got Bollywood and Jamaican beats, it’s a celebration of you both.
Sanjina DaBish Queen: Going down my resume, I’m like, you know what, let me see if I can come up with a song. When I was in the process of planning and trying to figure out what I wanted for the song, I met Lady Pista. I knew her from before and being Sri Lankan, a queer DJ, she’s a music goddess. Us trans girls, we’re goddesses, so I was like, a goddess and a goddess pairing up was amazing.
So, during the process of me and Lady Pista talking, we just kind of had a beat, we kind of had the idea of what we kind of wanted. The type of music I listen to is dancehall, Afrobeat, Bollywood, reggaeton, soca, chutney, anything that’s cultural, anything that makes me move. I bleed culture. Like, you cut me open, it smells like curry [both laugh].
I was like, I just need this to be more melanin. I was also very inspired by the song called “Taki Taki” that has Selena Gomez, Cardi B, DJ Snake, and Osuna. So I was talking to Lady Pista, and I was like, ‘Hmm,I think I want to have Makayla on this.’ And she’s like, ‘Oh shit.’ And as we were preparing, I brought the idea to Makayla, and Makayla was obviously 100% down. Then, between me and Makayala, we were just like, “What about Lexxicon?” I have been a fan of Lexxicon ever since he started, because to see a queer dancehall singer—especially being Jamaican—that’s breaking so many fucking rules and boundaries. And Makayla being trans, Jamaican, there’s a lot, right? That’s how everything sort of started.
Makayla Couture: I obviously came on later on in the process, but when Sanjina had asked me, I had already kind of wanted to do music. It was something I wanted to do, I just didn’t know how to start. And so when Sanjina came to me, one of the biggest things I told myself before starting the project was, I want Sanjina to feel like this is her project, and that I’m not impeding on it in any way.
So I wanted to just bring as much of myself to her and see, like, what does she want to work with? What’s gonna work best? And I think it honestly worked out so perfectly, because we come from the same kind of culture, so a lot of the things that we were sharing with each other kind of blended themselves and led to each other really, really well. It was just such an interesting process.
Also, I always say I’m the business lady, and Sanjina is my artist. And I was very proud to watch Sanjina put her businesswoman cap on, and be like, ‘Nope, we need to do this, we need to do this.’ The music video, how everything came together, I had basically no part in it other than, like, creative. She put it together on her own, and it was just a big, proud sister moment.
Sanjina DaBish Queen: Yes, I am a businesswoman now!
SO.GAY: You both have great verses in this song. Just how did you work on each of those, and do you each have a favorite lyric?
Makayla Couture: Sanjina’s went through a few changes.
Sanjina DaBish Queen: Mayakla is a rapstress. Makayla is a singer. Makayla is more than drag. She’s a superstar. I’m not a Nicki Minaj, I’m a Cardi B. Like, I like to always collaborate, I wanna work with people, I want to learn from people. I did need Makayla’s help, because Makayla’s verse, she eats.
With mine, I came from a point where I wanted people to understand that trans women like us, we’re very fetishized. Men look at us as a sex object. And my verse was just kinda to be this bad bitch, and also just to kind of let the girls know that I will take your man if I want to take your ma. And when I take your man, these are the reasons how I’ll take your man. I am a trans baddie.
I think for my verse, the best line was, ‘He makes me wet like lassi.’ I don’t know if you tried Mango lassi. Lassi is a type of drink, it’s like a smoothie or milkshake. Like, he makes me wet, like a smoothie, a mango smoothie.
Makayla Couture: In terms of my verse, I wanted to continue playing off of the sultriness and the sexiness that Sanjina’s first brought in, especially with her verse being the opening. I wanted it to be a continuation, but then to also go back to that main point of, like, this is “Melanin SZN.” We are those girls, we are not supposed to be looked down upon, we are not supposed to be seen as less than. We are here, and we mean business.
And so there’s a line in my verse where I say, “Bad gyal cocky too big and it rough,” coming off of my season of Drag Race, a lot of the comments that were being made about me was that, “Oh, she’s cocky, and she’s this, and da-da-da-da,” and it’s like, I could be all those things, like, absolutely, I’m human. That is very much so possible, but if you actually meet all the sisters, you would know that I was also the one who was always cheering everyone on, I was always giving everyone their flowers, and that’s the duality of a human being. And so, for me, putting that line in was to be like, you know what? Yeah, she is “bad gyal cocky.” She is cocky, and you know what? It is too big, and it is too tough for you. So you don’t need to be in my circle.
Sanjina DaBish Queen: I love that verse so much, because there’s so many other meanings to it. If you really go into it and think about what Makayla is actually saying, my mind went to, like, girl, when she’s tucked, it’s a big poom-poom. Like, that’s what I went to.
Makayla Couture: Anyone who has shown up to my shows knows that is also true! [laughs]
SO.GAY: You two clearly have a great rapport with each other. When it did come time to film the music video, how much fun was that? You got the looks, the choreography, got hot guys making out all around you, it’s a visual feast.
Makayla Couture: During that time that we were filming, both me and Sanjina had a lot of other extra stuff going on in our lives, so we were exhausted. Like, so tired. Literally, we would cut cameras, and me and Sanjina would just be holding hands on the corner, like, ‘We got this, we’re gonna be okay. We have a few more scenes to shoot. We’re gonna be okay.’
Sanjina DaBish Queen: I passed out on the bar!
Makayla Couture: I was sleeping during the lunch break, for sure. But it was, honestly, the whole vibe was so beautiful. We had so many of our own friends and family who were a part of the music video, it felt like a brotherhood and sisterhood, it felt like family. It felt like I could be comfortable. Everyone was getting to know each other. We were all just, like, telling our life stories. There was just a sense of coziness that the set brought to everyone.
Sanjina DaBish Queen: I think for me, filming “Melanin SZN,” I felt so safe being with my people. Where the drive came from for ‘“Melanin SZN,” is because, not to throw shade or anything to anybody, as POCs, it’s so hard for us, because we always have to fight for our space. To this day, just because me and Makayla got on Drag Race, just because Makayla is Couture, and just because I’m Sanjina DaBish Queen, doesn’t mean that we get everything given to us. No, we don’t. We still have to work 10 times harder. We still have to fight for our space. Sometimes we have to be loud about it, and we get in trouble for it because we speak up.
I grew up with basement parties, I grew up with garage parties, I grew up with my family just getting drunk on a weekday just because they want to get drunk and party and dance. I come from a very dance background, dance family, so in that moment, it just kind of felt like I was reliving my childhood all over again, but as a trans girl [gets choked up].
I felt very strong in that moment because I had Makayla there, and to have my [drag] son there, and my [drag] daughter that there, also my best friend, my chosen family, Makayla’s chosen family. During that process, I forgot about the pain, I forgot about everything, I forgot about everything that was happening around us outside of us filming.
Makayla Couture: As trans women, we have our pre-transition life, and then the post-transition life, and right now, both me and Sanjina are in an era where I feel like a lot of the stuff that we’re doing now is to feed that inner child, and to be like, “You’re okay, you’re good.”
To be around that Caribbean feel all day for that set, and to be surrounded by so many queer people, that young little girl who didn’t know that she was a girl yet is now getting to feel that sense of security and safety now that she’s always been asking for.
SO.GAY: This video is a celebration of the POC community, the queer community, especially the trans community. Can you each talk a little bit about the importance of visibility, the power of visibility, now that you two have this platform?
Sanjina DaBish Queen: For me, it’s been honestly amazing. I’ve always wanted to be a voice and ears and eyes for the trans community, right? Like, I’ve always wanted to, because I feel like a lot of girls get on Drag Race and they forget about their community. Or a lot of girls get on Drag Race, and they forget about who they are. For me, getting on that show was because I wanted a platform, so when I get off of it, it doesn’t matter how my run was, it doesn’t matter if I won or not, it was more so, when I get off, what am I gonna do with that platform?
Right now, especially with everything that’s going on in the world, like, I have to stay off of TikTok and social media because the fact I’m seeing all my siblings being destroyed in the States, even here in Canada. People think that it’s not happening here, it is happening here.
It’s so hard for us as trans people to go to people and tell them, ‘Hey, listen, this is how we feel, this is why I don’t want to do this, or can you help me, or da-da-da,’ and people ignore it. And then they turn around and say that, ‘Oh, I understand trans people, I understand their struggle.’ No, you don’t. No, you don’t. Because if people did, we would not be where we are right now. I just want to say to everybody, if you are an ally, just be an ally for us, be a voice for us, be ears for us, stand behind us, because each day when I look at the world, yes, it’s changing, but yes, it’s still going backward.
And for me, to this day, Makayla knows this, I am gonna be the frontrunner of my people, I’m gonna stand in front of them, I’m gonna protect everybody. I’m very proud of where my voice, my eyes, my ears have been for this community and it’s going to get better.
Makayla Couture: I was thrust into mainstream media at a very, very young age. And it was always something that I wanted, I always wanted to be a leader of some sort for people like me. I don’t think that I’m going to change the world—I don’t know if I have all the power in the world to do that—but I know that at least, with what I’ve done already, I know I’ve impacted people. I’ve seen the messages, I’ve seen people reach out from Jamaica, just saying, ‘I see you, I can’t be out, but seeing you do your thing makes me want to get to that place.’ And that means a lot to me.
That just goes to show that even in the little things that I’m doing, whether it’s just me yip-yapping on social media, or putting up a music video with my trans best friend, little things like that, it is making a difference in someone else’s life, the same way I needed to see that representation growing up. Growing up, my closest thing to transness was watching the girls on Jerry Springer be like, “I’m a man,” you know what I mean? And I never… I never related to that.
So I never aligned with transness for the longest time, because I didn’t feel that connection. But meeting this new generation of trans women and trans men, non-binary people, where they’re just like, “No, this is who I am, point blank, period. There’s nothing else to it, this is who I am, this is who I want to be.” I’m not trying to change the world, but if what I’m doing is helping someone else out, that’s great.
SO.GAY: You’re being the model you didn’t get to have, which I think is amazing.
Now you both went through very public transitions and have continued to share your journeys on social media. How has it been doing this so publicly, and what have you learned about yourself throughout it all?
Sanjina DaBish Queen: I’ve learned from this journey that I’ve just been trimming the fat. My journey so far has been very rocky for me. I’ve lost a lot of people, my family, to the point where I don’t even talk to my dad anymore, you know? There’s certain people who are part of my chosen family that I had to cut off because … I’m also sober, I’m California sober, so I came from a very scary lifestyle of partying and abusing drugs and stuff like that.
And transitioning has been such a gift to me, it’s been such a blessing to me. I think from my season, I’ve had the most insane glow-up. I’ve had the most insane glow-up, I think, from the fucking franchise right now, okay? I have unfinished business till this day. When it comes to the Drag Race world, I cannot wait when I come back for a spinoff, because these bitches do not… they cannot wait!
SO.GAY: Canada is getting its own All Stars now, too. [Note: Since this interview was conducted, Makayla was announced as a contestant for Canada’s Drag Race: All Stars Season 1]
Sanjina DaBish Queen: I’m still waiting for my phone to ring, you know, I’ve been waiting patiently. Whenever, I’m ready! But I’m just very happy with the people that are now in my corner, and the people who have kind of fought with me.
Listen, and Makayla can agree with this, but dealing with a trans person, it’s a lot. We’re going through a 12-year-old girl’s puberty with the hormones of a pregnant woman. And people who’ve been around us, especially with me and Makayla, people who’ve stuck by us, our day ones, are our ride or dies, are the people that sit there and be like, ‘Okay, she’s mad, she’s angry, she’s popping off, let me find a way to be there for her.’
So I think that from this journey, what I’ve learned is that you do lose a lot. Listen, for me, it’s so hard to say this, and I know a lot of people are not gonna agree with this, but when you are trans, you get what you want, but there’s always a price to pay, and I say it in a very magical way, where it’s like, you will lose certain people because they’re just not for you.
SO.GAY: Trim the fat!
Makayla Couture: For me, it’s more so, like I’m choosing myself. I think I’ve gone my whole life putting other people before me, or trying to make everyone else feel comfortable, so that I could feel like I fit in. And I think now I’m kind of getting to a point where it’s like, I actually don’t really care to be the black sheep. I don’t care to stick out, like a beautiful thumb, not a sore thumb. I’m kind of just learning to be more open with myself. Like, I love Makayla Couture, but how is Makayla Walker doing? Is she good? Is she happy? Is her environment something that’s helping her? Are the people who are around her actually there to support her?
So, one the one hand, yes, I’m trimming the fat. But also, I’m trying my best to learn as much about myself as I can. I mean, I’m only 23, I turn 24 this summer, and I’ve been able to do so many lovely things, and it’s unfortunate sometimes where I wake up and I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m not doing enough.’ And it’s like, baby, some people haven’t done half the things you’ve done at this point, so keep going, keep pushing. If you need to take a break, take a break. You want to sleep in for the day, you do that for yourself. But right now, I need to choose me and put me first.
SO.GAY: We’re in the midst of Pride season. What does Pride mean to you, especially now, in this year, 2026?
Sanjina DaBish Queen: Pride for me this year just means to be loud as you can and really rub it in people’s faces, you know? Especially if you are trans, you tell everybody that you are trans, trans lives matter, protect the dolls. Pride is very scary for us sometimes, because I think as drag artists, we are very overwhelmed. It’s a money-making month for us, but it’s also such a working month for us that we’re tired, we cry, our social battery dies. It sucks because it’s the one month that’s giving to us, and that’s the one month that we’re gonna run through, and we’re gonna be loud, we’re gonna put in your face, if you don’t like it too bad, it’s our month.
Makayla Couture: I would say the same. I think Pride Month, especially this year for me, means being loud. It kinda goes right back into the choosing myself thing. It’s like, I am so ready to just be so authentically me, that if anyone else has anything else to say, baby, wrap it up and take it to my manager, because I don’t have the time, okay? I just don’t have the time.
But it’s time to be loud and proud. We just had, last year, where a lot of the companies who were funding a lot of the prides started to drop out, and now this year, we’re seeing an even greater fall from that, and what does that look like? What does it look like when your community can no longer rely on allyship and must rely solely on the community itself?
I think this is the year to be obnoxiously loud. We’re still gonna be here, we’re still gonna be existing, and we’re still gonna be beautiful, strong, queer people.
Sanjina DaBish Queen: Yeah, we’re not going nowhere, and make sure you’re bumping “Melanin SZN” in the month of June!
