Bob the Drag Queen is best known as the season-eight winner of RuPauls Drag Race, but soon shell become an HBO fixture. In the networks new docuseries Were Here, Bob and fellow Drag Race stars Eureka OHara and Shangela hit conservative American towns in the hopes of building bridges to acceptance. The queens put on drag shows with natives who seek out the artform as a way to work through aspects of themselves. In the premiere, one of the newly minted drag daughters is a mother who, upon her own daughters coming out, asked her church to pray but has since shed her antiquated worldview. The show is funny and heartwarming, but it also doesnt flinch from looking at the bigotry that pervades the American consciousness.

Bobs music taste similarly hinges on an inquisitiveness about human behavior. In her live shows, she likes to perform to her own music as well as songs by Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Ella Fitzgerald, and Kesha (one of her all-time favorites). I dont wanna say my taste is eclectic because everyone always says, I listen to everything and the truth is I dont listen to everything. I listen to hip-hop and R&B a lot, and every once in a while random artists and genres will creep their way into my earbuds, she says. But I also love really gay music.

Below, Bob shares what shes been jamming to while hunkered down at home in Washington Heights, Manhattan. She may not want to call her taste eclectic but her choices say otherwise.

Bob the Drag Queen: Six years ago, I decided to listen to this album from beginning to end just because I wanted to hear the song The Longest Time. Now I find myself referencing the album to make a lot of different points. On the song Keeping the Faith, he says the good old days werent always good, and tomorrow isnt as bad as it seems, which is a really great way of saying you can look forward. Tell Her About It is about not letting your ego get in the way of having a chance at a great connection with someone, and a reminder that when youre with someone, tell them you love them, tell them theyre great. The best line in that song is, Even though you may not have done anything wrong/Will that be a consolation when shes gone. Are you really gonna stick your own neck out on the line? Is it really worth losing the person you love just because you dont want to let go of your ego? I could do this with almost every song on the album.

This is a great look at what it means to be othered in America from Shea Diamonds perspective as a trans woman. Her voice is just to die for. She does the theme song for Were Here and Im so excited to even have a connection with her. I first heard her song American Pie, which is about deciding youre allowed to take up space and deserve a piece of the pie like everyone else despite being othered, despite being black, despite being trans. I Am Her is a bop that stays forever playing for me.

I just love music that celebrates queerness unabashedly, and Id love Todrick even if I didnt know him. A lot of mainstream queer artists will still change pronouns in their songs so people feel more comfortable. Todrick is like, Im gonna use the pronouns I wanna use, Im gonna get dressed in full drag, and Im gonnapardon the expressionbe faggoty, and let people see how celebrated you can be being an out, queer artist. Having an artist like this really embracing queer culture and being hired to choreograph for Beyonc, or Taylor Swift giving him a producer credit for the You Need to Calm Down video? Thats a big deal.

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What Bob the Drag Queen Is Listening to Right Now - Pitchfork