TheGrio’s Eboni K. Williams talks to the actress and TV personality about how her voice ended up on the Beyoncé “Renaissance” album.
Actress and TV personality Ts Madison rose to fame from the social media app Vine with the viral video that coined the phrase “New Weave, 22 inches.” A decade later, the LGBTQ+ advocate is using her voice and platform to bring attention to the injustices happening in the trans community.
Madison become a rotating judge on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” in December, and also last year, her iconic voice blessed the song, “Cozy,” on Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” album. She talked to theGrio’s Eboni K. Williams recently about how she found out her voice would be featured on the song and about other projects where we’ll be seeing her.
The following is a transcript of their conversation.
Eboni K. Williams: Of course, that’s “Cozy,” one of the hottest tracks from Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” album, and the voice that you just heard is none other than my guest, Ts Madison. So, how did this mega social media influencer and reality star’s voice end up being on Queen B’s latest album? Well, I got to ask her.
Ts Madison, thank you, darling, for staying with us. Now, we know that Beyoncé sampled a whole lot of different artists on her latest album, Big Freedia, several others. Tell us how you learned that Ts Madison was also going to be on Beyoncé’s album.
Ts Madison: Well, Beyoncé is a very, very secretive, very hardworking, very diligent Virgo.
Williams: Shout-out to Virgos.
Madison: Yes. Shout-out to the Virgos. She likes to “wow.” And so I knew a year before this happened that a record label had sampled my voice from a rant. My trans-ness, especially during the time when it happened, right during the George Floyd murder, there was a trans woman in Milwaukee that was also beaten really bad by other Black people in a gas station.
So, the Spirit said, “Go downstairs in your basement, get on your social media, just rant about it.” And so I ranted about it, and one of my videographers, Oliver Twixt, chopped the video up, put it together and we put it out. And I think about maybe two weeks later or almost two weeks, a record label messaged me and said, “Hey Maddie, we want to just sample your voice and, you know, use it to do with it somewhere.” And I said, “How much money y’all got?” You know, because the girl about her money.
So I said, “How much money y’all got?” And it went on, they paid me, and it went on. Fast forward to a year. I was in Costa Rica getting ready to come home, and one of my friends, she messaged me, she said, “BISH, girl, you mean to tell me you was not going to let us know that you were on Beyoncé’s album?” I was like, ‘Wait, what?’ Because I keep getting the email from these folks.
And then I open the email, and it was like, “URGENT. We need clearance for song two.” And I’m like, what? What is song two? So I asked them, “Well, well, how much y’all got?” I’m back to how much you got. And they came back with the money, the zeroes, all the stuff, you know, I’m fast-forwarding. I look at the bottom of the email, Parkwood. I’m like “OH IT’S BEYONCE.” Honey.
Williams: I’m obsessed. I love this story. And kudos to you, Maddie, for making sure that the zeroes were hitting like they were supposed to hit. Everybody doesn’t do that. So good on you.
Now, you are also a regular judge now, on the Emmy-winning “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” my mother’s favorite show, by the way. Tell me about your long-standing relationship with RuPaul and what it’s like being a part of such a culturally iconic show.
Madison: Yes. I know that when I was young, a voice spoke to me and said that RuPaul was going to be my friend, and I was going to work with RuPaul. Of course, I was about 14 years old, and that’s why I told you in the earlier part of the segment, I knew that I wasn’t RuPaul, but I knew I was another person who had this character to deal with.
And so the people that created “RuPaul’s Drag Race” also created my television show, “The TS Madison Experience.” And so we got in bed with each other way back in like 2012, or something like that. And I was a fan of the show, watching it. And RuPaul tweeted me one day and said, “Hey, do you want to make some music?” I was like, “Yeah, I love you.” We got together. We made a song together called “Drop,” and then I started doing a whole bunch of other work with World of Wonder, different little shows and things that they gave me. And fast-forward: I remember me sitting in a car with RuPaul, and I said, “Girl, we are Season 10 of this show. You better not let another season go by and I’m not a judge.” She said, “You just wait.” And one of the contestants played me on the “Snatch Game” and won the “Snatch Game,” and that’s after that, the next year, Season 13, I started judging.
Williams: I love it. Could you put in a good word for your good sis, your good Virgo sis Eboni K Williams? I would love to judge on the show. I’m an old pageant queen, so I know what to look for.
Madison: Oh, I see it.
Williams: OK. Yeah, I love it. Now, Maddie, you are also starring alongside Ms. Gabrielle Union in her brand new Netflix film, “The Perfect Find.” I’m seeing all kinds of good promo around that. Tell us about it.
Madison: Yeah, I play Gretta. Gretta is a very wealthy — well, her original character, she was a very wealthy white woman that was a fashion guru, kind of like Anna Wintour, from what I understood. And, you know, they gave me this part. I’m like, OK, now, how am I going to be Black and bring Anna Wintour to this?
I want to talk to you about the way that the film will impact Black women really getting their groove back. I think that there’s many things that I don’t like what the government has done. The government has tried to police women’s bodies. They’ve tried to tell women what they can’t do. And not only this government patriarchy … when I watched this film, it was so many things that I felt connected to.
I’m an older trans woman, and I’m still attractive and still hot, and younger men tend to hit on me. And this is a lot of things with a lot of fine, rich, successful …
Williams: Women of a particular age. That’s it. Yeah. Tell me about it. I understand.
Madison: Girl. And I don’t think that you should limit yourself. If you find love and whatever space that you find love, you should give it a shot. The reason why we have so many stigmas in our community is because Black women are policed.
Williams: It’s not fair, and you know what? It’s actually killing us. And I’m so here for what you are advocating for, Maddie. We have got to take our power back. And guess what? It won’t be given to us. So guess what we’ll do? We’ll take it just like you’ve taken yours.
Ts Madison, gorgeous, thank you for sharing your light and your gift with us today. We can’t wait to have you back soon.
Check out the full clip above, and tune in to “theGrio with Eboni K. Williams” at 6 p.m. ET every weeknight on theGrio cable channel.
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