Aja (entertainer)

Aja was born on January 4, 1994, in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. She was raised by adoptive parents. She used to suffer from PTSD and anxiety, which she attributed to her single-parent home, but stopped having panic attacks after starting drag. She is of African American, Puerto Rican, Egyptian and Nigerian descent. Specifically, her mother is of Puerto Rican, African American and Egyptian heritage, and her father is African American with some Nigerian ancestry. ==Career==

and Dahlia Sin) at DragCon 2018 Aja began doing drag in Manhattan at age 16, participating in contests at Posh Bar, the Stonewall Inn, Metropolitan Bar and Sugarland. She was announced as one of 14 contestants for the ninth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race on February 2, 2017. Aja placed ninth that season and subsequently returned to participate in the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. Aja was eliminated during the fifth episode of All Stars 3'', but she returned in the following episode to compete for a chance to win re-entry to the competition. Another contestant, Morgan McMichaels, rejoined instead, which placed Aja seventh overall. They performed at Hardware Bar until the house dissolved in June 2018. Aja appeared in a commercial for H&M's Pride OUT Loud campaign in May 2018. Since June 2018, Aja has hosted a talk show called Ayo Sis on WOW Presents Plus. In May 2019, Aja was sponsored by Starbucks to promote the company's S'Mores Life contest. In July 2018, Aja announced that she no longer wish to be known as a drag queen but rather as a queer artist, stating to them. magazine: For the next three years, Aja focused primarily on her musical career. In September 2021, she stated that she would again begin performing in drag. After seeing Kylie Sonique Love win the sixth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'', Aja said: "It really hit me at that moment that trans is who I am and drag is what I do,... that me doing drag has never taken away from who I am as a person.... As of today I can feel comfortable to say that I am a drag artist again." In 2023, Aja appeared on the first episode of the eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars as a “lip-sync assassin”, where she faced off against the week's winner, Kahanna Montrese, to Beyoncé’s “Freakum Dress”. Aja won the lipsync and revealed which of the bottom queens had received the majority of the queens’ votes to go home, that being Monica Beverly Hillz. In July 2023, after having altered her Instagram display name months before, Aja formally announced that she was no longer part of the House of LaBeija, and that she is to be referred to as "Aja 007". Music Aja released the single "Level Ya Pussy Up" with producers WNNR and DJ Accident Report in February 2017. Aja's single with fellow season 9 queens Sasha Velour, Peppermint and Alexis Michelle, titled "C.L.A.T.", was released on April 21, 2017. The track was produced by DJ Mitch Ferrino, who was featured on "Purse First" by Bob the Drag Queen. Producer Adam Joseph remixed Aja's rant about fellow season 9 queen Valentina in a track called "Linda Evangelista". In September 2017, Aja appeared in the music video for Velo's song "Big Dick Daddy" alongside Phi Phi O'Hara. On March 1, 2018, Aja released a solo music video, "Finish Her!", which was produced in collaboration with WNNR and DJ Accident Report. It features some of Aja's runway looks from All Stars 3. The album consists of fifteen tracks and includes features from Shea Couleé and CupcakKe. A music video for the album's single "Jekyll & Hyde" (featuring Shilow) was released ahead of the album on February 1, 2019. On September 27, 2019, Aja released a Halloween-themed collaborative EP with Shilow titled Nail in the Coffin. It was preceded by the music videos for its singles "Mama Chola" (featuring Amira Wang) on August 30, 2019, and "The Purge" on September 23, 2019. In May 2025, Aja released an original collaboration with Australian singer-songwriter Greg Gould titled "Bloodlines". ==Personal life==

Aja resides in New York City. Just before filming season 9 of Drag Race, Aja was in a situation of domestic violence with a previous boyfriend. In December 2017, Aja and her current boyfriend were kicked out of a Lyft ride after kissing. The driver was later fired, and the company issued a statement of support for Aja. Her account was reinstated after a few hours. In a July 2019 interview with them. Magazine, Aja shared that she was going through the process of changing her legal name from her birth name to Aja in order to reflect her gender identity. She said, She further stated, In December 2021, Aja came out as a transgender woman, and announced the beginning of her transition, explaining in an Instagram post and GoFundMe campaign, "I have lived my life as Non Binary since 2018 and have recently began to identify more with the feminine aspect of my identity. Now living my life as a trans woman has brought out worries about different things such as my appearance." Aja uses she/her pronouns. Aja practices Santeria, and she started doing what she called "sex work" on OnlyFans during the 2020 lockdown. She is bisexual. ==Discography==

Studio albums EPs Singles ==Filmography==

Television Film Internet series Music videos ==See also==