Aja

Venus Nadya Oshun (born January 4, 1994), or better known mononymously as Aja , is an American rapper, reality television personality and drag queen 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 (Indigenous Taíno and Arawak), African American and Egyptian heritage, and her father is African American with some Nigerian ancestry.

Career

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. Videos for two other songs from In My Feelings, "Brujería" and "I Don't Wanna Brag", were released on May 7, 2018, and July 13, 2018, respectively. 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.

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, I've never identified with the name I have. Being adopted and already having several names, I feel like the name I was given wasn't even my real name. I was like, it'd be nice to have my own name. Especially for someone who identifies as more fluid on the spectrum, as nonbinary, one of the things that really influenced was people thinking there's this dramatic transformation and detachment from Aja as a person and an artist. What people don't realize is that Aja the artist is Aja the person, there is no difference. 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 Title Details Box Office Released: February 7, 2019 Label: self-released Formats: digital download Crown Released: May 21, 2021 Label: self-released Formats: digital download

EPs Title Details In My Feelings Released: May 11, 2018 Label: self-released Formats: CD, digital download Femme Queen Rage:, Vol. 1 Released: September 16, 2023 Label: self-released Formats: digital download

Singles Title Year Album Notes "Level Ya Pussy Up"2017 "Brujería"(feat. DJ Mitch Ferrino) "Demons, Witches & Bitches"(feat. Shilow & Vixen) "Art Jesus" "Jekyll and Hyde"(feat. Shilow) 2019 BOX Office "Commercial"All Caps "Mama Chola"(feat. Amira Wang) Nail in the Coffin Credited to Aja & Shilow "The Purge" Credited to Aja & Shilow "Draw the Blood"(feat. Electropoint) 2020 Credited to Honey Davenport & Aja "21 Roads"(feat. Katie Jobes) 2021 Crown "Tough Love"(feat. GESS) "Crossbow" "Vulture Queen"2023Femme Queen Rage; Vol.1 "Which B!tch Want Smoke?" “Bloodlines” with Greg Gould2025Strings Attached

Filmography

Television

Film Year Title Role 2018 Femme Panzy LaRue

Internet series

Music videos + Year Title Notes 2017"Too Funky" (short) "C.L.A.T." (short) "Brujería" "I Don't Wanna Brag" "I'm Kawaii / Ayo Sis" 2019"Jekyll & Hyde feat. Shilow"