RuPaul Charles is more than the world's most famous drag queen: He's a business mogul, recording artist, model, guru, and, most recently, Emmy winner. His current masterpiece is television reality competition, RuPaul's Drag Race, a show deeply beloved for its entertainment value just as much as its gut punches of pathos—but people obsess over it because of RuPaul.

RuPaul rose to international prominence in 1993 with his hit song "Supermodel (You Better Work)" before going on to have his own VH1 show, The RuPaul Show. He's been in movies, served as a spokesperson for MAC Cosmetics, released ten albums, authored an autobiography, and created a drag empire with Drag Race and its spinoffs. Whether he's crafting impressive puns, strutting the runway, or rewarding queens for having "charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent" (hey, what's the acronym for that?) he's also attracting a new generation of fans, inspiring a new wave of drag queens, and grooming a new class of drag elite.

† The second season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, a best-of season where favorite queens from previous seasons return to compete, is currently airing Thursdays at 8pm on Logo.

On his show (currently filming its ninth regular season†), RuPaul is always oscillating between two distinct personas: impeccably suited man and glamazon supermodel drag queen. He talked with GQ about the big stuff: ambition, success, legacy, and... Superman.

You've been an icon for decades and have been doing Drag Race for several years, but you're getting mainstream recognition and now you have an Emmy. Does that change how you think about yourself or the show?

No, no. My rewards system was not based on the status quo, and my goals didn’t have to do with everyone in the status quo accepting me. My prize was being able to live my life freely and to be creative on my own terms. So getting an award that is part of the status quo doesn't change that, because it was never the holy grail for me. If that was my goal in what I did, I would have given up a long time ago—because, you know, all those years ago they weren't gonna give me any awards. Because I don't represent the matrix*.

*The matrix is something Ru brings up a lot. The matrix is everything you're taught to accept without question—anything from a 9-to-5 job to gender identity. Things like drag and punk rock fuck with the matrix; according to Ru, once you realize you're in the matrix, you can take things less seriously and start to have fun.

Absolutely. But do you think that the show and drag will shift as the status quo expands to accept what drag looks like now?

I don't think so. We live in a time where it seems like people are evolved. [Laughs] I am not so quick to agree with that. I think we read magazines and we see television shows and it looks like we're all people of the future, we’ve really got it going on! I don't think that’s true, I really don't. I lived through the '70s and I thought "Oh, now this is future forward! People will dance and we'll have fun and wear tight clothes and polyester and we'll move below the belt!" Not so much. That shut down real fast.

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You've always reached for what you wanted to reach for, regardless of what anyone else said was normal or exciting, and All Stars this season touches on the idea of legacy. What do you want your legacy to be?

Well, my legacy is truly the girls who have launched their careers from our show. Drag Race has launched the careers of over 100 queens and they are working right now, around the world, inspiring young people in small towns with their stories—and their courage. I've been doing this for a long time, and I didn't know this would be my legacy, but you got to stay in the game long enough to see what happens. And I think that has been my greatest asset—my stick-with-it-ness.

You talk a lot about your "inner saboteur" wanting to thwart you at these different points. How do you know when it’s your inner saboteur talking?

Oh, you know because it's a negative voice! A saboteur has very few tactics. The tactics always involve getting you alone, getting you away from other people or alienating you. So that's when you know. Also, when you incorporate meditation into your daily practice, you understand what your purpose on this planet is. The purpose is to experience humanity. Right, wrong, bad, good, black, white, male, female, everything.