AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
You can call Bob the Drag Queen a lot of things - performer, musician, comedian and, recently, traitor.
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN: (Laughter).
RASCOE: Now you can add one more thing to that list, author. Bob's new book is all about one of his idols, Harriet Tubman, who he's called the first Black superhero. In fact, when asked this question on Ziwe Fumudoh's talk show, who would win in a fight, Harriet Tubman or Spider-Man, Bob did not hesitate.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "ZIWE")
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN: I'm going to go with Harriet Tubman. Harriet Tubman is a scout for the U.S. military. The cardio on this woman - from below the Mason-Dixie to Canada 12 times?
RASCOE: Bob the Drag Queen is here now to talk about his new book, "Harriet Tubman: Live In Concert." Welcome to WEEKEND EDITION.
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN: Hi, I'm happy to be here. Thank you for having me.
RASCOE: In your story, you have these larger-than-life historical figures come back to life, including Harriet Tubman. Can you give us a little taste?
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN: Got it. (Reading) I never thought this day would come. When so many figures from the past started returning, I just kept hoping that Harriet would show. Not only did she show, but she reached out to me. I still have the invite she sent me - a lovely little handwritten note. [Expletive] get over here, Harriet Tubman, with the address at the studio. I think I'll have it framed (laughter).
RASCOE: So what kind of help does Harriet want from Darnell? And Darnell is your main character.
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN: Harriet Tubman wants to continue her work as an abolitionist. She's interested in freedom. Freedom is her guiding light. And obviously, the goalpost for freedom has moved from what it was when Harriet Tubman started her work as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. So she wants to reach a lot of people, and hip-hop is a magnificent form of art that has reached millions of people. So she reaches out to Darnell, who is a former Grammy Award-winning producer, and she wants his help with reaching the masses.
RASCOE: So where did your love of Harriet Tubman come from?
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN: I'm from Atlanta, right? So I know a lot of people who talk about their work in school when they did Black History Month. Well, in Atlanta, we take it very, very seriously. Like, we teach Black history all throughout the year. Well, I just remember every time I learned something new about Harriet Tubman, it sounded unbelievable, but yet, tons and tons of historians are able to corroborate all these stories.
She did things that seemed otherworldly. I mean, she even had superpowers. She had precognition. She was getting divine insight on where to go, where not to go, what to do, what not to do in ways of staying safe, and make roughly a dozen trips back and forth without ever getting caught one time. Never losing a passenger on the Underground Railroad is a really big accomplishment. She's possibly the most remarkable person to ever live.
RASCOE: When did you come up with the idea of, like, having historical figures come back to life?
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN: I never had a desire to write a book about people coming back to life. I just wanted to write a book about Harriet Tubman writing a hip-hop album, and then I had to justify...
RASCOE: (Laughter).
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN: And I had to justify it.
RASCOE: Yeah (laughter). Yeah, yeah.
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN: And it's not sci-fi. When you read the book, you're not going to be going deep into how it happened. You know, the molecular structure of the DNA 4, 3 time-space continuum - it's not all that. The book is like, it's happening, and we're - and it's here. We haven't figured it out yet. It's just happening, and we're all just living with it, you know?
RASCOE: So you wanted Harriet Tubman and hip-hop to be mixing (laughter) a little bit.
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN: Harriet Tubman used music when she did her work as an abolitionist, you know? She actually did use music. So it's actually not that far-fetched to imagine that Harriet Tubman would be using music today if she were actually still here doing things with us.
RASCOE: Well, I mean, a lot of people may not know about Harriet Tubman's military service. I think most people know the Underground Railroad, but there are lots that they don't know, and that's explored in this book. Do you feel like this book is also a way to give a fuller picture of her life and to teach more to those people who may not have listened in history class or may not have been taught in history class about these facts about Harriet Tubman?
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN: So just to give Harriet Tubman her flowers, Harriet Tubman is not just the first woman to lead a U.S. military mission. To date, she is the only woman to have ever done it. My book is not a history book. It takes place right now. You can learn things from it. She was a spy. She was a cook. She was a chef. She was a mother. She was a wife, one of many siblings. She had so many odd and crazy and scary and remarkable things happen in her life.
She opened up a home for formerly enslaved people who were reaching an age of retirement, where she ended up living at the end of her life 'cause she actually got scammed by people from her own community, even though she had done everything she - given every ounce of everything she had to help people. And I think that stuff is really important.
RASCOE: Who do you look at as the audience for this book? I know it's not a history book.
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN: I mean, the truth is, I am the target audience for this book. I wrote a book that I would want to read. If you're a theater nerd, if you're a Black queer, if you're a millennial, if you're a history buff, if you like hip-hop music, if you like absurd concepts, this book could be for you.
RASCOE: I got to ask you about your most recent TV appearance on "The Traitors." I think we have a clip from that.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE TRAITORS")
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN: I will tell a truth, but I will never tell a lie.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN: All of you know, I've never lied.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN: Guys, I said I swear to God, God.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN: And that was a lie 'cause I don't believe in God. I'm a traitor.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Yeah.
RASCOE: Did you have that speech prepared?
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN: No, I was making it up as I realized I was going home. I had so much adrenaline. I actually misspoke several times. I meant to say I will tell a joke, but I'll never tell a lie. That's what I meant to say. And then at the end, when I said I swear to God, I meant to say, and that wasn't a lie because I don't believe in God.
RASCOE: (Laughter).
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN: That's what I meant to say, but I just had so much adrenaline coursing through my veins that it just came out wrong, but the idea got across (laughter).
RASCOE: The idea - it definitely got across. It definitely - it all worked out. For your fans who got to know you on "Traitors" and then before that on "RuPaul's Drag Race," what should they expect when they get to this book? It's another side of you. Would you say that's accurate?
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN: Yeah, it's not a memoir, y'all. It's not about my life. I'm not in this book. It's not stories of me and RuPaul or me at the club and the drag queens come in, and we doing shots, and we're vogueing. It's - that's not what this book is. I mean, it has to do with me because I'm a Black American, and I do want people to know that it does show a different side of me.
RASCOE: The book is called "Harriet Tubman: Live In Concert." There are songs in the book. Would you sing a little bit of one of the songs for us?
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN: For sure. Harriet says (rapping) I think it's time to write some good music. I mean, some hood music. I'm talking about, I wish a [expletive] would music. Liberated my people through the swamps and the dirts and the wood music. Never would have made it if I never had the vision, but the Holy Spirit said I could music.
RASCOE: Oh, my goodness (laughter). I love it. I love it. Now, I got to ask you, when you think about Harriet Tubman, you're thinking about freedom. What is freedom to you?
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN: I have a couple of quotes that I really love. One that I use is Kris Kristofferson, and he says, you know, freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose. And I love when Nina Simone said, freedom means no fear. I mean, really, no fear. I love those definitions of freedom.
And am I completely free? No, I have fear. Living in our current administration, I have fear. You know, living in this world, I have fear - fear of financial insecurity, fear of what's going to happen with my career, fear of what people think of me, fear of what's going to happen with these laws as I see actions against people of color and people who are disabled and queer people, specifically trans people. That does give me a lot of fear, actually.
RASCOE: But the thing about fear, though, that I always think about, is that you can be afraid, but you keep going. And that's really Harriet Tubman, right?
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN: Oh, yeah. Keep going. No matter what, keep going.
RASCOE: That's Bob the Drag Queen. His new book is "Harriet Tubman: Live In Concert." Thank you so much.
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF METHOD MAN & REDMAN SONG, "HOW HIGH (REMIX)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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